Millennials Eloping Online Kissing Costly Weddings Goodbye
Photo courtesy of Zita de Pooter
We have known for a long time that eloping is the hottest alternative to that big traditional wedding, so we were not all surprised to come across a story in The Palm Beach Post that told of a young couple who had dispensed with all of the usual fanfare that comes with a wedding in order to get married at a local Starbucks on their way to work! It may sound extreme to some, but the story actually highlights some excellent points about why a growing number of millennials are going down a similar route and eloping online!
Jeremy Meek and his bride Zita de Pooter picked up all of the required paperwork from the local courthouse in Washington D.C. before finding a quiet spot in Starbucks where they exchanged their own vows and signed the papers! They then asked a passer-by to snap a picture which they used to announce the wedding on Facebook! Zita then scurried off to work in time for a 10 am meeting. She told the reporter that they didn’t want to make a big deal out of it and that the intimate nature of their marriage made it romantic in her eyes. The couple did have a small celebration a few months later with 65 of their friends and family, but even that only set the pair back $6,000 – a fraction of the cost of a traditional wedding!
Why Don’t Millennials Want Big Weddings?
Jeremy and Zita’s story is by no means a unique one. There are more millennial couples than ever before who are choosing to elope online instead of spending a small fortune on a traditional wedding. Millennials in particular are attracted to these small scale nuptials whether that is in the form of an elopement, or a smaller and more intimate wedding.
According to the article, the main reason for this upswing in the number of elopements comes down to a desire for no planning, no politics and above all else – no pressure! This is something that we have been studying for some time now via our Why Do Couples Elope? poll. Almost half of the respondents said that they wanted to avoid family politics and nearly 60% just wanted to escape from the stress and pressure! However, the top answer year after year has always been to save money. This is also something that is mentioned in relation to Jeremy and Zita’s wedding. The average cost of a traditional wedding in their area is $44,856.
As the article points out, most millennials are already carrying student loan debts, so adding an expensive wedding to the mix could have a very negative impact on their finances, especially with house prices on the rise! It really is no wonder that millennials are directing their money elsewhere!