How to Include Your Loved Ones on Your Elopement Day

Telling your family and friends you have made the decision to elope can be a stressful conversation. Whether there were hopes from parents to be able to bring families together, or friends who were looking to celebrate your love of one another with you, it can be a difficult conversation to have. However, with your decision to elope, there are still plenty of ways to be sure you include your loved ones on your elopement day. Hopefully after some explanation of why you and your fiance are looking to elope, you’ll have family and friends support of your decision. They can still be present in your elopement planning journey and will want to be included in any open discussions you have about your elopement day.

Here are a few ways to include the support and love of family and friends on and after your elopement day {and what we had done on our elopement day!}

How to include loved ones before your Elopement day

• Include family/friends when choosing and finalizing an elopement location. Though they are not joining you on the day, share pictures of where the ceremony will be on the mountain or the airbnb/hotel you are staying at. Haven’t decided yet where the ceremony will be? Ask for their help as well!
• Invite them to any dress/suit shopping and fitting. Trying on wedding dresses or suits is exciting as that is the outfit you’ll say “I do” in. The friends/family members will appreciate being able to share that moment with you.
• Still have a bachelor/bachelorette/wedding shower! Just because you are deciding to say your vows in a more private ceremony does not mean you should miss out on the celebrations beforehand. 

How to include loved ones on your Elopement day

• Borrow an item from a family member/friend that will make you think of them on your elopement day! 
  • I borrowed my best friends veil during our elopement. It was so special to me that she let me borrow it (as my something borrowed!) and also I felt like she was with me when we said our vows.
• If your family and friends are with you on your Elopement Day, think of ways to include them in your ceremony. They could be the officiant or read a poem during your ceremony.
  • For our elopement, we included a ring warming which is an Irish tradition. Before we exchanged our vows, we passed around our wedding rings and those in attendance said a small prayer or blessing.
• Have friends and family write letters and set aside a time to read them on your elopement day. Whether you decide to read them together before the ceremony, or taking time after you’ve said your vows to have some time together to reflect on the day and read the letters, it can be a nice personal touch to add to your day.
• FaceTime family and friends afterwards so they can experience the happiness and love from your day. It allows you to relive the moment over and over and they get to see you both dressed up in your wedding dress/suit from the day.
  • When we SURPRISE! Eloped we had so much fun FaceTiming friends in our wedding attire, everyone was pretty shocked but excited when we told them we eloped 🙂

How to include loved ones after your Elopement day

• Plan a gathering where you can relive your day. Whether it is in your backyard or at a local restaurant, have a day where everyone comes together and celebrates you as a couple. At this point, you could have pictures already returned from your photographer to have a slideshow in the background or pictures printed set up across the space. Though they weren’t with you on your day, they’ll want to celebrate!
• Look at your wedding pictures with your besties! Share your excitement you felt when experiencing the first look, think back to the amazing view after the hike to your ceremony location and describe in detail the awesome dinner you had as a married couple. 
  • We did this over zoom because of COVID but either share the pictures over zoom or have a smaller gathering where you can sit down and walk through each of the pictures. It was just as fun!

Let me know how you decided to include loved ones on your wedding day or if you have any other suggestions.