Elopement: A Meaningful Alternative to the Traditional Wedding
An elopement isn’t a wedding that is done behind because you don’t have your family supports. The first time I heard about elopement, I thought it was people escaping from their parents and getting married secretly. That means, parents don’t agree on the marriage, but the couples still elope to get married. I don’t feel like it sounds right after I heard the term of elopement more often. Then, I finally understand what elopement is and I would like to share it with you. Though there might be different views of an elopement. But here I will explain what I know. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what you call it.
What Is an Elopement?
To me, elopement is a wedding. It is a small wedding. It includes a small number of guests (less than 20 guests) and vendors. It could also just include the couple and the officiant. You might not even need an officiant to get married in some states. Your pet can be officiant too in some places. That means, elopement could be as simple as you want, just you and your partner. Because of the size and flexibility of the elopement, it reduces you a lot of work and costs you much less money. You don’t need to find a big group of vendors, and you might not need a planner. You can easily find a wedding venue in a short time since you could do that on a weekday too. The truth is you can get married anywhere you want! You could choose the woods, mountain, city, beach, backyard, anywhere that could be meaningful to you and your partner.
How Do You Decide if an Elopement is Right for You?
With all the benefits of an elopement in mind, it is up to the couples and their families to decide which one they should have: elopement or a traditional wedding. You need to ask yourself some questions. What do you value the most on your wedding day? Do you just want to spend the day with your partner or do you want to spend the day with all your friends and families and your parents’ friends? What’s your budget? You will need to consider travel, lodging, and photography for an elopement. For a traditional wedding, you need venue rental, stationary, catering, decor, entertainment, photography and videography, etc.
If we don’t talk about the budget, I personally will want to spend my wedding day with not only my partner but our friends and families and parents’ friends. It is a very special day of your life. It would be more fun to share it with people in your life. To get their blessing and support, to share your journey with them, to experience more and have more stories to tell before, on and after the day. I might be biased because that’s what we know for a wedding.
But, I can also understand why people want to elope. It is very budget friendly. It costs less time and energy. It is much easier to plan and execute it. You value your friendship with your closest friends and families. Most importantly, you want to create a deeper connection with your partner on your special day without being overwhelmed and exhausted. Whichever you choose, it will be a meaningful day for you and your partner.
Elopement vs Traditional Wedding Timeline
Before your wedding day, you will need to decide your date, location, photographer, wedding dress, wedding officiant, hair and makeup artist. You might also need a florist, DJ, wedding cake, wedding limo, stationary, wedding registry etc for your wedding day. During a traditional wedding day, it will start with getting ready for you, your partner, your parents, and bridesmaids. After this, you can choose to do a first look of just the couple before the ceremony. Then, it is the ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception.
The timeline of an elopement is similar to the traditional wedding. For a 2 hours elopement, it will be 30-60 minutes getting ready, 15-20 minutes ceremony, 10 minutes family/group photos, and then 30-45 minutes couple portraits. For a 3-4 hours elopement, it might have a small reception after the ceremony or couples might want to have longer portraits time in different locations.
The elopement styled shoot in the images happened in Southwick’s Zoo at Mendon, Massachusetts. If you are interested in an elopement photography session, please contact Ivy Lulu Photography. You can also explore my investment page to learn more about my photography pricing.
XOXO – Ivy Lulu Photography
ABOUT IVY LULU PHOTOGRAPHY
Ivy Lulu Photography specializes in lifestyle and documentary family photography and couple photography in Westborough Massachusetts and many of the surrounding areas. These include but are not limited to Northborough, Southborough, Shrewsbury, Grafton, North Grafton, Hopkinton, Upton, Marlborough, Framingham, and Worcester. She also services Boston area, and Cape Cod. Her style is very relaxed and natural. Your family session will feel like a stress-free day going on a walk with old friends, who just happen to have a camera with them.
