Top Reasons to Elope: What No One Tells You Before You Decide
TL;DR Eloping lets you get married on your terms — your location, your people, your pace. Most couples who do it say it was the best decision they made. The stress, the expense, and the performance of a traditional wedding disappear. What’s left is just you two and whatever comes next.
I get it—traditional wedding planning can feel like a full-time job. Between hunting for the perfect venue, juggling a guest list that pleases everyone, and surviving the dreaded seating chart, it can start to feel more stressful than celebratory. That’s exactly why I’m sharing my top reasons to elope—so you can see how ditching the pressure and doing it your way can make your day feel truly unforgettable. After photographing over 450 elopements across Colorado, Yosemite and beyond, I’ve seen firsthand why eloping can be such a game-changer for couples!
Modern elopements are way different than the Elvis drive through quickies in Vegas. Eloping strips away the pressure, the performance, and all the expectations. It’s not about following traditions you don’t care about or throwing a party for everyone else—it’s about creating a day that genuinely reflects you. Whether we’re saying your vows near a waterfall in Telluride, or high up in the mountains of Colorado, eloping gives you the freedom to design your day exactly how you want it.
Over the years, I’ve worked with couples who started out stressed and overwhelmed by wedding planning—and then realized what they really wanted was an experience. Something intimate, meaningful, and unforgettable. They didn’t want to be the center of attention or make small talk at a reception they barely had time to enjoy. They wanted to explore, to breathe, to connect, and to be fully present with each other. These are the exact benefits of eloping, and why I’m such a huge fan of helping them pull it off.
The benefits of eloping can be life-changing. It gives you permission to slow down, be intentional, and build a day that’s entirely your own. Still on the fence about ditching the big wedding? That’s totally okay. But if you’re craving something different—something real—I’d love to show you what’s possible when you choose to elope.
Alright, now that we’ve covered why eloping can be so amazing, here are my top reasons to elope and how it can completely change the way you celebrate your love.
What are The Top Reasons and Benefits of Eloping?
Elopements Are Unique and Personal
Eloping is more intimate and easier than a traditional wedding in a lot of ways—one of which is simply because you have zero limitations! Think about it: the venue, the location, the vows, even what you wear. Each elopement is completely customised to what you want. Eloping is great for couples that value experience over a big wedding or would rather put their money toward something that is more important.
Most couples that opt to elope crave a day that authentically mirrors their relationship. They’re rad couples that cherish a genuine experience they can cherish for a lifetime. They understand that these memories aren’t derived from the material aspects of their wedding day, but rather from the profound experience of being together, focusing solely on each other in a manner that epitomizes their love. This sentiment is further accentuated when couples have the option to self-solemnize, allowing them to marry themselves!
In the end, there are no rules for your elopement days. The most important thing you can do is honor who you are as a couple.
You can choose it for your elopement! The top of a mountain? Snowshoeing during a winter elopement? I’m stoked to help you plan it! The options are endless, and it starts with choosing the best place to elope!
You also can tie your elopement into your honeymoon and make one big trip out of it.
“We love telling everyone our elopement story. It is an epic story that people love to hear and we love telling. It’s a million times better than having everyone we invited to a traditional wedding talking about how dry the chicken was or that the DJ didn’t play any good songs. Instead we have this ridiculous adventure story that makes us sound cool lol and that people enjoy hearing.”
– Rachel & Steve
Elopements Are Cheaper Than Weddings
Let’s face it. Having a wedding is expensive! According to Nerd Wallet, the average price of a wedding is $33, 931. According to The Knot, receptions can eat up 48–50 percent of your budget! No matter your reasons to elope, you’re still going to be saving money by cutting out expenses that don’t really add anything to your experience.
One of the benefits of eloping is getting to decide what’s important to you, and how you want to prfioritize the money you spend! Eloping gives you the freedom to cut down on unnecessary party favors and refocus your time and energy on YOU!
If you are trying to find reasons to elope, the budget of a traditional wedding might help push you in the eloping direction!
