If like many people you’ve had to postpone or cancel your wedding because of coronavirus / covid 19 and start re planning maybe this is the chance to re-invent your wedding.
Often wedding planning snowballs and before you know it what was meant to be an intimate family wedding becomes a huge event but perhaps with silver lining of Corona Virus is that you can now plan for both of these.
Over the past few weeks I’ve had a lot of couple get in touch to postpone their wedding but also lots of people planning to have a small elopement instead on a new date and then once things are back to normal have a big party when everyone can be together again.
Why choose an Elopement?
Social distancing is much easier if there are only a handful of people at your wedding! You have thousands of beautiful outdoor locations in Scotland you can choose for a wedding and if your family or loved ones can’t attend as they are self isolating why not have a small ceremony of just you and your witnesses and then have a fun celebration party once restrictions have been lifted and your family and friends can all toast your new marriage? You won’t need to worry about chair covers or seating plans if there’s only a handful of you there!
Photo by Julie Howden Photography
What flowers should you have for an elopement?
If flowers were a key part of your original wedding plans then there’s no reason they can’t be for an elopement too. You can still have bouquets and buttonholes and if you don’t have so many bridesmaids or tables to worry about you could splash out on something like a flower crown. Some couples opt for a little “venue” decoration or table flowers too to mark the ceremony location as special. Some of my favourite elopements have used things like a picnic rug and we’ve added a garland of flowers and foliage for them to use as they have their wedding meal together. If you are getting married in ruins you could add some floral decoration to them (as long as the landowner/ building owner agrees), or we could add a wild vase arrangement to de-mark the ceremony or “reception” space.
Consider how the flowers are getting to the venue, do you need the florist to come with you to the ceremony space to set up beforehand and move the arrangements to another location afterwards or can you do this yourselves? Do you have boot space or a free back seat you can use to transport things?
Given it’s unlikely you’ll be able to go on a far flung honeymoon post elopement if the current restrictions apply, you can then enjoy your flowers in your home for the next few days or perhaps donate them (at a safe distance) to family members who couldn’t come to the wedding, or to hospices and care homes.
You might like to consider having dried flowers as an alternative and these really will last!
Here are a few of our favourite elopement images to give you some inspiration, the beautiful forest scene was shot by The Kitcheners and includes our flowers, food from By Platter and props from Gloam. The Inchcolm Island picnic scene was shot by Ed and Aileen Photography.
Other considerations when planning an elopement
We spoke to our favourite wedding photographer extraordinaire Sarah from Joy Storyabout the logistics of re-planning your wedding as an elopement and she said: “Approach a photographer and see if they have an elopement rate or an hourly rate as you might not need full coverage but you might still want photos covering your prep through till after the ceremony.” She also suggested looking into getting a videographer as well so your guests can watch the video of your wedding from the safety of their sofa, some videographers are also setting up live streams in these weird corona times which lets you have virtual guests even if they can’t be there in person. Take a look at the Braw Brides directory for a whole list of brilliant videographers you could try.
If the idea of planning is enough to make you hide under a duvet then Cat from Fin Flukra is your wedding fairy godmother. We asked her for some top tips when replanning your wedding as an elopement. She said: “Think about the flow of the day, the ceremony part will be quite short with just the two of you, think about how long you need for that and then photos etc. this will probably take less time than a traditional wedding with lots of guests. What will you do afterwards so that you’re not at a loose end between the ceremony ending and perhaps your first dinner together. Will you get ready together? How long will it take you to get to your elopement location?
Photos L-R by Ed and Aileen Photography, Paul Raeburn Photography, Craig George Photography
In a “normal” wedding after the ceremony there’d be lots of people and confetti and mingling which marks the end of the ceremony and the start of the next phase of the day but with just two of you you might want to think about bringing some champagne and cake with you to celebrate saying your I dos. Consider how you are going to make the day extra special over an above performing the ceremony to make up for the fact that you might not have lots of guests there to celebrate.
Cat also pointed out the importance of organising your witnesses: “With it being an elopement it might just be you and two witnesses which could actually be your photographer and videographer. If you only have a photographer you will need to make sure you organise another witness, if family and friends can’t attend this could be a planner, make up artist, florist that you’ve been working with but make sure you decide this and get the relevant documentation organised in plenty of time.
With all this in mind there’s plenty of scope for you to re-plan your wedding as an elopement and still have a big celebrations later on when restrictions are lifted and we can all be together again, you can have your cake and eat it! If you’d like to talk about elopement flowers get in touch or follow us on Instagram for a look at some of our work.