Are you feeling overwhelmed with the thought of planning a big or even semi-big wedding? Are your budget restrictions keeping you up at night? If so, have you thought of eloping? On top of taking the pressure off, it allows you to really celebrate the two of you, enjoy the sentiment of the occasion and the ceremony itself without the stress of planning a full-out wedding.
Eloping can either be a spur-of-the-moment decision or a planned event. Either way, the first thing to decide is who, if anyone, you are going to invite to your elopement. If you decide that it will just be the two of you, I urge you to discuss your decision with your immediate family before the ceremony in order to eliminate any hurt feelings.
You can choose to have your ceremony at either a chapel (which can usually arrange a ceremony at a moments notice), or you can find an officiant that will travel to a location of your choice. In Tahoe, it’s fairly easy to arrange for an elopement and you can find some suggestions in our Tahoe vendor post.
One last piece of advice is that no matter how simple you are making your ceremony or whether you decide to elope to your city hall, exchange vows on the beach, in the forest, or on a hilltop, I urge you to hire a photographer. They will typically document your ceremony plus take special photos of the two of you after the ceremony. You will probably only need them for one to two hours and while it may be the majority of your elopement budget, it will be well worth the investment.
