What Do You Call An Elopement?
One of the things that we have noticed when working with the large number of small wedding vendors that we do is how many different terms people use when they are talking about an elopement style wedding!
We often approach vendors to ask about their elopement packages, only to be told that they don’t offer them. However, it later becomes clear that they do offer Mini Wedding Packages, or some other small scale wedding that is essentially an elopement by some other name! That is why we thought it would be fun to discuss some of the different names being used by vendors, so that when you are searching for an elopement package, you don’t miss out because the vendor has used a different term! Here are a selection of the different terms that we’ve see being used to describe an elopement:
- Elopement
- Small Wedding
- Intimate Wedding
- Tiny Wedding
- Boutique Wedding
- Non-Traditional Wedding
- Casual Wedding
- Themed Wedding
- Destination Wedding
- Runaway Wedding
- Civil Ceremony
- Justice of the Peace Wedding
- Courthouse Wedding
- Pop-Up Wedding
- Shotgun Wedding
- Quick Wedding
- Fast Wedding
- Mini Wedding
- Vegas Wedding
- Secret Wedding
- DIY Wedding (Do It Yourself)
- Eloping
- Elope
- and just a “Wedding”
Why Do We Need All of These Elopement Terms?
You might be wondering why it is necessary to have all of these different ways to say elopement! In talking to various vendors we have come up with a couple of viable explanations that we think explain the situation very well.
- Vendors Want to Avoid The Stigma That Was Once Attached To the term “Elopement” – We have previous discussed some of the history of and we touched on the fact that at one time there was stigma attached to them. In the early days, eloping was considered clandestine and was often done to marry against the wishes of parents or to avoid an arranged marriage. There was a time when eloping was considered some kind of scandal and although times have moved on some people do still hold some misconceptions about elopement.
- Vendors May View Elopement As Something Different – Another reason for using different names for elopement packages is that it can mean different things to different people. Some people believe that an elopement is a wedding that only involves the bride and groom, while others will invite a small number of guests, usually their immediate family and close friends. It is because of this difference of opinion over what constitutes an elopement that many Small Wedding vendors use alternative names like Tiny Wedding or Intimate Ceremony so that those who do want to bring a few guests along do not feel excluded.
It has left us asking ourselves, does it really matter what you call an elopement? Isn’t it just another way to say that two people are in love and are ready to make a commitment to one another? It doesn’t matter whether you think it should be just the two of you, or if you want your closest friends and family to be involved. Here at WhereToElope.com we just want to make sure you get the wedding you want. That is why we are dedicated to helping couples get from engaged to just married with the minimum amount of fuss! And explains our slogan WhereToElope is the “easiest way” to just married!
Please let us know if we missed any small wedding terms used for elopements.
Or let us know if you agree that what you call your elopement just doesn’t matter, by posting a comment below.