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[roseofjuly]

So I looked through the memories and saw some related questions which helped, but nothing quite like this.

Has anyone here eloped and then had a vows renewal modeled after a traditional wedding several years later? I've seen lots of posts in which people have eloped and then had a vows renewal or traditional ceremony/wedding less than a year

Comments

[missmindijean]

We got married at the court house with no family present..on our five year marriage anniversary we are having our wedding.

[roseofjuly]

It's funny because right after I made this post I saw yours and I was like "Okay, so I'm not the only one thinking this!" Lol!

[ckgriffin]

We had what you describe as an "elopement". We got married in Maui, Hawaii and there we 13 people there including my husband and I. We wanted to plan things our way without really worrying what others thought but still wanted to invite our family. It was WONDERFUL. We were able to plan the parts that were important to us and leave the rest to someone else. Our wedding was planned via email + 2 phone calls.

I would agree that you are less likely to have a vow renewal than you many think, but if you are okay with that and your families are on board, I say go for it.

[roseofjuly]

The only reason I put it that way is that I'd seen several people calling it an elopement in past posts and other people saying that it's not an elopement because it's planned and/or other people are there, and I didn't want to type "small destination wedding" over and over, lol.

Thanks for the positive comment - I posted at least partially for validation, lol. I genuinely want to hear what other people think about it so I can weigh all sides, but I think this is something both of us would do in a heartbeat if we weren't worried about what my extended family would think.

[herladyship]

I wanted to elope...my husband wouldn't let me. :p

Honestly if you plan a beautiful wedding for just the two of you, or with your immediate families, I don't know why you'd need a traditional wedding-style renewal five years down the line. That said, there's no reason you can't do a vow renewal if you want one!

[roseofjuly]

Good point :)

[meredith_mae]

I agree with this. Pick a wedding and stick with it! However, I think vow renewals make more sense at a milestone anniversary - 5th, 10th, 25th - than some random day 10 months after you get married, you know?

[roseofjuly]

We were both thinking this, and Ron is the kind of guy to want to do something on our milestone anniversaries anyway. He's quite sentimental :D

[roseofjuly]

That's my fear here...I am a planner, and I like to plan things, but NOT parties and social events. It's not really in the budget to hire a wedding coordinator, and I feel like everything would be stressful enough to plan while here in the city - but we'd be planning from 900 miles away and if we do a traditional shindig around the dates we've talked about (late 2012), I'll be writing my dissertation. Although at least I won't be defending it yet; I should be defending around March/April 2013 if all goes well

[roseofjuly]

LOL, I can't imagine forgetting my own dissertation...maybe WANTING to forget it...

That's the other thing - neither Ron nor I want to forgo having a honeymoon for a party. We want to have the honeymoon we want in a nice location.

You guys are really validating me here, lmao!

[oh_muffy]

We "eloped", got married by ourselves but told family a few days later, and our actual wedding is this November, over 2yrs after our JOP wedding. We did the JOP because of him being in the Army & because only family & a FEW close friends knew, when we got "engaged" 6mos later & announced a wedding date, it still feels like the "real" thing. Soooo we get to have our cake & eat it, too, and I am SO happy we went this route =D

[roseofjuly]

His military status is sort of a minor reason, too. We've toyed with the idea of getting married before he's going to deploy again (probably in February 2012) but I don't think it's gonna happen before then. His enlistment contract is up in August 2012 and the chances of him getting moved are pretty low, but...you know. It's always better to be a wife than a girlfriend in military parlance.

It's nice to know that you guys are still doing a big wedding 2 years after. Best wishes!