Benefits Of Eloping

I've watched quite a few friends lately plan their weddings. The seating charts, the guest lists, the meals, and the expenses. Each and every time I see this, I find myself incredibly relieved that I eloped. I never had that vision in my head of a big white wedding. I know that is supposed to be every girls dream, but not this girl. It could be that I didn't want all eyes on me, It could be that I just wanted to get married without the hassle. I am not sure of which really, but I do know that I am grateful that I eloped to get married. Here are the things in which I believe are benefits of eloping.

1. No one else's opinion matters

Luckily, I was brought into a wonderful family on my husbands side. However, this is something I have noticed with other people. Everyone else's concern of how their wedding "should be" outshadowed their own dreams of what they want it to be. There are so many traditions surrounding weddings, this because complicated. Will we get married in my religions church, or yours? Who will be in the wedding party? Will I have to stomach an annoying family member just to make you happy? These are all things that can be avoided by eloping.

2. Say goodbye to your savings account!

I read somewhere that the average price people spend on their wedding is somewhere around $20,000. In a lot of cases, this is paid for in part by the bride and grooms parents. However, often shoveling money out of your own pocket is also necessary. If that was the case, I would have never been able to put a down payment on my house. That's around half of what we spent on our fixerupper! In my opinion, $20,000 is absolutely absurd. Your wedding is only one day, think about the toll it will take on your wallet and the rest of your marriage.

3. Privacy

One of the benefits of eloping is the privacy involved. You don't have to be surrounded by people on your big day. Some people like this, its a way to show the family you're welcoming someone else. However, after I got married, all I wanted was to spend time alone with my husband. I didn't want to spend hours surrounded by people I barely knew at the time. This is a big benefit of eloping. As soon as you sign the papers, you're off to your honeymoon!

4. The Head Ache

Basically there is one thing in common amongst people planning a wedding, and that is all the stress and head ache involved in planning it. So many different decisions to make. What to eat at the wedding? What song to be played? What are the wedding colors? Who are the brides mates? What are the vows? Who will give the speech? So many different questions, that you just don't have to answer if you elope.

Eloping isn't for everyone. Some people have that fantasy inside their head of a big white wedding with all of their family surrounding them. However, that just isn't something I had, and I am very grateful that I didn't. There are many different benefits of eloping, and they should all be considered. Instead of spending all the money on a ceremony, we had a reception a few months afterward. As I said in my previous blog entry, I got married in South Korea. So, I didn't return to the states until a few months later. We had a blast at our reception alone, and I don't regret not walking down the isle one bit!