Traditional wedding or elopement

Why would couples choose to elope rather than get married in the “traditional” manner?

Some brides dream of the perfect gown, a room full of friends and family, and an album full of their wedding ceremony pictures. Others are eloping to a favorite vacation spot, a backyard party, or an intimate elopement setting nearby like a beach-side wedding!

Elopement Wedding Photography Halifax, NS - www.ankagooldphotography.com

Elopement parties are now a thing where there is a smaller, down-scaled ceremony that is a fraction of the price of a traditional old-school wedding. As I write this, I realize that the word traditional doesn’t apply anymore. 2020’s just like the roaring 1920s are quite good at establishing their own rules and regulations and many photographers are seeing the trends change on a monthly basis - with more and more people creating their own traditions that are becoming the absolute norm. In fact, a lot of them are here to stay. Except for the word ‘micro wedding’ I hope - oooh, how I dislike that word. There is no such thing as a micro-wedding, as it leads to a lifetime of marriage, commitment, communication, and adventure. There is nothing micro about the day when you and your loved one commit to each other for the rest of your lives (hopefully).

Pros: Eloping saves money

The average Canadian wedding costs anywhere between $15,000 and $35,000 dollars according to recent wedding statistics. That’s just bonkers if you ask me.

Think about the costs after paying for catering, flowers, the DJ, photography, the meal, gifts to the wedding party, and on and on. It really adds up quickly. There have been stories pre-pandemic of some weddings costing upwards of $75,000 that include travel costs to a Caribbean location, motels, meals, etc.

So yes, that one certainly may be over the top, but was someone’s ideal dream of a perfect wedding. Some can afford it, some cannot. Some simply refuse to pay that much money for a wedding and look for other options and non-traditional ways of tying the knot like eloping or having smaller at-home weddings.

That's one of the main reasons why couples are opting for an elopement ceremony or even a smaller intimate type of group wedding surrounded by only two dozen of their closest friends and family. So typically, these types of elopement wedding parties are significantly cheaper than the average full-blown wedding in Nova Scotia. These types of wedding ceremonies may only cost around $2000 or even lower depending on the budget.

Cons: You don't get the share the full wedding ceremony with all your friends and family. The pandemic years showed us what’s really important - family and loved ones, so having a smaller, intimate ceremony with just the closest and dearest in attendance will be no less special than a huge celebration. After all — you can always have a celebration party afterwards.

Bottom line: when getting married in the traditional fashion, if you spend two years planning your wedding, invite 250 people, at a cost of $35,000, it better turn out to be the best dream wedding that money can buy.

Elopement and Honeymoon Together

Another plus when saving money on a big wedding

is that you get to save money and spend it on other things like the honeymoon. Some couples actually would prefer just to go to the justice of the peace, get the paperwork signed, and then spend all their money on a trip south.

This type of wedding ceremony is actually becoming more popular these days. Some couples even choose to have the elopement and the honeymoon all in one place — south of the border or their favorite destination or activity like a skiing trip, a camping road trip, or even a local beach-side retreat or spa.

Eloping to a getaway destination will allow some to avoid all the drama and the noise of a traditional wedding surrounded by dozens of people you rarely see from one year to the next. Instead, they would rather skip all the drama opting for a more private intimate setting without the huge audience. Some excel at a large event which others tend to cringe at the very thought.

Some cannot handle the stress of picking the venue, the flowers, the cake, the hair, the makeup, managing guests and caterers, etc.  So, it becomes a no-brainer where eloping eliminates all this planning and potential confusion. So now let’s talk photography.

Elopement Photography

Photographers will be the first ones to tell you how important it is to pick the right person to document your day.

The newlyweds will be the next to tell you the same thing.

Even if you decide to elope as a reason to save money, one thing you shouldn’t skimp on is photography. And I am not saying this as a photographer, but I am saying this as someone who was getting married eons ago and tried to hire the most affordable photographer whose photos were okay. Well…my photos turned out okay and I realized that in the last 15 years I looked at my wedding album…maybe three times. My wedding photos are just okay. Where I wanted amazing, artful, fun, colorful memories, I got okay pictures. While my wedding day was amazing and fun and full of excitement, none of that was captured in the photos. So today I photograph couples on their wedding day and I make sure to not only capture their day as it unfolds, but I make sure to create vivid, colorful, artful memories that will be with them forever and ever and ever — I capture what the day felt like, so you can go back to your memories and feel how you felt on that day. So however you decide to get married, make sure the majority of your decision-making goes towards picking the right photographer — unless of course, you know exactly who and what you want.

There are many places now that offer all-inclusive services for your day that include photographers. For example, East Coast Pop Up Weddings is all about making your elopement as grand or as intimate as you want. Want to elope A-la Vegas style? Wolfville is the place to go — Woflville Wedding Chapel by Sarah Anderson who is also the magic behind East Coast Pop Up Weddings - can you hear “Goin' to the chapel and we're gonna get married” playing in your head yet?

Choose a local Halifax wedding photographer that is willing to travel, one that is open to your ideas and suggestions. Work together to make the intimate moments the best they can be. Whether you want to get married during an evening sunset in Nova Scotia, or a winter ski elopement in Banff Alberta, there are lots of desirable locations when thinking "elopement" marriages.