FH and I have been talking about potentially eloping in Scotland (either just the two of us or with parents/siblings). The two main reasons for this are to avoid the planning nightmare that is two large families combining on a small budget (meaning a small guest list and people will be left out regardless), as well as because FH and are are both pretty low-key and private.
Family has been a mixed bag on this; siblings are all in, parents are extremely hesitant and sort of resistant. We only widely announced our engagement a few days ago and since then we've definitely gotten the impression that a fair amount of people would be pretty upset to be left out (even though we'd have a reception back home afterwards). In light of that, we're considering having something here in the States, but still a destination like Branson or Gatlinburg. IMMEDIATELY this led to people throwing their opinions about the location, the guest list, the cost, etc. at us-- especially my mom, because she really doesn't want us to get married in Scotland and is basically making this whole thing about her as I expected. She has offered to contribute a small amount (what she would spend on a flight to Scotland), but we would end up spending more than we would on an elopement+party.
So my question is this: did any of you elope by yourselves and end up regretting it? Did any of you go through with the whole shebang and then wish you had just eloped?