“We had originally started planning a more traditional wedding, and quickly realized how much time, money, and stress was involved. Once we came across eloping we knew immediately it was the right fit for us. Eloping allowed us to make our day completely about us, not about other people’s expectations – and looking back we cannot imagine not eloping”
– Helen & Mike
Elopements Are More Intimate Than Weddings
Elopements offer intimacy and hold deeper meaning compared to weddings.
No matter how at the moment you plan to be at your traditional wedding, it’s nearly impossible to focus only on each other. You’ll be tied up with the timelines, the to-do lists, the guests, and the event. A big wedding is a production, and it’s difficult to make intimate space for each other when there are so many others demanding your attention.
Eloping is intimate, private, and unforgettable. Imagine exchanging vows with a mountain at your back. Make a soft forest path your aisle. Sharing your first kiss in a field of wildflowers. It’s all possible when you elope! You can have a true adventure and have plenty of time to be present and enjoy the day with your partner.
“I’ve been to too many weddings where the bride and groom looked more overwhelmed than thrilled on their wedding day. In my family, there’s a tendency to compare how expensive or well put on one cousin’s wedding was than others. None of that mattered to us. We wanted the day for ourselves, first and foremost. Eloping accomplished this. We will always have the memory to hold onto uninterrupted by anyone else’s expectations – eloping surpassed our dreams for the perfect day.”
-Jo & Ryan
Elopements Ditch All The Wedding Drama
Look, we’ve all got relatives who are difficult. Uncle Eddie, anyone? Or maybe your family stresses you out, or they’re putting demands on you to get married the way they want, not you. But it doesn’t even have to be an opinionated or difficult family. Perhaps you have a giant family, or too many friends to count. If the thought of planning a wedding to accommodate an enormous guest list makes you queasy, that’s a great reason to elope!
You can play by your rules, and that means you can even include a few close friends and family members. In the end, all couples are different, and you deserve a wedding or elopement that is authentic and reflects who you are. Maybe that means no one but you and your partner. Maybe that means a small group of beloved family and friends. But whatever it is, eloping gives you permission to create the day you want!
“Our story is nothing you’d find written in a fairytale, or seen on a romcom. It’s more like a little SHAMELESS mixed with the L Word and Spiderman kind of vibes. The last thing we wanted is anything other than our vows to be talked about. We wanted an elopement experience that was unique to us. Something we hadn’t seen, we would enjoy, and could stretch out into a hippie road trip.”
-Brittany & Ralphie
You Can Explore New Places on Your Elopement
If you’re contemplating eloping, chances are you’re envisioning a destination more thrilling than your local country club. What elopement activities do you both adore? Where do you envision launching your married life? Blend your passions with your elopement to transform your wedding into an extended honeymoon!
I would say 95% of the couples I work with choose to travel for their elopement. Because why not? Eloping in a new destination gives you the opportunity to explore somewhere exciting for your elopement wedding day. Not only do you get to discover a new area, but you can also wine and dine at new spots and find some incredible lodging that is unique. Consider looking at my Colorado elopement packages to add an extra touch of adventure and natural beauty to your special day.
“Eloping in a destination was a big reason why we chose to elope. We had never been to California! We are from a poo town and nothing is pretty so we wanted to elope somewhere completely different than we’ve ever seen. Eloping gave us a reason to travel but also allowed us something new to explore.”
-Cassidy & Caden
Wedding Planning is Stressful
Wedding planning can be extremely stressful, and the anxiety of the process can negatively impact the relationships you love and cherish. All of the planning and coordinating with friends and family turns you into a wedding manager instead of a couple who’s celebrating the beginning of the rest of their lives together. It can suck all the fun out of being engaged, and turn your wedding into a task to complete instead of a celebration.
Elopements still definitely require some planning, but instead of struggling with a seating chart, you get to sift through epic locations, plan amazing adventures, and make sure your day is entirely about you!
