Why I Chose to Elope

From Charity: Almost every time I tell someone what I do at The Elopement Co., I get the response, "I wish I would have done that." I get it. Heck, I've BEEN there. Trying to tell your mother that you aren't having a fairytale wedding is terrifying. You're afraid of letting people down who matter to you. You are afraid of hurting someone's feelings. Elopements aren't for everyone. But I thought I'd share with you the experience from someone who did it.
I met Tiffany through my friend Maliquea pretty early on in the planning process for TEC. When she found out what I do, she told me her own elopement story. Hearing how happy she was about having eloped made me know I was on the right track! I knew she was a blogger, and I asked her to write about it for us here. So here's Tiffany in her own words. And check out her blog here.
Why I Chose to Elope
When asked to share what compelled me and my partner to elope a little over a year ago, I was excited to share with anyone thinking about choosing this route. As a relatively young couple, creating a special experience for our union was important to us - but so was minimizing the debt factor associated with taking the next step in our relationship. Below are the top 3 reasons I chose to elope:
Curated Experience
Anyone who knows me, knows I’m all about creating my own personal style. I like to look put together – but not spend a lot of time, effort, or money on clothing. I also like to craft my own looks – not what’s dictated by the masses. I enjoy mixing it up! When the opportunity arose to have the most special day of my life only come with the details that I wanted – I jumped on it! I picked my dress, had a lovely bouquet, lovely scenery, and ditched the cake and extra bells and whistles that wouldn’t make my special day any more special than it already was.
Location Access
We knew we wanted a small, private ceremony in a beautiful place. We also knew that being able to choose what elements of a traditional wedding we would keep, and which ones we would ditch was a lot easier with just the two of us (and witnesses) present. For our wedding day, I wanted to be outside, before God and nature. I also love Asheville, NC and the surrounding area but couldn’t imagine paying an arm and a leg to get hitched on a vineyard in the mountains. Eloping provided the opportunity to have a small private wedding at a beautiful location – plenty of time to enjoy it, but no extra cost associated with shuffling hundreds of people around. It was perfect!
Less Financial Heartache
As a little girl, I spent some time idealizing what marriage would look like when the time came. Big, elaborate weddings with lots and lots of friends and family is more or less what we are socialized (in many ways) to desire. However, as I aged and grew more into my own skin and personality, I learned that for me, big flashy experiences aren’t really my thing. Thankfully, I met a man who shared that same perspective – and when we made the decision to start growing our family, we took the time to decide together what would complement our immediate life plan the best, without compromising the intimacy of tying the knot. Why spend literally tens of thousands of dollars for an experience that lasts a couple of hours? How could we justify that burden of debt when we were homeowners, planning to have children very soon? Frankly – why would we assume any debt for our wedding? So that a bunch of friends and family could say that they had a nice time? It just didn’t seem like a smart thing to do. Overall, we are very happy with the fact that we are a little over a year into our marriage – and it’s completely paid for, rather than being a looming burden over the early years of starting our family!
-Tiffany Waddell Tate
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