As you know if you read the “wedding” tab above (or this post), Andre&I eloped on December 7, 2011. Yep. You read that right. Pearl Harbor day. You don’t think about those kind of things when you decide the night before to quit worrying about what other people will think and just go get married already.
You also don’t think about them when you wake up in the morning and just get out of bed and head down to the courthouse, in love, and excited to start this journey of life together as husband and wife. Nope. You don’t think about it until it’s sinking in on the ride home that you’ve just married the man of your dreams…on Pearl Harbor day. Only one of the most tragic days in American history. But it’s ok! Because in that moment you will also decide that this just means that at some point, you should go to Hawaii together to pay your respects to those who survived and lost their lives on that day. Fear of flying? We’ll tackle that later.
So, with all the excitement of being married and keeping it a secret for a couple weeks (so fun!) there is little time to think about a ceremony including your friends and family because you’re too busy trying to figure out how to tell them! Once that’s completed, the shock and joy and excitement of planning a celebration that will include all your loved ones, the white dress, the walking down the aisle begins and all that finally begins.
If you’re wondering about whether or not to elope, it was the best thing Andrew and I have ever done. It was perfectly imperfect. It was all about us. I would recommend it to anyone. Whether or not you want to have a ceremony afterwards is up to you!
We chose to do one because whereas the marriage itself was all about us, we still wanted to celebrate that with our loved ones and share in the joys of the walking down the aisle, mother son dance and partying with all of our family and friends. We wanted cool weather but not cold and a Autumn vibe of sorts so November 4th became that day to look forward to!
Then after realizing that was daylight savings time day and we would be losing an hour of daylight we would need for photos… November 3rd became that day to look forward to!
Our save the dates! (and a sneak peek of our “engagement” photos!)
*As you’ll find in a future post, magnet save the dates are my favorite purchase from the whole wedding planning process and I’ll probably talk about how awesome of a decision they were 1000 times over this series*
How did you choose your wedding date? Was it a special date or one that just worked out best time wise like ours?!
xx
So interesting to read about this, JLynn! I think it’s sweet and admirable that you both decided to elope before walking down the aisle. I think it is very romantic!! I think all too often women get wrapped up in the wedding/ceremony instead of focusing on why you’re there in the first place – marriage. Loved this so much!! (you might have inspired me) ;)
Aww, thanks girl! To be honest, I had never really thought about eloping before we decided to do it. It’s not for everyone but when you know something is right…I don’t…it sounds super friggin cheesy but when you know something like this is right, it’s easy to make the decision. Yea, we hesitated for a couple of weeks but once we realized the only reason was because of what OTHER people would think…we went to the courthouse the very next day. Ha! Glad you’ve enjoyed reading our story and it just makes my heart flutter that our love inspires others :) Thanks again for encouraging my soul! xx
So cool that you eloped! I have never met anyone that eloped so I am very intrigued to follow along with the story! And an anniversary trip to Hawaii sounds pretty awesome too!
We got married on a long weekend in August because we had a lot of out of town guests so it was great to have that extra day to see everyone before they headed back home.
You know, now that you mention it, I want to say there was some sort of extra traveling ease for our guests as well that aided in our date decision but it wasn’t labor day soo…idk maybe I’m making that up, haha! But that’s awesome to be so considerate of your guests. It’s always a bummer to be invited to a wedding you really want to attend but can’t make. And yay, now you know me!! I’ve come across a couple of bloggers who have elopement stories. They are always so fun to read! I’ll have to share their links in a later post! Thanks for following along, girl! xx
I’ve never heard or known of anyone who eloped! I’ve only seen it in movies. I think it’s super romantic that you eloped and also really nice that you had a regular ceremony celebration as well. :)
I feel like eloping mostly has a bad reputation- I mean, I get why, but like, in this day and age, it shouldn’t be so bad (unless a girl is way underage or something? or if the future spouse is an escaped convict haha). My mom would absolutely freak out if I ever eloped (she’s super traditional) but there’s no way I would ever want a super huge wedding where I’d feel obligated to invite relatives I’ve only seen once in my life, you know?
The magnet save a dates are super cute- I received a magnet like that once for a friend’s wedding and it was so convenient to place on the fridge to help me remember the date.
I love that, ‘I’ve only seen it in movies’, makes me feel even more like I’m living ni a fairy tale ;) Ok I’m done with the cheese haha but seriously, I would be lying if I didn’t admit that it was an incredibly emotional and romantic day. We’ve never once been anything but proud of our decision and even though ceremony plans didn’t go perfectly, we’re still glad we did that as well. We figured some people might be upset, and they were at first, but ultimately it was about what was best for us. We figured we didn’t want to start OUR life together based off of what other people thought we should do with it…but it’s certainly not for everyone for various reasons and that’s perfectly ok too ;) Aren’t magnets so fun in general though?! I feel like everyone loves a good magnet and if they still work…no one just tosses them! Money well spent in my book! xx