~WHO? Mrs. Jones Courthouse Elopement Pro-BAM!

Here goes! WHY? We originally planned a small, >60 guest wedding for 11/11/2017. We laid down all kinds of deposits and I was saving my a$$ off. After some time, the guest list started to look more like a bill. I felt this stinging feeling of obligation to invite our extended family. H had asked me several times during the planning process if we could elope, but I laughed off the idea at first. After several stressful conversations, and a lot of second-guessing as far as, do I really want to PAY for this? Elopement just sounded like a great fuckin idea! So one day, I shocked H by agreeing. And just like that, to avoid feeling obligated to invite extended family (who we love and care for deeply, but it just wasn’t the wedding we could afford) we decided to elope with my parents, his mom, and our son. It was a pretty easy decision for us once we truly committed to it, and the day couldn’t have turned out better. It was perfect for us. We do still have contractural obligations to our vendors in November, and since I don’t want to lose $ from deposits, we are very excited to celebrate with our immediate family and a few friends at that time (~30 guests). Plus. You HAVE to celebrate your marriage!! I feel much less pressured regarding our extended families, since we are already, in fact, married.

After we decided to elope, first and foremost, I called my incredible photographer who was psyched about the idea, and also considered it our “engagement shoot” so we didn’t have to fork any extra $ out in addition to the deposit we put down back in June. I also made sure to touch base with my caterer, so as to confirm that there was no minimum guest count since the original count would be halved, if not more. Those were really the only two that were important for us to be on the same page as. As far as our venue, we will not have to rent out the reception space since our party will be able to fit in the atrium room that we intended to have our ceremony in, so we will save money.

The timeline was more or less as follows: Once we obtained our marriage license on Halloween, we scheduled the ceremony for 12/22. A little less than two months. In that time, I bought my dress online from www.preownedweddingdresses.com, which was a sample dress that’d never been altered. As soon as it was ordered, I immediately got into contact with a seamstress to see if she would be able to accommodate me in the time frame. She saw me about 4 weeks in a row, always in the evenings after work, and she did an incredible job. My flowers were ordered about 2.5 weeks ahead of time. I stopped into a flower shop that I was referred to, showed some photos of the style I liked, and said, “I need a bouquet and two bouts for $100. Do what ya can!” Two weeks or so ahead of time I booked my hair and makeup. I knew I wanted braids, so I started ravaging through the vendors on the WW tab, and stalked instagrams for a good amount of time. I was thrilled to get in with a girl who did an amazing job on my hair and makeup. I did not do a trial run, because I didn’t budget for that, and frankly I don’t see the point in shelling out hundreds for a trial run. I hate wearing makeup anyways. About a week ahead of time, I ordered our small cake from a local bakery.

The morning of, I went to get my hair and makeup done. I came back to the house to get dressed, and H & our son were scrambling to get ready, along with my MIL. I made sure he didn’t see me, but we did hold hands and talk through the bathroom door for a moment before he left to meet me at the courthouse. At the house, my MIL gifted me my BEAUTIFUL (real!) fur! She’d run around the entire evening the night before looking for one. It’s so special to me, and went so perfectly with the rest of my look. I wanted one so badly, but I was crunched for time (and money) and really had to prioritize. This was such a special gift.

When I showed up, we had a “first look” of sorts. People on the streets were cheering and whistling and yelling “congratulations!” and “you look beautiful!” It was awesome! We made our way up to the 12th floor of the courthouse where there were a handful of couples waiting to be married. Everyone was giddy and smiling for miles, and we all had that intimate connection when we looked at eachother, because everyone could intuitively pick up on how the others were feeling. Being there, waiting to be called into the service room were some beautiful moments. We weren’t talking much, just enjoying the time together.

When we went into the court room, it was like an office, and then through the office was a larger conference room of sorts. There were papers and books stacked on a table, and it wasn’t spectacularly beautiful like the courthouses you might see in larger cities and in the magazines, but it didn’t bother me. The magistrate asked us if we were exchanging rings, which we were. We gave those to our son. Our parents stood off in the background, while the magistrate stood behind his podium and prepared to begin the short, 3 ½ minute ceremony, a very comfortable, serene silence came over the room. Our son (4 yrs) was calm, quiet, and cooperative, not that I was paying attention to him much at all. I didn’t really register the rest of the room at the time, and I only had eyes for H. It was emotional, and in that moment, everything felt so “right.” My dad recorded the ceremony on his phone, and I’m stoked, because it was so lovely to watch and hear us exchange vows. I was swept away in the moment and at times, trying to remember the ceremony is like trying to remember someone’s face you’ve only seen once before. I will treasure our video for the rest of my life.

Afterward, we shot some portraits as a family, and then our parents took our son back to our apartment to leave with the babysitter. There was a couple of hours in between dinner, and my parents ended up cleaning our entire apartment for us. (it was so relaxing to come home to a clean place!). H & I did some solo portraits, and then headed to dinner where we sat at the bar & ordered some appetizers for a couple hours while waiting for our parents. It was nice to spend that one-on-one time with H following the ceremony, and then our parents at dinner. We were thrilled to treat them to dinner at our very favorite restaurant in Columbus, OH. (Lindey’s in German Village for any natives out there!)

PHEW. Okay. That was crazy long. The photos are the important part! So feast your eyes

YOU LOOK SO PRETTY!!!!

Congrats!

Congrats

Beautiful!!! Congratulations!

You look BEAUTIFUL!! Congrats!!

Our first look photos

1) first time seeing my son all dressed up!

2) a portrait before we walked into the courthouse

3) waiting outside of the court room

LOVE love love love love everything about this. A wedding is just a party, a marriage is what's important. I think so many couples here would be happier with an elopement (including me, I really wanted one!).

OMG that last hugging picture. Absolutely gorgeous.

You guys look great. Your son is a cutie! I love your wrap.

1) exchanging vows

2) our son handing us the rings

3) vows!

I'm literally in tears right now!! Great story, you've totally put things in perspective for me too!! CONGRATULATIONS!!

OMG. This is beautiful.

Now I want to elope.

You are absolutely gorgeous and I love how you can see the excitement and happiness in y'alls faces Congrats!!

1) kissin my fine ass husband

2) group hug. Our son wanted to get in on that pretty quick!

3) Checkin out our bling

Everything about this is so damn perfect. I'm so jealous - this is what I wanted!

You look so beautiful - all of these pictures make me cry.

You look beautiful! I love all of this. There are so many times that I've considered eloping, but I've always given up on it because I thought I would be disappointed that I didn't have the wedding that I wanted but things like this always bring me back to it. You worded it beautifully, and it all looks lovely. I'm so happy for you!

Beautiful! Congratulations!!!

This is absolutely perfect. You look beautiful and so happy! Congratulations again.

WOW! Congratulations on having the courage to follow your gut and elope and also on your marriage. It sounds like you had the perfect day!