What Does Eloping Mean? | Eloped Definition

Are you wondering what does eloping mean? There are so many different ways that people define elopement, but I think a few perceptions about eloping need to be fixed-LIKE NOW! Some people frown upon it and some people love it, but I want to get down to the nitty-gritty of why you should elope and what eloping really means. I’m going to debunk perceptions your parents, family or friends might have of eloping. So, please share with them and everyone else so that you can help me spread the love on eloping!

What’s the Difference Between an Intimate Wedding and an Elopement?

First of all, let’s chat about the difference between intimate weddings and elopements. You may think that the difference between having an elopement and an intimate wedding is defined by how many people you choose to have witness your marriage, but I don’t think that is an accurate definition.

Choosing to have an elopement comes down to the type of experience you want to have on your elopement day. If you want to have your closest friends and family with you, then do it, because it’s your day! I tend to cap elopements at 25 people, because anymore than that it because extremely difficult and next to impossible to keep the day about the couple rather than your friends and family and eloping is all about keeping the focus on the two of you who are getting married. So, if you want to have your closest 5 or 10 or 20 friends or family celebrate with you then take them along, because it’s all about celebrating how you want.

Vise versa to the couples who feel having a ‘just us’ elopement is what you really want then be brave and do that! Don’t let other influence your decision to get married in the way that the two of you feel is right for you.

What Does Eloping Mean?

What does elope mean?

Eloping is all about the Experience

Most couples who choose to elope want to have a special experience on their wedding day! An elopement allows for intimate and adventurous moments that truly reflect your relationship and what you two are all about. While every aspect is important the bigger picture is about crafting the ultimate day for the two of you! It’s about creating the most amazing day that the two of you could imagine from start to finish and actually want to do it all over again!

Larger and more traditional weddings don’t typically allow for such moments during the day, because the focus is entertaining the guests and making sure that they’re happy. You might be able to sneak off for 20 minutes during sunset for some pictures, but it’s usually rushed and more about getting the pictures rather than capturing and documenting your experience. There’s been SO many couples who have a traditional wedding who look back on their wedding day and wish they had eloped. They realize that their wedding day wasn’t actually about them!

By eloping you eliminate having to worry about your guests and get to actually focus on the two of you. It’s your wedding day–isn’t that how it should be?! If you need more evidence check out these 3 Reasons Eloping is Better Than a Traditional Wedding.

You can craft your dream elopement day! Eloping means you can be intentional about what you do on your wedding day.

Going off of the topic above elopements allow you to get married exactly how you want and enables you to craft a day around your relationship. You can create a day that is a reflection of the two of you!

For example, if you’re a couple who loves to hike in your day-to-day life, then you can go hiking on your elopement day. If you love exploring new places you can take a helicopter ride to a fun, new and remote location. If you love skiing, why not go skiing on your elopement day?! The options are limitless and you can literally do whatever you want and have a day and experience that is crafted to you.

That being said, everything a couple chooses to include on their elopement day is done with a purpose. Thought and care is is put into every aspect of the day without having to worry about what Aunt Sally or Uncle Bob think.

While planning a traditional wedding you can get caught up and overwhelmed with who gets an invite and who doesn’t, what the table arrangements look like, who’s going to make what speak when, etc. For some couples having to think about and plan all these things isn’t what they’re looking for in a wedding. Of course, eloping isn’t for everyone and that’s totally okay! Just like traditional weddings aren’t for everyone and that too, is totally okay!

What does elope mean?

Elopements mean you can avoid all the unwanted family drama

Let’s be real–most traditional weddings have some type of family drama. Even if you don’t have a crazy family sometimes traditional weddings can cause the drama and if you don’t want to deal with that, that is totally your choice! It may seem a bit nerve-wracking to let your family know you’re eloping so be sure to check out this article on 5 Tips for Announcing Your Elopement.

I totally understand if you want to include your nearest and dearest family and friends on your elopement day to celebrate with you. An elopement can still include those who truly matter to you. It’s the intention of your day that define what an elopement is!

To those who want to elope with just the two of you, but want to keep family involved in some way check out How to Keep Family Involved During Your Elopement!

No matter what you decide, take a stance and make the decision that feels right to you!

You can have a stress-free elopement day! What does eloping mean? It means you can truly enjoy every minute of your day.

Bouncing off of avoiding the drama, couples who choose to elope want to have a stress-free day so that they can completely enjoy every moment throughout their day. If just the thought of planning a big wedding bash is making you cringe then I think that’s a pretty darn good sign that you should elope!

Can you imagine being stressed out when you wake up on your wedding day?! Your wedding day should be one of the happiest days of your life and if you wake up stressed out and just waiting for it to be over–what kind of day will it be? Probably not one of the happiest days of your life.

So, if you want to avoid being stressed out about all the little details and not be worried about everything going perfectly, then you should probably opt for an epic elopement instead! You can check out the 7 Signs You May Want to Elope if you want to make sure eloping is right for you!

Busting elopement Myths – What is an elopement?!

What does eloping mean?

Busting elopement myths-eloped definition

There are a lot of people who have bad connotations about eloping and what an elopement is really all about. So, let’s bust some myths about why couples choose to elope and what matters to them!

You decided to elope because you want to run away

First of all, when you tell people you eloped or you’re eloping a few things are going to run through their mind and one of them is that they’re going to think you’re eloping because you want to secretly get married or run away, because someone doesn’t approve of your marriage or for a vast reason of other things. While a very small number of elopements might happen because of this, all the couples I work with elope because they want to have an intimate and adventurous experience. They desire to start their lives together by committing themselves to each other in an epic place. It is truly all about the experience and nothing to do with running away!

You want to elope because you want to leave your family out

When you tell your parents or closest family they might feel hurt or left out when that truly isn’t your goal. While some couples decide to have their nearest and dearest family and friends celebrate with them other’s don’t and that isn’t because they want to hurt or purposefully leave someone out. The amazing couple’s I get the honor of working with want to have their day be as stress free as possible and that means getting married exactly how and where you want without having to worry about everyone’s opinions. If you are curious as to what I classify as an elopement check out this article.

If you want to elope with just the two of you and want to find ways to include those closest to you check out How to Include Family in Your Elopement. This article will give you some fun ideas on how to make sure your family doesn’t feel left out!

You decided to elope because you want to save money

This is probably the number one reason people are going to think you want to elope. The couple’s that I have spoken with that have decided to elope aren’t interested in saving money, but rather eloping gives you the opportunity to spend your money on what really matters to you as a couple. I know plenty of couple’s who have spent just as much on their elopement as a traditional wedding! You can hire your dream photographer (Uhm, that would be me!!), you can have that incredible destination elopement, you can take that helicopter ride–if you can dream it, you can do it!

What does elope mean?

What is an elopement?

So, in the end, eloping is about you, it’s about the experience you want, and it’s about committing your lives together in an epic place wherever you want and starting out your lives together on an incredible adventure. Eloping is about the experience you get to have on one of the most important days of your life!

Are you searching for the perfect elopement photographer for you? I would absolutely love to chat with you and help you put together your dream elopement. You can contact me HERE and I can’t wait to hear from you!

Check out these related blog posts!

A Complete Guide for Eloping in Washington State

What to Do After Eloping

How to Make Your Elopement Special

Best Places to Elope in Rocky Mountain National Park

Best Places to Elope in Oregon