Elopement Budget Planning: How Much Does it Truly Cost to Elope?
How to Budget for your Elopement
Eloping is such a beautiful word. About a decade ago, to elope meant to get married in the quietest and quickest fashion. But now, it also means exactly the opposite!
In the past couple of years, modern elopements became much more popular and started to have about the same monetary expenses as a traditional wedding day. The reason? Couples began prioritizing their own values and experiences to make their special day a story for the books.
If you’re one of these lucky couples planning to elope soon, you’re probably wondering: where do you start and how much money does it cost to make it all happen?
PLAN YOUR ELOPEMENT: Elopement Planning Worksheets | Elopement Photo Packages
The Cost of Eloping
The first step of planning an elopement is understanding what a realistic budget is needed to book your vendors. This is not a one-size-fits-all answer because it will change depending on the type of day you dream of having.
Despite its popularity, elopements are still thought of as the cheaper version of traditional weddings, but seriously, this isn’t always the case. An elopement can easily cost just as much or more!
There is space for luxury elopements that are above $15,000 and often include high-cost experiences like helicopter rides, hiking/travel, and multiple-day photo coverage. But a much more common range for elopement lies between $3,000 to $12,000.
The cost of eloping for you will depend on the variables of your day like: How long will your elopement be? Who will you invite to join you? Will you have catering and lodging for them?
Your answers to these and other planning questions will help calculate the proper budget for you!
When to Create Your Elopement Budget
Creating an elopement budget is the best thing you can do for your planning efforts because if you don’t have a structure to base to built on, it’s easy for things to get out of control.
It’s like going to the grocery store on an empty stomach and without a shopping list, you’ll end up buying everything!
Depending on how elaborate your elopement or intimate wedding you’d like it to be, the best is to start creating your elopement budget anytime between 6-12 months ahead of the date.
The more vendors you need to work with and guests that you’ll need to take care of, the more time you’ll need to research and to save any additional money you need.
Of course, as soon as you're engaged (and if you already know you want to elope) is probably the best time to start working on your elopement budget.
What To Include in Your Elopement Budget Sheet
It’s critical that your budget list includes EVERYTHING wedding day related. I’m talking about adding your wedding attire as well as the miniscule stuff like prep work like facials, manicures and haircuts!
That is because the last thing you’d want to deal with is realizing you spent a lot more money on one thing while forgetting about the rest entirely.
To make sure you have everything on the list, start off by writing down what vendors and wedding items you’d like to have on your day.
Below is a list to get you started on vendors, travel, and other items:
VENDOR EXPENSES
Venue
Depending on where you choose to have your elopement, you may need to consider rental and permit costs for the duration of your ceremony, bridal photos and the reception (if you’re having one).
Note that if you choose to have your elopement at a local, state or national park, forest or beach, you’ll need to check the jurisdiction office’s website to check what fees you can expect to have to budget for.
Planner and/or Coordinator
Planners make the wedding world go round.
They are truly like buttered bread, aka: they are amazing. And yes, they still can help if you choose to do an elopement!
If you’re planning to elope with your partner alone, you may not need a planner. But if you choose to have guests (whether at the ceremony, dinner, or both) or if you want to book venues or activities, then they can take care of it all.
Elopement Photographer
This is a moment that can’t be replicated; not one day is ever the same!
That's why hiring an elopement photographer is an important aspect of an elopement. On top of that, many elopement photographers can help with planning your timeline as they’ll know the best time and locations for your photos.
If you’re looking for a photographer to help you on this journey, check out my elopement packages!
Officiant
An officiant will help you make the marriage legal through the elopement process.
When planning to book an officiant for your ceremony, look for one that can travel to wherever your elopement will be.
The advantage of hiring a professional elopement officiant is that they can guide you through the marriage license and certificate process. They dedicate their time to the art of ensuring your ceremony goes smoothly.
Another option is having a close friend or family member get ordained online to host your ceremony.
Videographer
Hand in hand with the elopement photographer, hiring a videographer to capture movie stills of your wedding day would make it extra special.
Elopement videographers have the gear to creative cinematic highlights of your day that you wouldn’t be able to easily obtain on your phone.
Florist /Florals
A wedding day without florals, is a bit like having your favorite dessert without your favorite part on it. It just wouldn’t make sense.
If you want minimalistic florals, consider having bouquets or boutonnieres for simplicity.
On the other hand, if you’d like to splurge a bit more, a floral arch or floor arrangements will bring a colorful treat.
Make-up Artist and Hairstylist
You can choose to do your own make-up and hair, or you can choose to treat yourself. Your elopement is a very special occasion, so why not?
Professional make-up and hair will not only make you look stunning in your photos, but it will also make you feel confident on your elopement day.
When looking for make-up artists, make sure you share your skin tones, preferred makeup palettes and ask if they offer a trial to see how the make-up will be on your day.
As for hairstyles, many makeup artist provide hair services or work closely to a hairstylist they can recommend. For inspiration, browse online styles that catch your eye and that will be appropriate for the type of weather you might be expecting to deal with on your elopement day.
