There are so many reasons why you should elope as a couple. Eloping is just awesome! Eloping is an amazing adventure and a fantastic way to start your married life together. It is also so much more intimate and personal than a big traditional wedding.

Couples elope is for a variety of reasons and essentially it is a very personal decision. So if you aren’t quite sure about eloping or you are on the fence about it, then I hope I can convince you that it is an awesome experience and definitely something you and your partner should consider.

So here are some really why I think you should elope instead of doing a big traditional wedding.

1. Escape the stress of planning a wedding.

Planning a wedding can be really stressful. And if you have a slightly anxious personality or you get stressed out easily, then a wedding will bring out these traits.

You have to decide which is your perfect venue. A place that your parents will like and your friends will come to. You have to research wedding vendors, do trials, go to menu tastings, suit/dress fittings, keep track of receipts and when balances are due. Then you have to have checklists for 1 year out, 6 months out, 1 month out etc. Closer to the dates you need to organise seating plans, get dietary requirements, chase up guests for their RSVPs, get gifts for your bridal party, plan a honeymoon… and the list goes on and on!

You will be generally doing this with a full-time job. And your weekends slowly become all about this one day. So unless you are an event planner by trade, or you both genuinely enjoy the process, then it can become stressful.

If this thought does stress you out or make you anxious, then you should strongly consider ditching all the stress and just elope.

2. Because you want to get married now.

Planning a wedding takes a lot of time! If you want a popular wedding venue, you may have to book 18 months to 2 years in advance to get a booking. That is a long time to wait and a long process to deal with.

By eloping, you can get married in a month!! Yes in a month you could be officially married! That is a crazy thought, isn’t it?

Under Australian law, you just need to lodge a “Notice of Intended Marriage (NOIM)” with an authorised celebrant at least a month before your intended date of marriage.

So you could start your new life together as a couple in a month or you could wait one or two years before you commit your lives to each other. Hmmm, I know which one sounds better to me 🙂

3. You hate being the centre of attention.

This may be a crazy thought to the extroverts out there, but some people just don’t like being the centre of attention. Being the centre of attention doesn’t make them feel good. In fact, it is the opposite for them.

The introverted couples can feel sick at the thought of walking down the aisle to a room full of people. And the thought of everyone watching you say your vows can fill them with dread. And don’t get me started on the wedding speeches or the first dance… shoot me now!

Elopements can be the perfect alternative for the more introverted people. They are smaller, more intimate events where you can really hang out with the people you care about.

4. A traditional wedding is just not you.

For some couples, the whole idea of a traditional wedding is right out of their worst nightmare.

They could not think of anything worse than the pomp & ceremony, the traditions and the formality that a ‘normal’ wedding has. Many of the traditions at a wedding seem very old fashioned. In fact, if you asked people at a wedding why they are cutting the cake or why they are doing the first dance, they probably would not know.

If this is you, then this is one of the best reasons why you should elope. Do away with the traditions and get married your own way.

5. The Financial pressure.

Weddings are really, really expensive. Next to buying your first home, they are probably one of the first major financial factors that a couple will face together.

Many couples get parents to help out financially or go into huge personal debt so they can get the wedding of their dreams. Going into debt at the start of your marriage is not the best way to start this new chapter in your lives together.

We are also taught or told by marketers that you have to have huge opulent weddings. On the news and social media, we see celebrities having extravagant, over the top weddings which can cost into the millions. 

The average wedding in Australia costs around $36,000. Here is the breakdown:

$18,683 – Food, alcohol & venue.

$4,271 – Wedding clothes and accessories.

$3,983 – Photography.

$2,896 – Entertainment.

$2,896 – Flowers and decorations.

$941 – Ceremony.

$2,534 – Other (cars, hair, makeup, accommodation, stationary)

$36,200 – Total cost.

Having an elopement means you can potentially save money. This is not to say that people who elope do things on the cheap. It means they spend money on the things that really matter to you. You get the dress/suit you want, get the rings you want, the photographer you want and the elopement destination you want.

For $36,000 you could get the most amazing elopement in a luxury destination and then still have money left over for an extravagant honeymoon and maybe more.

Because you are eloping, you don’t need to feed 100+ people a three-course meal and canapés at $160 per head. So you can afford the things that you really want.

6. Spend the money on something else.

For other couples, they may actually have the money available but they want to spend the money on other things.

Everyone has priorities and there is nothing wrong is spending this amount on this once in a lifetime event. But some couples hate the idea of dropping tens of thousands of dollars on a one-day event. The money could go towards a home or preparing for a new baby and other things.

When you elope you can get married pretty much anywhere. By eloping, you can spend the money on a luxury elopement to an amazing destination, have a honeymoon and still have money left for those other priorities.

7. Peer pressure for the perfect wedding.

Everyone has their own personal views as to what the perfect wedding is. Parents and relatives are often quite vocal on where you should be having your wedding, what you should be wearing, the people that are invited and the things you should be doing at your wedding.

You may also be getting more subtle signals and pressure from seeing your friends weddings, particularly through social media and Instagram. Today we are seeing more and more visuals and some people may feel an expectation to ‘keep up with the Joneses‘ especially when wedding planning is involved.

One of the reasons why you should elope is because elopements take the pressure off planning the perfect wedding.

8. The Location.

Elope and say your vows in an incredible location!

With a traditional wedding, you are often limited to where you can get married. There are logistics involved in getting a hundred or so people to watch you get married. It’s not always possible to get a hundred people to the top of a mountain or to the bottom of a waterfall.

But for elopements, you can pretty much get married anywhere! You are only limited to your imagination.

9. You have complicated family politics.

Family is complicated and not every family is close. By eloping, you can avoid complicated family matters and politics and is one of the great reasons why you should elope. Every family is different, but family is always complicated… and I mean that in the nicest possible way. There are always dramas or conflicts. 

By eloping, you can tell people that it’s just the two of you. Or you can tell everyone that it’s just your parents and sibling coming. It makes it much easier on you.

If you don’t want to hurt your family’s feeling, you can elope with just the two of you and have a small reception party after that.

10. So you can avoid cultural or religious issues.

One family is complicated, but put two families together with different cultural ideas or religious beliefs and things may get even more complicated. You may spend your time trying to please both sides and soon you find that the wedding is less about you and more about making compromises to make everyone happy.

This may complicate matters, make the whole wedding journey a bit painful for you and create tensions between families.

Eloping with a celebrant who marries you for love and not religion, will definitely solve this problem.

11. Combine your elopement with your honeymoon.

One of the reasons why you should elope is so you can combine your elopement with your honeymoon.

Being able to get married in an incredible location is a huge drawcard for elopements.

So Elope at you dream destination and then continue to explore the region on your own. Or move onwards to another destination not too far away.

12. Because elopements are intimate and more personal.

This is the main reason I love elopements. Elopements are so much more personal and intimate between you as a couple and anyone that you invite.

You spend more quality time and focus together. They are all about you. So you can express who you are as a couple. You say your intimate and personal vows to each other without the stress, fear or even embarrassment of showing your feelings and emotions in front of other people. You can also be as goofy, crazy, sexy, romantic and fun as you want to be. But just be yourselves.

You spend the whole day together as a couple. And you spend better quality time with those guests that you do invite than you would at a big traditional wedding.

Getting married no longer needs to be crafted around old religious practices and strange wedding traditions. Be non-traditional and start your life together with an awesome adventure in an incredible location. Bring your parents and your closest friends, but make it intimate and personal. Make it all about you and the vows and commitment you will make to each other.

So those are the reasons why you should elope. Elopements are just plain awesome!