If you’re just beginning to plan your own wedding, you may be feeling a little overwhelmed and in this post I’ll show you how to elope and have an epic elopement.
Eloping has become extremely popular, especially this year, when Covid has made big weddings nearly impossible.
Although the word elopement once brought up images of a fly-by-night Las Vegas wedding,
today, it’s a romantic alternative that gives you total control of the ceremony you want for yourselves without having to please anybody’s in-laws.
I like to think of it as a chic way for couples to truly express themselves and their love for each other.
It’s more romantic and less stressful than a big wedding and allows you to spend on the things that matter most to you, like a flight to an exotic location, a five-star hotel room, or a designer gown.
Here’s my definition of an Epic Elopement:
It’s the ultimate Romantic getaway,
The most beautiful and intimate way to tell someone you love them, exchanging your vows somewhere meaningful to you both — anywhere in the world. Away from everything and everyone, you can spend time alone together doing what you love most.
Now let me share my top three ideas to have an epic elopement based on my years of experience with couples just like you. I’ve collected so much information on eloping, I’ve even written a book on it, so this is just a taste.
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Tip Number One: Make Your Day Extraordinary
Just because you’re eloping don’t downplay your day. Go all in. Think over the top and splurge on what’s important to you.
You have no one to please but yourselves, and maybe a handful of guests. What do you really care about? Concentrate on the things you need to make this day your own. And make it MEMORABLE:
Turn your wedding into something no one could ever forget. Make it bigger than life, a true reflection of who you are as a couple.
Imagine telling the story of your elopement years from now. What a story! Where did you get married? What was it like? Why did you choose that location?
- Design your day and so that you only do the things you love to do together.
- Splurge on the bottle of Champagne that you’d never go for.
- Take a romantic boat ride at sunset around the Amalfi Coast.
- Sit down to a candlelit dinner in the Tuscany hills.
- Toast your love on the balcony of a Mexican villa overlooking the Pacific
- Cover each other with fragrant leis against the green mountains of Kuai.
- Order an epic wedding cake, even if it’s just the two of you.
- Hire a professional chef to bring a once-in-a-lifetime dinner for two to your hotel suite.
- Personalize your vows and preserve them in a magnificent booklet.
- Hire a strolling mandolin group or violinist to play you into the start of your life together — or hire a dj and dance the day away.
- Again, the best elopements I’ve seen weave the personalities of the spouses through the day.
- The important thing to take away here is that every detail should reflect the two of you.
2. Tip Number Two for an Epic Elopement: Your Honeymoon Begins with Your Wedding
Your elopement wedding may only last a day or so, but it’s the start of your vacation honeymoon.
If you’ve chosen an exotic location, don’t forget that jet lag is real. Give yourselves time to catch up on the time change. You won’t want to get married when you’re half asleep or too disoriented to really experience the day.
You’ll need to time to iron your dress, visit your venue and meet your photographer, florist, or caterer to go over the details. Make sure everything is in place. You might want to get your hair done and the best makeup artists always want to do a trial the day before.
After your wedding, enjoy your time together honeymooning in the location of your dreams. You’ll have fun discovering new places, and doing whatever your heart desires. Ideally, if the location is new to both of you, try to plan to stay a couple of weeks.
3. Tip Number 3: Location, location, location
I’m often asked, where’s the best place to elope.
My answer is always, it depends on the couple.
The best place to elope depends on your personal style. From the beaches of California to the painterly Lake Como, or the majestic Dolomite mountains. Every couple needs to sit down together and list what’s important to each of them so they can choose a location they’ll both adore.
This is the first and most important decision you’ll make together about your elopement because it will set the tone for everything else.
I’m all about romantic and chic elopements. I look for quaintness, colorful culture, great food, fun things to do, and crazy beautiful backdrops.
In my five-day course, Style Your Elopement, I spend the entire first session on exercises to define your vibe as a couple, so you’ll be able to choose the perfect location for your wedding because every other decision will depend on where you choose to get married.
I created this course because I saw many couples who weren’t doing justice to their elopements, or making them as personal and special as they should be. Many couples make the mistake of assuming that they can pull off an epic elopement without help.
Or they go the other way, and fall prey to wedding planners, Instagram, or other social media and try to replicate what they see out there, so their elopements lack personality and don’t reflect their own styles and tastes.
They see something online or in a magazine and ask a wedding planner to copy it. That shouldn’t be you! Instead of creating a custom wedding, tailored to the couple, a planner will ask you to choose from their standard list of cakes, flowers, the works.
That’s why it’s so important to clarify your idea first before choosing a location or reaching out to a planner. Don’t make any decisions until you have a solid idea of how you want your wedding to look and feel.
Finding your location and creating your vision are essential first steps to creating a unique, and personal elopement wedding. That means asking questions, defining your vibe, analyzing your likes and dislikes, discovering what’s most important to each of you.
I’ve seen too many couples become overwhelmed as they plan their elopements, and I’ve seen too many fall into the trap of settling for a cookie-cutter wedding.
That’s why I’ve created my five-day course and made it affordable. I want your elopement wedding to be a true reflection of who you both are, a day to remember.
