anyone just elope? - Pregnancy, Birth & Baby Forums ~ BellyBelly

queenbee · #1 (**permalink**) October 19th, 2008, 09:45 AM

did anyone just elope? we have talked about marriage but i seriously want nothing big, i would love to go to fiji or something and marry. who just up and left to do it, anyone?

~amysarah~ · #2 (**permalink**) October 19th, 2008, 10:07 AM

We originally planned to elope.. but ended up having 30 tag-a-longs and the cost ended up being the same as if we'd had a big wedding at home!!

I highly recommend a destination wedding though - we got married in the Greek Islands (Santorini) and it was INCREDIBLE. We hired a wedding planner who took care of everything. We just had to show up and everything was organised. It was almost 100% stress-free. It was the most memorable and special wedding - we have absolutely no regrets. What made it so amazing was the beauty of the location (PM me if you like and I will send you the link to our youtube clip).

I would suggest finding a resort in Fiji (or wherever you choose) and contact their events coordinator. You could have something simple with just you guys on the beach, or invite friends and family and have a party! You'll find some people will think its a great excuse for a holiday and will love to celebrate with you.

The Whitsundays do destination weddings and all of the resorts have wedding planners.

Good luck and let us know how you go!

*MadsMum* · #3 (**permalink**) October 19th, 2008, 02:18 PM

Hi Queenbee, we seriously considered it so I've done lots of eloping research, if you would like any advice, I may be able to help. Fiji looks like an awesome place to get married. Otherwise Bali? I'd definately go with one of the resorts hotel planners though just to make it stress free for you. Good luck & HOW EXCITING!

~amysarah~ · #4 (**permalink**) October 19th, 2008, 02:21 PM

A BB member (charmalea) eloped to Fiji - hopefully she will pop in and give you some pointers!

TheBear · #5 (**permalink**) October 19th, 2008, 02:36 PM

We did - we bought round the world tickets for the honeymoon, then flew to Las Vegas and got married there as the first leg of the trip.
We didn't tell anyone in advance, and had great fun springing it on them afterwards....we decided to tell all of the significant members of the family and friends face to face so many of them didn't get to find out until we finished the honeymoon 5-6 weeks later.

Why Vegas?
1. It's Vegas...everyone has thought about running away to Vegas at least once...
2. The ceremony can be as big or as little as you like - our wedding took less than 2 hours to organise...from start to signing the register. We went for a very low key option...rented a nice open top sports car and went to a drive through wedding chapel!
3. Marriage licences are issued on the spot, and the issuing bureau is open all hours.

*MadsMum* · #6 (**permalink**) October 19th, 2008, 10:00 PM

Thebear, that is an awesome story! Would love to have done a Vegas wedding!!

~Amy~ · #7 (**permalink**) October 20th, 2008, 07:04 AM

DF & i have always said we would elope. Neither of us are into the big wedding thing. Vegas is our ideal spot. Ur story sounds awesome thebear!

Danielle_M · #8 (**permalink**) October 20th, 2008, 07:22 AM

If we had of eloped it would have been to Las Vegas.
We're thinking of renewing our vows for our tenth anniversary in 2011 & going to Vegas to have Elvis remarry us hehehe (I'm a HUGE Elvis fan!)
Good luck deciding

queenbee · #9 (**permalink**) November 3rd, 2008, 08:30 AM

there is a website called "weddings away"....we are looking into that. there is no way we are the big wedding type of people. mind you, i'm not engaged yet!

mitzy81 · #10 (**permalink**) November 4th, 2008, 03:23 PM

I think that we will elope. When I was engaged to my 1st boyfriend, my mother was a case of if we are paying for it (which they were not) we have say into it. She told me who I could and couldn't invite (as in relatives that I would not know if I tripped over them in the street). In the end we split up and I am now in a new relationship. I had only been together for 6months (with my new DP) and my mother was asking about when we are getting married and she thinks that it would be a nice idea for us to elope.. 'just the 4 of us, you and x and your father and I'

No thanks! I really do think that a family wedding will be out of the question.

queenbee · #11 (**permalink**) November 26th, 2008, 08:08 PM

Mitzy, man, telling you who you CAN and CAN'T invite. how rude! yes eloping is looking better every day...

Megan · #12 (**permalink**) November 27th, 2008, 09:39 AM

We eloped to Vanuatu. We had been together over 10 years and neither of us wanted the cost or stress of organising a wedding, but we definitely wanted the honeymoon!

We asked two friends to come with us. We were married at a resort that had a wedding planner and it was just a case of a half hour meeting with her when we got there to choose the cake, the location of the ceremony, my flowers, organise hair/make up and massages and reception menu.
We didn't tell our family and friends until we got back, and thankfully they were all ok with it! If we mentioned it beforehand, they all would have wanted to come with us which would have defeated the purpose of a stress free wedding!