Helpful tips if you are planning to elope

After posting the blogs about the getting the finances for the trip in line and planning the wedding in Hawaii, I figured I would write a short blog or "how-to" guide on what to do if you plan on going away to get married. I will break it down in steps.

Step 1:
Eloping does not mean cheap, and inexpensive does not mean less elegant. We all know that standard wedding ceremonies (including a wedding party, reception, ceremony) can get expensive really quickly. If you want a small ceremony or would like to get away to get married and save some money on the honeymoon, the first thing I would suggest is to do a simple search on wedding and a location. For example, if you would like to have your honeymoon in Jamaica and would love the idea of a nice beach wedding, you can search 'beach weddings in Jamaica' and the results should lead you to many sites and hotels/resorts that can put those into a single package for you. Also many cruise lines will let you add a wedding package to your cruise. In the inclusive packages, they will most times allow for your personal customization of their standard packages to better suit your needs. Usually these ceremonies are well done and will have a romantic and elegant feel to them. As far as the price goes, depending on the resort/hotel or cruise line, you could get a great deal or spend as much as a typical wedding, so do some looking around before deciding on the first few options you find.

Step 2:
Making sure you have a budget just like planning an elaborate wedding. Even if you found an easy solution that is relatively inexpensive (i.e. 3 day honeymoon in the Poconos resort and the Champagne Wedding Package), you should still make sure that your budget includes additional travel expenditures (i.e. car rental, gas, souvenirs, etc) , additional recreation expenses (i.e. site seeing, dining out if not included in your package, night life, etc) and emergency funds (just in case something happens you didn't expect). Remember that a good budget and planning is the key to smooth wedding/honeymoon.

Step 3:
Make sure you make your wedding budget reasonable. In the previous step I mentioned budgeting, but that is mainly related to travel and the inclusive wedding package depending on the destination. However, there are things that may be additional add on to the wedding package. Usually things like photography, video, wedding accouterments, etc. you should plan on pricing these things out with the wedding coordinator or through local shops. These things can very expensive so be reasonable if you are trying to limit the amount of your budget. Remember
nice does not have to be overly elaborate.

Step 4:
The location should dictate the wedding attire. For beach weddings, the groom can be formal (tux or suit) or casual. Check out these pictures at My Hawaii Wedding. The bride can go with traditional white dress or be casual as well, it's all up to you and how you want to do your beach wedding if you decide that. If you are doing a cruise line wedding or a Garden Scene wedding, I would suggest doing the traditional wedding wear. You can however talk to the cruise wedding coordinator (or coordinator of where ever you are planning your get away wedding) about attire and feel of the wedding.

Step 5 (Optional):
Plan your event during the off season. If you use a travel agent they can inform you want times of year is best for traveling to certain locations and when you can get the best rates, but still enjoy great weather. A great example of this is to travel to warm locations during the warm months or during the low tourist seasons. Usually flight and hotel stay will be much cheaper during these times. Resorts and hotels will offer specials online if you check their webpage closer to the off season. Also, many major resorts and hotel chains will have a social networking page (myspace, facebook or twitter) that you can keep posted on the current information and specials that may be going on.

I hope some of this information is helpful to anyone who is looking to get away and elope, but have a nice wedding and honeymoon. When we have completed our wedding/honeymoon, I will give all the details on how we got everything set up for us. Check back for photos, videos and much more as the day draws closer.