How to Announce an Elopement and a Wedding to Follow

You can make your elopement a smooth and pleasant experience with careful planning.

A wedding is an emotional and joyous event in your life, and a poorly planned elopement can leave family members feeling offended and left out. You can avoid many potential hurt feelings by inviting your closest family to your elopement. You should prepare your invitations to accurately reflect your wedding plans, including information about your elopement and formal wedding plans. Following the right steps can help you ensure that your elopement is a joyous event and the start of a successful marriage.

Instructions

1. Invite your closest family members to your home so that you can speak to them in a comfortable and informal environment. Explain that you have decided to get married, but that you intend to elope first and have a formal wedding later. Tell them your reasons, such as, for example the inability to pay for a large wedding now, preferring a small, personal elopement to avoid the potential problems and costs that a large formal wedding can bring.

2. Schedule the date for your large wedding, and begin making plans for it and your reception. Remember that because you will already be officially married, you have additional options that you can make regarding your actual wedding. Decide who will officiate your formal wedding, remembering that your officiator does not need to have a license to marry you. Alternately, you can choose to schedule a reception in place of a wedding.

3. Purchase or create wedding invitations as you would normally, but in place of a standard wedding invitation, use an address similar to the following. "Kristyn and Matt invite you to share in their wedding. They were married in a private ceremony at Cameron Park on July 4th. They now wish to celebrate with their beloved family members and friends at..." Include the date and location of your planned wedding.

4. Talk to your spouse and determine who you wish to invite to your provide elopement. Consider inviting your closest family members, including parents, siblings and grandparents to your elopement. If you choose, invite family and friends who live nearby to where you are having the elopement. Remember that holding an elopement without including them could lead to hurt feelings. Write a carefully worded rule for who you will invite, such as "close family only" or "family who lives in town." Explain your choice of invitations to guests who you are not inviting.

5. Wait until after your elopement, and six weeks before your planned wedding, to send out your invitations to everyone who you are inviting to your formal wedding. Wait for replies before planning the size of your official wedding.

References

• Eloping Now: Eloping Etiquette
• The Knot: Wedding Invitations: Etiquette Q&A