You don’t have to plan an elaborate day incorporating every opinion from family and friends. Instead, your elopement focuses your time on the things you love: finding an epic place to elope in Colorado, writing heartfelt vows, or planning fun things to do on your elopement trip.
Your elopement wedding doesn’t have to be about everyone else and their expectations. I’m giving you permission to reject what you don’t like and focus on what’s important when it comes to your wedding day by eloping instead! This should be an epic adventure! So make it one. Trust me, eloping can become an experience you’ll never forget.
“While we could’ve had a smaller wedding at home in Chicago, we didn’t want to be stressed by how to get our family and friends to a wedding. We tossed around the idea of eloping somewhere beautiful, so we went for it! Looking back, we wouldn’t have it any other way–eloping was intimate, stress free, romantic, and extremely fun. Not only do we have stunning photos, but we have a place that is very special to us that we look forward to visiting in the future!”
-Stephanie & Jordan
The Elopement Photos Will Be Epic!
Elopement photos are meant to capture your love in a way that is true to you. These photos are candid moments – a hard copy of your memories. And they’re something more and more couples are valuing. Pinterest recently reported a 128 percent increase in searches for elopement photography ideas!
“We originally started thinking of reasons to elope and one thing we really wanted was amazing photos. Once we found you, we knew eloping was the right move for us, because your work is breathtaking! We wanted to be the bride and groom eloping in the middle of an epic landscape, so beautifully framed by you. Eloping truly feels like a dream. Thank you for everything!”
-Lindsay & Jake
Elopements Are Eco Friendly
According to Wikipedia, the average wedding has 150+ guests and produces between 400 and 600 pounds of trash. Yes, you read that right. This includes trash bags, food, napkins, plates, and hundreds of dollars worth of flowers. Those lavish weddings you see in magazines don’t show the aftermath: weddings are wasteful and bad for the environment.
But, they don’t have to be if you choose to elope! Just cutting down your guest list and eloping instead already saves a ton of waste (no single-use decorations, no catering for 200), and as a photographer who helps couples elope in nature, I’m passionate about reducing the impact on the environment as much as possible.
Eloping Allows You To Get Married in Nature
If you’re an outdoorsy couple, a stuffy ballroom might not be your thing! If mountains, wildflower meadows, waterfalls, and epic landscapes reflect your relationship better than any wedding venue, that’s one of the best reasons to elope.
Tying the knot outdoors is also much less expensive, and can allow you to spend that money on adventures and experiences instead!
There’s also quite a logjam with wedding venues right now due to Covid, and many of them aren’t available anytime soon – so if you don’t want to wait, consider eloping instead.
You Can’t Find a Wedding Venue
Let’s be honest, not only are wedding venues expensive but they’re extremely backed up because of Covid. There is a serious logjam right now with venues and some might not have availability for 2 years down the road! If you don’t want to wait that long for your dream wedding venue, then it might be a good idea to elope instead! This will not only save you money on the venue but you can still get married in your preferred period!
What Does Eloping Actually Feel Like?
You can read a hundred lists about why eloping is better. But none of them tell you what the day actually feels like when you’re standing somewhere wild with the person you love and zero agenda.
So here’s what I’ve watched happen at over 450 elopements. It starts before sunrise. Most couples are nervous getting ready, the same kind of nervous you’d expect. But the second they’re moving, heading toward the trailhead or the ridgeline or the river, something shifts. The planning stress drops off. There’s no timeline to hit. Nobody waiting on them. Just the two of them and whatever is ahead.
By the time they get to the spot, most couples are laughing. Not performance laughing. Real laughing. Because they realize nobody’s watching. There’s no room full of people waiting for them to be perfect. It’s just them. That’s the part nobody tells you about!
The ceremony itself is usually three to ten minutes. I’ve watched couples who prepared vows for weeks and couples who made them up on the spot. Both versions are rad. Both versions wreck people (in the best way). The difference is that every word means something because there’s nobody else it needs to perform for.
