Elope or Reschedule?

Eloping and then having a celebration/vow renewal later on is more common than you think. Even with big weddings, people aren't all that traditional. You are more than welcome to do whichever you see fits best for you and you fiance. If your loved ones really care, they'd show up to your renewal, no questions asked.

We're kind of doing both. We just eloped on Tuesday, but we're still doing a ceremony with hand-written vows and a reception next May. I definitely still think people will show up next year since no one but our parents got to see us actually get married and if you're offering free food/alcohol/cake people will 100% show up haha.

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That's true! We don't plan on changing anything about the big wedding either. We will still have the ceremony/vows and reception. How was your elopement? Was there a reason you wanted to elope now instead of wait?

I like the idea of the elopement at the beach and then doing a big party next year

Do it on your own terms! Having a ceremony on the beach sounds really personal and special to you as a couple. You can still have your big day in the future just as you originally intended. (And you DO NOT need to call it a vow renwal if you don't want to.) Even in pre-pandemic times people got married before their "big day," so do you!


If it helps, our friends and family are very excited for us doing something similar. They felt bad that they couldn't attend this year and are happy that they'll be able to celebrate with us when it's safer. If someone tries to be negative, tell them their comment was uncalled for, change the subject, and keep going. Do what's best for you two!

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We just wanted to be married now instead of waiting another year and also just to have something good come out of this horrible year lol. We eloped on our 1 year engagement anniversary and it was amazing! I'm so happy we did it and are now officially married. And fwiw, all of our friends and family are still really excited to celebrate with us in May!

We were in the same boat and decided to do a backyard minimony with just our immediate families and we pushed our party back until next April. I'm so glad we did it the way we did because the ceremony feels even more special now.

Thank you everyone for the advice! I think I will go ahead and do a minimony and then possibly another bigger one with reception next year. I think it might feel even more special with just close family and a super pretty location.

View Quoted Comment How did you let everyone know? I’m not sure how and what to tell people since we will hold another ceremony next year.

View Quoted Comment We just sent out new save the dates for next year. Our wedding website has the schedule of what time the ceremony will start and everything. We didn’t explicitly say that we are having a ceremony next year as well, but most of our guests know that just from asking us or our parents about it. I don’t really think you need to let people know if you are still branding it as a “wedding” and not just a “reception” ya know?

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Agree with Jasmine. Do what makes your heart happy and your family will support it.

Mine is Nov 14 too

Hi Kara! (That's my mom's name ) I feel you on that! Our 8/16 wedding was canceled and we also decided we weren't going to let COVID stop us. We also didn't want to do a courthouse wedding. We're going to some bluffs by the beach to get married with our officiant, and MOH as the witness/photographer then off on a little minimoon. Postponing the celebration with everyone else once it's safe to do so. We've been together for 8 years and didn't want to wait longer to get married. If you feel the same, then do whatever you want!

We got married on our original date in my parents backyard and I wouldn't have changed it for anything. We kept everything non traditional such as me walking alone, not saying our vows but just something sweet, not having a first dance, etc. And postponed a second time for our one year anniversary. Honestly I struggled back and forth with it too but after getting married on our original date it was worth it. Otherwise we would have had to wait another year. We will still have our big wedding and everything in June of next year. Just a thought. I looked at the positive in it all after being sad about it for a few months before...but can't say that many are lucky enough to have two weddings by getting to marry the same person twice 😂🤷‍♀️.