With weddings costing upwards of 40k to 50k and up, there’s no secret that big and traditional is out and Micro-weddings or elopements are in. This may have you thinking to yourself…”What is an elopement or what is a micro-wedding and how can I make my wedding one of them?” It’s important to ask yourself a few questions before you dive in though.
- Are you okay with doing things non-traditional?
- Do you love adventure and value experience over monumental things?
- Is being outside the spotlight something your willing to sacrifice?
If you answered a hard YES to any of these, then a micro-wedding or two person elopement may be for you and your partner.
What is a Micro-Wedding?
A micro-wedding is a legal wedding where two people become married. The catch is that these weddings are centered around more of the closest friends and family of the couple. When you opt for a micro-wedding, you tell those closest to you that they mean the most, that you want them there on the biggest day of your life, and you value their support and blessing. These weddings aren’t the newspapers headliners or big party shindigs. Micro-weddings are about including 50 or less of your absolute favorite people in the world; the people that you’d also invite to your child’s birthday or those that you call when you want to celebrate a promotion.
A micro-wedding may be for you if…
- You don’t like a lot of people but the ones you do…you really love.
- You value your experience over what some half stranger thinks of your catering (that cost you $50 a person to feed)
- You want to possibly travel and adventure with friends and family
- You don’t like having a hundred people staring at you during the most intimate moment of your wedding aka “I vow”
Maybe micro-wedding sounds like something you are interested in, but you possibly want something even more intimate. That’s where an elopement comes into play.
What is an Elopement?
Spoiler alert: an elopement is also a legal wedding where two people are wed. Unlike micro-weddings or traditional weddings though, elopements are all about the couple. Imagine a day where you are the center of attention, the main characters. Your elopement day can include adventure, experiences, a ceremony and couples portraits without having to worry about anyone else’s schedule. The burning question though for most…can it be considered an elopement if there’s other people there? Yes, you can still include friends and family but for an elopement it’s typically 10 or less folks.
Including fewer than 10 folks means having the most intimate, most sincere, most epic experience that you could ever imagine for your wedding day. You don’t have to worry about the expectations of the world, or the family drama, or about the allergies of your guests. The day is all about YOU.
An elopement may be for you if…
- You value life experiences
- You love adventure, and sunsets or sunrise, and the moon or stars
- You cherish the intimacy of having just you two or only a few people
- You want to travel and try new things
I like to tell my couples than an elopement day can be whatever the hell you want it to be and there’s real power in that. Want that power?
The Takeaway: Micro-Wedding Versus Elopement
Whether your looking for a wedding day that includes just the two of you (…and a photographer!) or your wanting to invite a few people, it’s important to sit down together and really see what it is that you two value. Answering the question of what is an elopement or what is a micro-wedding is totally up to what you want in a wedding day. The amount of people who join you and the size of adventure awaiting is really the answer.
Are you willing to give up traditions, expectations, and hundreds of guests for something that could be the most epic day of your life?