After, most couples want to keep moving. Not because they’re in a rush. Because the energy is high and the day is theirs and they can do whatever they want with it. Some hike further. Some find a creek and just sit. Some drive into town and get after it at a good restaurant before anyone else even knows they’re married.
That’s what eloping feels like. Not less than a wedding. Just completely different. Real, personal, and yours.
Why Do Most Couples Choose to Elope?
Couples elope because they want the day to be about their relationship, not about executing a production. The most common reasons I hear: they don’t want to spend their wedding day managing other people’s expectations, they want to get married somewhere that actually means something to them, and they want to be fully present instead of running a schedule.
The secondary reasons usually involve money. The average Colorado wedding costs between $30,000 and $40,000. Most elopements cost a fraction of that. That’s not the main reason couples choose it, but it never hurts.
FAQ
Most couples who elope say it was the best decision they made. The regret most people fear, missing the celebration or disappointing family, rarely shows up the way they imagined. What couples actually feel on the day is relief, freedom, and presence in a way that a big wedding rarely allows.
Here’s what I hear from couples after their elopement: they didn’t miss the reception. They didn’t wish there had been more people watching. What they talk about is how fully present they were, how the day was entirely theirs, how nothing felt performative.
The couples who do have mixed feelings afterward are usually the ones who didn’t communicate clearly with family before the day. That’s not a regret about eloping. It’s a regret about the prep work around telling people. Fix that part and the regret question mostly disappears.
Eloping is a good idea for couples who want their wedding day to actually feel like their relationship, not like an event they’re managing for other people. If you’ve found yourself dreading the planning, arguing about the guest list, or wondering why the wedding has become more stressful than exciting, eloping is probably the right call.
It’s not the right move if you genuinely want a big celebration with your full crew and you’d feel incomplete without it. No judgment. That’s a real and valid thing to want. But if you’re researching this page, you’re probably already past that point.
Elope if you care more about the experience of getting married than the event of getting married. Have a wedding if the celebration with your people is the point and you’d genuinely miss it. The honest version: most couples who ask this question already know which one they want. They’re just looking for permission to do it.
You don’t need permission. But if you’re looking for it anyway, here it is.
Choosing how you get married is not selfish. Getting married is about your relationship. A wedding is an event you host for other people. Those are two different things. If your family defines their involvement in your marriage by whether they attended a ceremony, that’s a boundary worth examining. Your wedding day should reflect you two, not everyone else’s expectations of what a wedding should look like.
No way! In places like Colorado, you can self solemnize, but elopements have come a long way since the Elvis in Vegas days. You can really craft and customize your elopement to match you. Having family at your elopement is completely acceptable and welcomed!
Read more on how to include your family in your elopement!
Some family members will have a reaction and most of those reactions soften quickly when they see the photos, hear the story, and realize you were genuinely happy. The couples who navigate this the best are the ones who communicate clearly before the day and involve family in a celebration afterward, even a small dinner or gathering. The couples who have the hardest time are the ones who disappear and announce it after the fact with no context. How you tell people matters almost as much as the decision itself.
Tell them what happened. You got married in the mountains. Here’s a photo. It was the best day. Most people’s first response to seeing real images from a mountain elopement is something like “that looks incredible.” The couples who overthink the announcement usually find the reaction is far easier than they expected. Lean into the story. It’s a good one.
Absolutely. A lot of couples elope and then do a dinner, backyard gathering, or small reception in the weeks or months after. You get both things: the intimate, personal ceremony experience and the celebration with your people. The two don’t cancel each other out. In fact, a lot of couples say the post-elopement party is way more fun because all the planning pressure is already gone.
Ready to Stop Planning Someone Else’s Wedding?
My name is Sean, and I can’t wait to help you elope! I’m a free spirit who has dedicated my life to exploring this wild world and connecting to the people in it.
My passion has led me here, where I can follow my heart and share my love for the outdoors with others on their wedding day. It’s truly an awesome experience, and I’m stoked every time I get to document your day.
Still, looking for reasons to elope? Reach out so we can get started and we can chat more!
