Planning your wedding day is anything but private, right!? Everyone is excited for you, they want to hear about your plans, and, of course, offer their unsolicited advice.

If you aren’t whole-heartedly sold on hosting a large wedding, this only adds to the pressure. You’re likely already questioning if planning a wedding is worth the cost and effort, but you’re also wondering if you’ll regret eloping.

After a decade of photographing weddings and elopements, I’ve never heard of a couple who has regretted their decision to elope. The same cannot be said about planning a wedding.

Here’s why you won’t regret eloping.

You value experiences over things

It’s as simple as that. You’d rather spend money and resources on an elopement and honeymoon to an incredible destination like Hawaii or the Pacific Northwest than on table linens, right?

You’re interested in creating incredible memories, rather than rushing through your wedding day in a blur (seriously, most brides and grooms are so busy on their wedding that they don’t remember most of the day). Elopements, on the other hand, allow you to slow down, enjoy yourself, and have an amazing time.

More options

Eloping is so versatile. Have a love for backpacking? Elope on your favorite mountain. Want to try something new? Fly a seaplane to your ceremony. Whatever your ideal elopement day and activities look like — wild, crazy, or simply beautiful — you can plan a day that excites you instead of making you anxious.

How is this possible? It’s all about the guest list. The fewer guests you have attending, the more options are at your disposal.

A typical wedding with 100 or more guests relies heavily on a venue to provide parking, seating, entertainment, and more. With less than 25 guests at your elopement, you have the ability to host a ceremony in non-traditional venues. Think national parks, a ferry, your favorite hike, or at a waterfall. The fewer guests you have, the more ceremony locations you’ll have available.

Quality time

Speaking of guests, if you do choose to include loved ones in your day, you’ll be spending quality time with every person present. This is a stark contrast to hosting a receiving line or trying to make the rounds to every table to say a quick hello to each guest at a large wedding. If you’d rather it just be the two of you, that’s fine too!

Less stress

This is perhaps one of the best-selling points for elopements. Imagine that planning your travel, booking a photographer, officiant, lodging, and choosing your attire is the extent of your plans. Really, that’s it. Compare that to planning a wedding, where you’d likely need to find, vet, and manage at least seven to fifteen different vendors.

You can have it all

Best of all, you don’t have to choose between having an intimate elopement or grand reception. You can have both! Host a send-off celebration before your elopement or reception after. They can be as casual — gather for brunch or a backyard BBQ — or as traditional as you like!