Why Do Couples Elope?

Over the years, one thing that we have realized is that the vast majority of couples who choose to elope rather than have a traditional wedding seem to be doing it for very similar reasons! As discussed in our ‘History of Elopement’ blog post, there was a time when elopement was only considered when you had to get married in a rush, or because your family disapproved and it was necessary to run off together and marry in secret. However, if you have read our ‘What is Eloping?’ blog post then you will know that this is no longer the case. There are all sorts of reasons to elope, and we have spent a lot of time looking at these various reasons as part of our ongoing research into eloping.

Why are couples eloping?

Here at WhereToElope.com we have been collecting information regarding the reasons why couples elope via our ongoing ‘Why You Eloped’ poll. As we take our annual look at the results we can see that for the fourth consecutive year, the most common reason why couples are choosing to elope is that they can save money. That does not come as a great surprise given how often we highlight the fact that choosing elopement could give you the opportunity to save as much as 90% off the average cost of a traditional wedding. The results of our poll simply underscore that point. However, this is not the only reason that couples are choosing elopement, so let’s take a closer look at the results.

As noted, the number one reason why couples elope is money. Our poll results indicate that 72.64% of couples are citing saving money as the main reason that they have chosen to elope rather than spending up to $35,329 which is the latest national average cost of a traditional wedding! This figure is only a slight increase on last year when the result was 72%. Couples who are choosing elopement in order to save money have also noted that the money they save could be used elsewhere, with 24.46% of couples choosing to use the money towards buying a house instead.

Our poll results also suggest that an increasing number of couples are choosing to elope in order to make their wedding day more about them than other people! Our results show that 58.84% of our respondents have chosen elopement so that they can have fun with their big day and have the ceremony that they want, not the one other people believe they should have. In a similar vein, just over 40% are looking for something a little bit out of the norm for their wedding and are choosing elopement because of the element of freedom it offers them in planning their wedding.

Family politics are another big contributing factor when it comes to couples choosing to elope. Our poll results show that more than 48% of couples who elope do so in order to avoid the inevitable arguments that always seem to be triggered when planning a wedding. On a related note, 54% of respondents said that they chose to elope to maintain their own sanity!

Reasons to Elope Revealed

Let’s take a look at the Poll results in full.

• 72.64% of couples elope to save money.
• 58.84% of couples elope to have fun and enjoy their own ceremony.
• 54% of couples elope to maintain their own sanity.
• 48.18% of couples elope to avoid family politics.
• 42.37% of couples elope to save time.
• 40.19% of couples elope to have freedom from the norm.
• 26.39% of couples elope to get around the high cost of destination weddings.
• 24.46% of couples elope to redirect money towards buying a house.
• 2.66% of couples elope to start immigration procedures.
• 13.32% of couples elope for other reasons not listed above.

These are some of the main reasons to elope, if some of these resonate with you then perhaps you should take our ‘Should You Elope?‘ quiz.

By Dave Westfall