Elopement Business Is Booming Amid Recession

In a time of tightening budgets, some wedding professionals have seen an increase in elopements as couples consider it a practical alternative.

It's an age-old option. Romeo and Juliet did it. And, though it didn't turn out so well for them, it worked for the poets Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning. They, too, were circumventing parental disapproval, but nowadays the primary motivations are convenience and cost.

"A wedding doesn't have to be a life-absorbing planning process, and it doesn't have to take up a year and a half of your lives," said Karla Neville, 27, who decided to elope with Gabe Evans in July while they were on vacation in Portland, Ore.

Keep reading.

UPDATE Monday afternoon: It's reported that tabloid-loving couple Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt have eloped in Mexico. Whether it was for reasons related to the recession remains unclear.

Quick Poll

Would you elope?

Hell yes

Hell no

Comments

[mamacat]

My parents had a small wedding after WW II, with just a couple of invited witnesses. But then, their marriage only lasted half a century, until they died.

I learned monetary habits from them, and the current economic crisis will not hurt us. Part luck, but part planning, too. Both my parents survived the Great Depression, with plenty of horror stories, and not for them bonfires of cash.

[AZAcct]

I personally think it's pretty stupid when people blow crazy amounts of money on dumb things like their dress and flowers and freakin chair covers...t­hings you will use one time.

I have 3 girlfriends who had "dream weddings" costing over $100K each...all three are divorced..­.

However...­I have friends who spent a moderate amount of money on their weddings focusing on the reception to be a celebration with their friends and family...a­nd they have told me it was worth every penny spent to have that memory of a great fun night with the people they care about the most.

It really just depends on the situation.­..

[cruisepuppy7452a]

I worked with enough bridezillas to write a book. No thank you, never again. Let em elope and spare us thier hystrionics.

[Chicagowill]

I didn't quite elope, but my wife and I were married in front of a judge in Cook County in front of two witnesses. It was cheap. We left with the marriage certificate. and we are as married as anyone who spent tens of thousands of dollars ever will be.