Wedding Elopement

[Marmozet]

My fiancé and I both want a small wedding. We're looking at an elopement package where you have up to 4 guests and thinking of inviting our parents. It's an adorable deal and suits our needs, however I feel like we're going to meet the wrath of others for not being invited. It's a concern of mine as I'm worried about telling people our potential plans and how they will react. Obviously the day is about us, but I really feel like people get themselves involved when it comes to a wedding. I guess Covid is a good excuse now for small numbers. Am I being unreasonable to myself and partner for feeling this way?

Anyone else done anything similar and what was the response?

[quote JorisBonson]@Marmozet

We eloped 3 weeks ago. No guests. This was after cancelling twice due to covid.

Our family were sad but very understanding.

I'm so glad we did it. We had the perfect day, spent the morning together then got married at 4.30pm. Without sounding too vomit inducing, we felt like the only people in the world.

We then had dinner and drank champagne in a hot tub, so it was a pretty perfect day.

I really can't recommend it enough. It was incredibly romantic and chilled.[/quote]
Love this 💕

We eloped, married abroad, and pulled in witnesses in off the street.
We've been married for 20 years and I don't regret it one bit. I never wanted a 'wedding'.

I came across a specific elopement photographer when I was looking for wedding photographers, made me very tempted to run away somewhere beautiful and just so everyone the photos afterwards

www.oliandsteph.com/

Ours was small (16 guests), at a register office and back home for tea and cake. A few noses were put out of joint, but I feel that says more about them than it says about me.

If we’d done it during Covid times I’d have relished just having 4 people! Don’t tell others ahead of time though, just let people know organically afterwards.

@Wanderer1
Wow. Those photos are just gorgeous. I have to say that Elopement photos create an emotion in me that normal wedding photos don't. They are so beautifully stripped back to what a marriage is all about - the couple.

In a world where everything is so showy, there is something beautiful about a simple wedding, just the two of you.

I love attending weddings! But if that’s what you want, then go for it—and if you want to avoid people being a pain, then sooner rather than later is a good idea

Elope. One of my friends did this, with her now husband, at Gretna Green. The first any of us knew about it was when we all got postcards with Highland Coos on them and a note to say, "Hi, me and [Jack] got married on Friday! Lots of love, Mr and Mrs [MrsJack]". I can't remember what they did about witnesses, they were either found for them by the registrar or they might even have literally asked a couple of strangers to do the job.

I can't help hoping the trend for smaller, more intimate weddings continues long after the handling of COVID-19 is just a bad memory. I've been to too many weddings in my life where it's been only too apparent that it's the mother of the bride's choice on so many things, having been thwarted on their own wedding day....!

(I do understand that Gretna has a LONG waiting list though.)

My mum and dad eloped in the true sense in the 50's to Scotland because my mum's family didn't approve of my dad and mum was under 21.Back then you had to be over 21 to get married without parents permission.They had 4 kids ooodles of grandkids and were married over fifty years until dad died. They got married in an office full of filing cabinets in basic clothes with witnesses off the street.They proved mum's parents wrong...

@Conkergame

Op this is is literally the perfect time for you to do this. Covid only allows 15 people, including the couple and vicar/ registrar/ photographer so only 11 or 12 guests. Just say you didn’t want to pick between people who are all very important to you.

We had to have a small wedding due to covid (we wanted and had planned a big one) and everyone was extremely understanding. Our parents would’ve been gutted not to be there and my brother would have been too, but everyone else was fine!

You're so right! This has definitely put me at ease so thank you for your response :)

We got married with just our two witnesses (family) and our two babies present. We loved it! We didn't tell anyone else until the day and everyone was happy for us. We will probably do a celebration party/meal with our friends and family once we can though! Do whatever you and your partner want, it's all that matters anyway

Do it! I wish we had done this due to the behaviour of certain family members.

At the other end of the spectrum, there was a wedding planned for today in New York that was expecting 10,000 guests. Then their plans changed.

www.nytimes.com/2020/10/18/nyregion/nyc-covid-hasidic-wedding.html

We eloped 47 years ago - didn't want a fuss. Do it!!