Elope then party?

This feels like its been a big trend lately! Partly thanks to covid, but I think people are realizing the advantages to smaller/intimate weddings. Lots of people I know have done either a courthouse, elopement, or just immediate family wedding and then planned a bigger wedding/reception for some later date.

Most of the people I know still do a ceremony at the bigger wedding (but like, a 10 min one) but not everyone.

It's totally fine to get married and celebrate however you want!

The parties are still so much fun! Honestly it feels the same as a regular reception. Its still about having a good time and celebrating the couple.

My Husband and I got married without any family present 2 weeks before our big wedding, but still did a ceremony there too. Some family was offended, but the ones who respect and treat us kindly were just happy for us, and still so excited to celebrate at our big wedding.

It has always been acceptable to have a small ceremony or to elope followed by a delayed reception. That can happen for all kind of reasons from a small church or ceremony venue to an immediate need to make things legal. That some friends and family may feel disappointed not to witness the marriage is, of course, also possible.

A lot of people on this site have planned to do this due to Covid restrictions. From what I've seen, most people are kind of over it by the time the actual party comes. It's still going to cost what it costs and at that point you've already been married for "x" amount of time. It's totally up to you! If you think that you'll still be as excited to celebrate with everyone and host a party at a later date, do it! If it sounds daunting now, it likely will be later.

View Quoted Comment I’ve attended a number of Covid related and non-Covid related delayed receptions and people were most definitely not “over it.”

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Okay... and I have had friends who cancelled their because they were "over it"... that's why I said it depends on the couple.

View Quoted Comment I was talking more so about the guests. I agree that the motivation to host a delayed reception depends on the couple.