Top 11 Reasons Why Couples Elope in the Great Outdoors
Top 11 Reasons Couples decide to have an adventure elopement
SWELL & STONE / ADVENTURE Wedding & ELOPEMENT PHOTOGRAPHER / United States AND BEYOND
Not everyone is made for big, traditional weddings. In fact, some people dread the thought of them. And instead of asking “why do couples elope?” they find themselves wondering why everyone wouldn’t elope! There are a lot of reasons why couples decide to elope, including not getting along with family, or just being shy and not wanting to be the center of attention all day. Eloping isn’t just about running off to the courthouse when you turn 18 anymore. Some couples want to save money, and other couples just want to spend their money more intentionally. Eloping is about creating your big day in an intentional way that is true to you and your partner. It’s about creating an experience that you will remember for a lifetime, rather than spending a ton of cash on a big party for everyone else. So if you’re the outdoorsy type who would love to make your wedding day about experiences instead of things, then maybe an adventure elopement is right for you. Here’s a list of a few of the reasons some couples choose to elope.
We hate being the center of attention and would rather spend the day doing things we love with just each other or a few special people.
If one or both of you are introverted it makes perfect sense that you’d rather have a more secluded location with a minimal guest list. Wedding days can be overwhelming, and even more so if people are heaping love, praise, and attention on you and then turning around and judging your centerpieces. A lot of people already wish they would never again have to make small talk with their 2nd cousin or stand in a ballroom with 100 people staring at them, so some couples choose to avoid putting themselves in that position, to begin with.
We don’t have the money to spend on a giant wedding.
Maybe neither of your families have the means to pitch in, and you are busy working hard to build a career in a field you love. Traditional weddings can set you back big time, and make it harder to reach other goals in life that ultimately may be more important to you than spending a fortune on one day. The average wedding in the United States now costs over $33,000. That’s a lot of money that could go toward school, or a house, or building your future life with your partner. So instead of choosing to blow a huge wad of cash in a single day, many couples are choosing to hold onto it and use it for the things they deem truly important in life. You can easily plan an incredible and memorable elopement for under $10,000. So if you decide to save some money and still get married in a way that feels right to you, more power to you!
We have the money but would rather spend it on something else.
Maybe your parents are willing to pitch in or you are both in a great place career-wise. Even then couples are choosing to spend their money with intention and to plan a day that reflects their values and lifestyle. And the truth is many people getting married today value experiences over things. They want to watch the sunset over the Grand Canyon while saying vows, or they want to spend their special day on a mountaintop with only their partner. Think about it- with the $33,000 an average couple spends on a traditional wedding, you could fly to an incredible locations, book a ridiculously nice AirBnB, get the most gorgeous dress of your dreams, hire a photographer who takes epic photos, take a helicopter tour to your secluded ceremony site, say your vows to the love of your life, and see sights and views that blow your mind, all while having an experience you’ll remember for a lifetime. And that still might be less expensive than a traditional wedding! Making decisions that create a more intimate day just feels more special to a lot of people, and many definitely find the experience much more enjoyable than stressing out about last minute decor decisions.
We want to avoid the family drama altogether.
Aunt Jo doesn’t get along with your mom, or brother Chris always gets too drunk. Tense family situations are real and more and more couples are choosing to opt-out of being put in a situation that could cause greater tension in their family. Many couples find that eloping is so much easier and more closely reflects who they are as people. They choose to spend their wedding day outside and make it about their real and true love for their partner. Your wedding day should NOT be difficult or stressful due to familial tension. So just cut out the possibility of trouble and elope to a beautiful destination of your choice. It will likely be cheaper and a lot less stressful.
We wanted to do something unique and important to us.
Let’s face it, every summer we get invited to a handful of weddings, and we go, and we eat, drink, and are merry. But at the end of the summer, can you remember what was so great about each wedding or does it all just blur together in a mix of eating, drinking, dancing, and the like? Now more couples are seeking to do something that sticks out in their own memory as spectacular and incredible. And it makes sense, in 30 years you absolutely will not remember what the silverware looked like or what style of monogram you chose for the place settings, but you will remember committing yourself to the person you built a life with. So why not do it in a stunning and scenic way? There are a ton of incredible locations to choose from, so you can go back to a place you already know you love, or you can make new memories and explore somewhere new. Either way, you will be choosing to make your wedding day align with the values you hold dear.
