Saturday was Bub and my fourth wedding anniversary. Now, for those of you that have been married more than four years, you are probably thinking that 4 years is just a drop in the hat and that may be- but. These past four years have been the most eye-opening of my life. I have grown and stretched as a human and of course Bub gave me the most precious gift of my life- Baby Bub!
Now, enough of that mush! Let’s talk about some of the reasons why eloping was the best answer for me (and Bub). I would wager that many if not most girls at some point daydream about their wedding day and I am no exception- white dress, beautiful flowers, perfect lighting, friends & family- the whole nine yards. And then there came a semester at Auburn when I took an event coordinating class and I hated it! That was also in the very beginning of when Bub and I started dating so he was privy to me swearing that I would never plan another big event- including a wedding.
Fast forward to us getting engaged and I had conveniently forgotten that I had sworn I would never plan a wedding… I am pretty sure that I had my engagement ring less than 24 hours before I was at the big box book store tearing up the How to Plan a Wedding section and it is safe to say I left with no less than 5 wedding magazines. This frenzy of planning continued until the afternoon of my thirtieth birthday.
Picture with me, Bub and I having a late lunch talking about all these plans and it was so stressful. All these decisions that carried so much weight- trying to plan a beach wedding 250 miles away is not as easy as you might think. And to add insult to injury, my grandmother’s health was declining rapidly and it was uber-important that I be married before she passed. It was my birthday, I was discussing supposedly the happiest day of my life to that point and what do you know? a migraine set in. I was miserable. Bub looked at me and said Babe, why are you doing this to yourself- remember, you said you would never plan a wedding- let’s elope. I will admit, it took a little while to sink in. Bub took me home where I laid in the dark for the rest of the afternoon trying to sleep off the headache. When I woke, my migraine was gone and I was really excited about the idea of eloping!
So, one of the biggest and best reasons to elope is that it really is less stress. Bub and I went to Las Vegas- and absolutely, Elvis was there.
And this leads me to my next two reasons why eloping is something to consider: the guest list and the bridal party. Okay, when you sit down to make your guest list- you think, 200 people is a lot and you begin that first draft. And bam! your guest list is up to 600. And then you start trimming… so, your best friend from first grade doesn’t have to be on your list nor does the bartender from your college bar- but, you learned so much about life from them, how could you leave them off… and then let’s talk about all that family that comes out of the woodworks when a wedding reception with an open bar gets mentioned… it is stressful. So, Bub and I just put it out there that anybody that wanted to go with us to Las Vegas was more than welcome but anybody that couldn’t go, we understood. We ended up with 20 or so friends and family with us in Vegas- it was nice. Did we miss some folks? Absolutely. Did we understand? Without a doubt.
And then the Bridal Party. I mean. I have about 700 best friends- because either you are or you aren’t. Anyway, having to pick just a handful was not working for me. In my planning I had 10, yes TEN bridesmaids. I mean, really- that’s about five, six or seven too many. But, just narrowing it down to 10 was stressful and tough- I didn’t want to hurt any feelings. So, by eloping- I did not have a Bridal party and it was fine.
I hope I am starting to paint a picture of less stress and just awesomeness. I have several friends that eloped and I am sure they would each say it was the best decision for them. A couple sets of friends eloped by going to beaches in foreign countries. One set went to Italy and one set jumped on a cruise. Still another tied the knot in the mountains- and another set that went to their local courthouse- it is what works best for you and your beloved. Vegas! worked best for us.
I wanted the most stereotypical location and I thought you just couldn’t get any more stereotypical than the little white chapel in Las Vegas and getting married with Elvis. It didn’t hurt that I do love Elvis.
I have a couple other reasons why eloping was the best decision for me- I still got to wear a dress. My dress was very simple and it was T length and I felt good in it. In my head, I thought Las Vegas was the perfect excuse to wear a shorter dress. Just because you elope does not mean that you have to forgo a wedding dress. And my final reason for suggesting you consider eloping is that your wedding and your honeymoon become tied into one. It worked seamlessly for us and to boot, our friends were with us!
I have to add that one of my dearest friends that was with us in Las Vegas was Leigh. I am a believer and have been for most of my life that soul mates are not just lovers- but, that platonic friends can also be soul mates. Leigh is certainly one of my soul mates and I knew that in high school when our friendship was established.
This blog is the latest incarnation of our friendship. It is a tangible collaborative of our creative force. Our friendship has waxed and waned since high school but Leigh’s presence at our wedding certainly established the inroads to this blog and just reiterated our bond.
So, there were some big factors and a couple side factors that really led me to decide to elope. And I am so glad we did what we did- it was by far the best decision for us. And each year as our wedding anniversary passes, it is very endearing to look back and remember our day. It was so fun.
