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.

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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.

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