Growing Popularity
of the "Elopement Wedding"
by Frankee Love

When most people hear the word “elope” they may think of the young couple sneaking away in the middle of the night to get married quickly and without the approval of their families. Today, that is far from the case. A new breed of elopement weddings has emerged. Enter the Elegant Elopement. Perhaps it is a growing trend due to economic realities or it may be due to the work overload and stress many young couples are finding in their daily lives. But couples are looking for another alternative to the large, traditional wedding without giving up the classic touches that make it memorable. Wedding professionals are seeing more and more couples choosing a smaller, elopement type wedding often at an attractive destination they like to visit such as the beach. For this reason, many businesses are offering “elopement packages” to provide the services they seek. Couples find that they can have a beautiful, classic wedding with all the trimmings at an affordable price by choosing a package that has already been planned out and ready to go.

Packages may include lodging, cake, flowers, dinner, officiant and photographer. An elopement wedding may be for the bride & groom only, but sometimes a very few close family members or friends attend. More recently, the distinction between an elopement and a destination wedding has become blurred. A destination wedding is a wedding that is held in a location people like to travel to for vacations - such as resorts, bed & breakfast inns or beaches. It is usually some distance away from the bride and groom's residence. For this reason, the destination wedding tends to have a smaller guest list than a traditional wedding held in the bride or groom's hometown. Since fewer people attend the destination wedding, couples often will have a large reception at a later date (and present a slide show of their wedding pictures)

So, why are destination weddings and elopements on the rise? Obvious economic issues aside, it's just a fact of modern day life that, compared to a generation ago, today's young men and women are likely to locate farther from the area they grew up in. This means they are more likely to meet a mate from a greater distance away.

Then, when they decide to get married, the decision of "where to get married" becomes a big issue. For example, the bride may be originally from California and the groom from London, but now they are both living in Arlington, Virginia. So, where is the wedding going to take place? Which family is going to bear the expense of travel? With a destination wedding or elopement, the couple just chooses a place they like to visit and have the wedding there. Fewer people will attend, but they will have a reception later in California and another one in London. Everybody is happy.

With a destination wedding or elopement, the couple may want to stay a little longer and combine their wedding and honeymoon. In some cases, their closest friends and/or family members attending the wedding will also stay longer. They may want to schedule in some recreational activities such as golf, tennis, boat tours, fishing or sight-seeing.

One may think the destination wedding would be expensive and difficult to plan. But actually, destination weddings can be much less expensive than a large traditional wedding and easier to plan too. By having all the elements of the wedding already planned out with an elopement package, the couple knows the total price up front and can budget accordingly. The destination wedding or elopement package that includes lodging, wedding cake, photography and flowers saves the couple both time and money. The planning is made easy and stress free. This gives the couple the opportunity to spend their time enjoying each other's company instead of stressing over every detail of the big wedding.

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Frankee Love is a full time wedding officiant and performs weddings at many locations in Virginia including Virginia Beach and the Blue Ridge Mountains.

If you are interested in a mountain wedding, you may want to visit her Blue Ridge Weddings website.

Call for a free consultation about your beach or mountain wedding
757-321-0348 or e-mail info@beachweddingsvirginia.com

Guidelines for beach weddings in Virginia Beach

Consider "Beach Weddings Virginia" your online source for information on destination weddings, weddings by the ocean, beach weddings, elopement packages and small wedding packages in Virginia.