One of the big things about a traditional wedding is etiquette! There are so many different ‘rules’ about everything from how to word your invites and where to seat your guests that it is easy to see why these occasions can be so stressful! Eloping is an easy way to avoid stress, but unfortunately wedding etiquette is not so easily escaped! Let’s take a look at the elopement etiquette rules!
Dealing With The Family
There are a long list of reasons to choose elopement, including reducing the cost of your wedding and eliminating the stress of planning a traditional wedding, but unless you are specifically eloping because of the disapproval of your family then etiquette demands that you do take their feelings into account. In order to avoid hurt feelings it is important to sit down with both sets of parents before eloping so that you can explain the situation. We recently offered some tips for telling the family, so be sure to check those out!
Making Your Announcements
Even if you are eloping, you may still wish to send out announcements letting everyone know. Etiquette suggests that these are worded in exactly the same way as you would for a traditional ceremony. Usually the announcement is made by the bride’s parents on behalf of the couple although modern conventions state that if the couple are paying for their own wedding then they should announce the wedding themselves. Here are a few examples of formal wording you may use:
- Sample wording from the couple: Jessica Reed and John Black were married in a private ceremony in Las Vegas on December 20th 2013.
- Sample wording from the bride’s parents: Mr & Mrs R Reed are delighted to announce the marriage of their daughter Jessica to John Black. The couple took their vows in a private ceremony in Las Vegas on 20 December 2013.
- Sample Wording with reception invite: Jessica and John are pleased to announce that they were married on December 20, 2013 in a private ceremony while on vacation in Las Vegas. They invite you to celebrate their marriage at a brunch reception on January 28th 2014 at RiverView Country Club.
Wedding Gifts & Elopement
One of the major sticking points when it comes to elopement etiquette is whether or not it is okay to register for gifts. What many couples fail to realize is that it is actually considered rude to enclose a gift list even in a traditional wedding announcement! However, with that being said everyone has come to expect this anyway, so why shouldn’t you register even if you elope? This is a topic we looked at in great detail a few months ago and we determined that it was wise to have a gift registry for anyone who wants to celebrate your marriage.
While eloping will not allow you to circumvent wedding etiquette altogether it will cut it down to the bare minimum. However, it is important to remember that this is your wedding and ultimately you do what pleases you. It is fine to be polite to others about it, but there is no need to compromise your wishes to do things ‘the right way’.
Have you come across any Elopement etiquette problems while planning your elopement?