We don’t want our wedding to be about pleasing guests. We want it to be about us.
Some people will never be pleased even if you choose the right caterer and the best cake and DJ imaginable. And who cares about those people anyway? Honestly, you getting married has nothing to do with them and you don’t need that negativity in your life. It’s time we all start caring about living our best life more than we care about what people think about our lives. So please yourself on your wedding day. If you have always wanted to go to Alaska, but it seems too far away. Go! Get married there and make it the vacation of your dreams. At the end of our lives, I bet we won’t be laying on our deathbeds saying “I really wish I would have please Aunt Karen more.” No, we will be saying- damn, we lived it right.
We are outdoorsy and love traveling. We decided to incorporate adventure and experiences into our big day.
If the great outdoors is the place you feel most alive, most free, and most in awe of nature and the world- then dang it, eloping in the great outdoors is for you. I’ve heard from so many couples say that they had never even thought of their wedding or what it might look like, and then they saw photos like mine- photos of couples dedicating their lives to each other in epically beautiful places, and all of the sudden they were psyched on getting married and what their wedding might look like. It’s not that they didn’t want to commit their life to the person they loved, it’s that the production and show of weddings seemed horrible and overwhelming and unnecessary to them. Once you realize that it’s your day and it can absolutely be whatever you want it to be a whole new world opens up and it’s almost like you can taste the freedom and feel the wind in your hair.
We don’t like big, traditional weddings.
It’s pretty simple, for a bunch of different reasons and on this list and otherwise, some people just really don’t like big, traditional weddings. They don’t like going to them, they don’t look forward to them, they may actively avoid them. So when it comes time to plan your big day and you feel like this, just know- you don’t have to have a big, traditional wedding. You absolutely do not have to spend a lot of time making decisions about things you could care less about. In truth, we should all spend more time making decisions about things we sincerely care about. There are so many other options out there and I’m sure you can find something that looks more up your alley. While you’re at it you may as well buck all kinds of trends and get married outside in the dead of winter!
We wanted to combine our wedding with our honeymoon in an epic travel destination.
If you love traveling and find your self planning the honeymoon before you even start to think about the wedding, maybe doing both at the same time is right for you! Think about it, you were so excited to go somewhere awesome, you skipped over that part where you actually get married and went straight to the fun stuff. Clearly, you’re not that stoked about planning something big, so maybe just keep that excitement for the honeymoon going and plan your wedding in the same place! Why not kill two birds with one stone? It’s efficient and it gets the job done, all while being really fun. It sounds like a win-win to me. Plus so many epic travel destinations, like National Parks or National Forest lands, are free or inexpensive to get married on.
Nature is our church.
I totally get this one. I feel so much more in awe of our world, and therefore spiritual when I am outside in an epic location. Like when I saw the sunset over the Baja California coast for the first time, or when I saw a lightning storm approaching Zion National Park or the first time I experienced autumn in New England- these experiences help wipe away all the negative and help me see the world with a clean slate. If you feel like you can relate, and that your most enlightening experiences happen when you’re outside, then eloping in the great outdoors is certainly for you.
We didn’t expect our families to support our marriage decision.
This is a super sad truth, but some families do not support their loved one’s decision to marry under certain circumstances or a specific person. Whether faith and religion or race prejudice play a role, it’s an unfortunate occurrence. Of course, if you’ve met and fallen in love with your forever person only to find an unsupportive family it makes sense that you would feel free to be you with them there on your day. Many couples in this position choose to elope and to do it in a way that feels right to them. This way they only have positive and happy memories from the day they married the love of their life.
If you’re thinking of eloping in the great outdoors and would love someone with a ton of know-how and experience to photograph the story of your day, I would love to help! Make sure to reach out and tell me a little about you two and what you are considering for your small wedding or elopement. I help plan your entire day from beginning to end if that’s what you need. My specialty is finding gorgeous, off-the-beaten-path locations for couples to enjoy a secluded ceremony. If you need recommendations for an officiant, florist, cake maker, or anything else I’m here to help you make your day as true to you as possible.