Has Eloping Made a ‘Comeback’ During the Pandemic?

We all know that COVID-19 has put a huge dampener on the 2020 big wedding season with venues forced to close or heavily restrict the number of guests allowed in attendance. This has led to a large number of couples seeking alternative ways to get married and many have turned to eloping. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal Magazine suggests that the pandemic has seen eloping making a ‘major comeback’. Having been in the business of helping couples elope for many years, I’m not sure I agree this is a comeback. Rather it is a kickstart that has pushed an already growing wedding market trend into a higher gear much sooner than expected! Let’s take a look at some of the key points raised in the article.

Eloping When a Big Wedding No Longer Feels Important

One of the things that struck a chord with me was the story of the featured couple in the article. Sam Wannemacher and Zach Bass originally planned a large wedding for 150 guests in Boulder, Colorado in September. However, it soon became clear that with so many out of town guests this just wasn’t feasible any longer. The couple ended up eloping to Taos, New Mexico with only their pet dog in attendance and performed the ceremony themselves before Face Timing friends and family to share the news.  The bride made an excellent point when she said, “Amid a global pandemic,… a lavish wedding really just didn’t feel important anymore.” We agree, Sam couldn’t be more correct!

I recently read that during the COVID-19 pandemic over 80% of American adults have been suffering from anxiety. This is due to the shared trauma that we are all experiencing at the moment. Weddings are known to cause a great deal of stress. At a time like this, is it really worth piling more onto your shoulders? Planning a wedding in a pandemic is even more stressful than normal due to all of the different restrictions and other concerns involved. It just makes more sense to remove the worry and think about eloping instead. WhereToElope,com can help you to find many Vendors who are able to offer COVID safe elopement packages for a no-fuss wedding.

Eloping Isn’t a New Concept – It Just Gone More Mainstream

Eloping isn’t a radical new idea! The popularity of elopements and small weddings has been rising for several years now. A growing number of couples are putting more importance on the marriage itself instead of the wedding show! It seems more common to spend money on buying a home, paying off student loans, or starting a family instead of a lavish party. There is no doubt online searches for elopements have spiked in 2020 as couples are forced to abandon or postpone their wedding plans. We’ve seen 150-250% increases in the demand for elopements. We are even seeing that more big wedding vendors are embracing the idea of hosting elopements and micro weddings now. Many are even developing all-inclusive packages to replace the big weddings they usually host.

Eloping Because Love Won’t Wait

The article also highlighted several other couples who choose eloping because they just didn’t want to wait out the pandemic! None of us are able to say when life might return to normal. Many couples are opting to keep their originally planned wedding date but are eloping instead of having a larger celebration.

Have your wedding plans changed because of Coronavirus?
We would love to hear your approach.