How to plan an elopement: the steps and a checklist

An elopement is a wedding for the two of you, with perhaps a photographer, an officiant and a witness or two. The honest truth about planning one is that there isn't much to plan. There's no guest list to cut, no seating chart, no caterer and no invitations. Most elopements take a few weeks of organising, and some take an afternoon at the courthouse.

What's left still matters, though: the legal paperwork, a place, a photographer if you want one, a budget, a simple plan for the day and a bag with the right things in it. This guide goes through each, in order.

Elopement or micro wedding?

Today an elopement usually means a planned, private wedding, not a secret one. You might tell everyone in advance or after. The difference from a small wedding is the guests:

• Elopement: the two of you, plus the people the law needs (an officiant, and witnesses in most places). Sometimes a parent or two.
• Micro wedding: a ceremony and a meal for up to about 50 guests. Our guide to micro wedding planning covers that.

If you find yourself writing a guest list and booking a dinner for 20, you're planning a micro wedding, and that's fine too.

1. Check the legal steps first

This is the one part of an elopement that can't be improvised, so start here. Where you marry decides the rules, not where you live:

• The license. Most places need a marriage license before the ceremony, and some have a waiting period between applying and marrying, or a limit on how long the license is valid. Some need you to apply in person.
• The officiant. Someone the place recognises as able to marry you: a judge or clerk, a religious officiant or a registered celebrant. A few places let you marry yourselves.
• Witnesses. Most places need one or two. Your photographer can often sign, or a friend, or a stranger you ask on the day.
• Registering it. After the ceremony the signed license goes back to the office that issued it, and you order the marriage certificate.

Our guide to wedding legal paperwork explains the license, the certificate and the name change. If you're marrying abroad, check whether the marriage is recognised at home, and allow extra time for documents and translations.

The courthouse option. A civil ceremony at a city hall or courthouse is the simplest elopement of all: book a slot, bring your ID, the license and witnesses if they're needed, and it's done in ten minutes. Many couples marry there on a weekday and celebrate somewhere else.

2. Choose the place and the date

Pick somewhere that means something to you: a mountain, a beach, a city you love, or the garden where you met. Then check:

• Permits. National and provincial or state parks, beaches and public gardens often need a ceremony permit, sometimes with a limit on group size. Apply early.
• Access. How you get there, and how far you'll walk in wedding clothes.
• A backup. A sheltered spot, or a second date, in case of weather.
• The light. Sunrise or the hour before sunset gives the best photos and the fewest people. A weekday helps too.

3. Book the people

An elopement usually needs two or three people besides you:

• The officiant, unless the courthouse provides one.
• A photographer, if you want photos. For many couples it's the biggest cost, and the most important one, because the photos are how everyone else sees the day. Many offer elopement packages by the hour.
• Witnesses, if the law needs them and they aren't already coming.

Optional extras: hair and makeup, a bouquet, a videographer, or a musician for the ceremony. Ask each of them how far they'll travel and what the price includes. Our guide to questions to ask wedding vendors has the lists.

4. Set the budget

An elopement costs a fraction of a wedding, but the costs that are left add up faster than you'd think. A typical list:

Item	Notes
License and certificate	Fixed fees, set by where you marry
Officiant	Courthouse fee, or a celebrant's fee
Photographer	Usually the biggest line
Outfits and rings	Whatever you'd wear to any wedding
Permit	For a park, beach or garden
Hair, makeup and flowers	Optional
Travel and a place to stay	Often the second biggest line
A dinner for the two of you	Or a party when you're home

Put in the total you're comfortable with, then share it out. The free budget calculator splits a total into categories; on an elopement, most of them will be zero, and that's the point.

Many elopements are part of a trip, which makes the trip the real budget. The free honeymoon budget calculator splits a trip into six groups, from transportation and accommodation to food and drinks and entertainment, with what you plan to spend and what you spend on each line. Our guide to the honeymoon budget has the usual costs.

5. Plan the day

You don't need an hour-by-hour plan, but a short one helps the photographer and the officiant, and keeps the day from feeling rushed. A sunset elopement might look like this:

Time	What happens
2:00 PM	Get ready, at your hotel or rental
4:00 PM	Leave for the ceremony spot
4:30 PM	Meet the photographer and officiant
5:00 PM	Ceremony, about 15 minutes, then sign the license
5:20 PM	Photos as the light goes golden
7:00 PM	Dinner for two, or with the few who came

Write down the address, the meeting point and everyone's phone number, since a remote spot may have no signal. The free timeline maker drafts the day from the ceremony time and prints it on one page.

6. Pack for it

An elopement is often outdoors, away from shops, with nobody else carrying a bag for you. Pack:

• The paperwork: the marriage license, both your IDs, and the permit.
• The rings, and whoever is holding them.
• Clothes and shoes for the walk as well as for the ceremony.
• For the weather: a jacket or wrap, an umbrella, sunscreen and bug spray.
• The small fixes: safety pins, a sewing kit, blotting papers, pain relievers and blister pads.
• Water and snacks, for you and the photographer.
• Your vows, written out, in case nerves take them.
• A phone charger, and a printed copy of the plan.

Our guide to the wedding day emergency kit has the full list.

7. Tell your family

Decide before the day how you'll share the news, and with whom first. Some couples tell their parents in advance, or bring them along. Others call from the ceremony spot, or send a photo the same evening. If someone may be hurt to have missed it, telling them yourselves, before the photos reach everyone else, goes a long way.

Many couples follow an elopement with a small party, a dinner or an announcement card with a photo from the day. None of it is required.

An elopement checklist

1. Choose the place and the date, and check its marriage rules.
2. Book the officiant and the photographer, and arrange witnesses.
3. Apply for any permit.
4. Set the budget, including travel.
5. Get the marriage license, allowing for any waiting period.
6. Buy or choose outfits and rings.
7. Write your vows.
8. Write a short plan for the day and send it to everyone involved.
9. Pack the bag.
10. After the ceremony, return the signed license and order the certificate.
11. Tell your family, and plan a party if you want one.

If the day grows into something bigger, the free wedding checklist has every task for a full wedding, dated back from the day.

Plan an elopement in Linenfold

Most of Linenfold is built for weddings with guests, and you won't need it for an elopement. What does help is free: the budget, the Wedding Day timeline with Day-of mode on your phone, and a packing list for each of you, with its Emergency & Just-in-Case suggestions. The checklist's legal steps keep the license and certificate on track.

Start with the free honeymoon budget calculator, then create a free account to keep the budget, the plan and both packing lists together.