Why I Decided To Elope

 

Sometimes even when you’re not looking for a sign it just finds you. Like the day I twisted off a bottle cap and found this! Magic! After getting engaged this year my Fiancé, Nick and I have been trying to figure out how to throw together a wedding. My parents were giving us some money, his family was giving us some money but damn…weddings are EXPENSIVE. The average US wedding costs close to $30,000 and our budget was nowhere close to that. As I began my frantic Pinteresting and trying to find every way I could to save money (90 guests, no flowers, no dinner, free DJ, no wedding party, no rehearsal dinner, very little decorations, etc)  it slowly started to become evident that we couldn’t get anywhere close to our modest budget with the way the wedding industry was going.  While I was having my intermittent panic attacks I also happened to talk to so many different people who had just said “screw it!” and eloped or did a destination wedding. Everyone who talked about it always had happy, relaxed faces. The opposite, very stressed out, overwhelmed looks were on the faces of most of my friends I watched plan and execute their weddings. It got so far out of control and I was more than a year away from our intended date. Finally I had had enough! These people have talked to me for a reason. It was meant to be!  I talked to Nick and our families and everyone was suuuuper supportive of an alternative idea. So we decided we would scrap the traditional wedding and go and get married in Greece, just the two of us. After that come back to Indy and have a house warming/reception with no guest list limit, cheap booze, and a much more relaxed budget and atmosphere. All the smiles, none of the headaches, and not spending the rest of my life paying off one party.

 

Now. I can breathe.

 

-Nikki