Caterers, musicians, and specialty rentals
These are vendors that you would normally consider for a traditional wedding but some of these can also provide unique value to your elopement day.
For example, a caterer or a private chef can deliver a tasty dinner for you or your close family and friends at the end of the day. A musician can provide entertainment for an intimate wedding or play a song for your first dance.
As for specialty rentals, this refers to items like tables, table décor, chairs, tents, and even special rental cars that you can use to get to and from your elopement location. If you’re adventuring in the highlands of Iceland, you’ll need a 4x4 or if you’re hosting your ceremony at a winery, you could rent a classic car for your entrance and exit.
TRAVEL EXPENSES
Flights
To budget for your elopement, you’ll need to have an idea of where your location will be. It doesn’t have to be specific, but a city or country will do.
Once you have this information, searching for ticket averages will be easier. The other thing you want to consider is whether to do direct or 1-stop flights and to add checked-in luggage-- It’s very likely that you’ll need that so don’t dismiss it yet.
Lastly, count how many tickets you’ll need (roundtrip) if more people are attending if you are buying their tickets (eg. children or even pets).
Accommodation and Meals
Lodging accounts for where you’d be staying the day(s) leading to your elopement and after. Anything outside of this period would be considered part of a vacation or honeymoon so make sure you budget for that separately!
If you’re inviting a few guests, consider renting out a ‘villa’ or property where you can have your ceremony and be able stay as well. If you’re inviting more than your closest friends and family, then consider booking a special hotel so your guests can book and pay for their own lodging.
The same goes with meals, you obviously need to budget for your own food but if you’re catering to your guests as well, don’t forget to add it to your elopement budget spreadsheet!
Rental Car
If you’re not traveling by air, then a rental car is necessary. Make sure to budget it in.
But if you’re flying, you may need to consider renting a car anyway! You’ll need to have a way to get around your destination. Public transportation (including Uber) is reliable in various countries but don’t fully count on it without doing proper research on it first!
WEDDING PREP ITEMS
Marriage License
Cost for marriage licenses vary by state so to ensure you are budgeting what’s needed, look up your local marriage requirements.
Wedding attire
An elopement budget is not complete without allocating funds to your wedding fits! But this amount will be very personal and will vary depending on what your priorities are.
If having designer dresses and tuxedos is what you care about the most on your elopement day, then don’t feel that you must compromise for the sake of saving money. If you put it in your budget and you work to save up, you can make that work.
Most couples think of elopements as the cheaper alternative to a traditional wedding. And although it’s somewhat true, it doesn’t mean you can’t splurge on what’s important to you.
In fact, elopements are truly the alternative where you get to choose to spend as much money on what truly matters to you the most.
Ceremony and Photo Permits
If you’re not renting a venue for your small elopement, then it’s likely a permit is needed from your chosen location.
For example, if you’re picking any of the U.S. national or state parks /beaches, then always check with the jurisdicting office if a permit is needed. It’s 90% likely that the answer will be yes, so make sure you apply and obtain the necessary permits so you don’t run into issues down the line.
Obtaining permits is often a bit of a hassle but so important because it shows that you will abide and respect the beach/parks’ regulations and it will give you peace of mind during your elopement.
Activities
Your elopement day is still your wedding day. The difference between the two lies in how your timeline is.
In traditional weddings, it’s common for the full day to be centered in doing activities that cater to the guests (ie. Bouquet toss, cheers and toasts, cocktail hour, dance entertainment). So in elopements, it’s common to do the opposite.
You can choose to do a few activities through the day that will make your elopement day much more special to you and your partner. Some couples choose to have something calm and lowkey like a luxury picnic or private dinner; while others prefer more adventurous activities like hiking or going on a boat!
Whatever activities you want to add to your day, do it! If you don’t know where to start, think about some of your favorite dates so far. What did you do? Dream up and make a list of all the activities you’d like to do. Then, check your budget and pick your top 3.
OTHER ELOPEMENT PREP (OPTIONAL)
Massages and facials
Treating yourself a week before your elopement will have you feeling relaxed and pampered!
Haircut and color
If you love your length, leave it as is! But if not, get your trims (or add extensions if that’s the way you prefer to go)
Manicure and Pedicure
Your hands will be the center of attention in lots of photos so make sure your nails are properly trimmed and clean.
Vow Books
If you’re exchanging vows, consider getting vow books so you don’t have to write them on a piece of paper that can easily be lost or damaged!
Cake or Pastries
It’s your wedding day after all so if you want a cake-cutting tradition, don’t stop yourself from having that. You can purchase the smallest cake (or cupcakes) and it will still count.
Elopement Announcements
You can choose to send these to your closest family and friends whether you’re inviting them or not. You can send them before or after your elopement too! There's no wrong way to go about sending elopement announcements so it’s a nice touch to add.
How to Create Your Own Elopement Budget
Before getting started, you’ll need:
Access to Wi-Fi on a laptop or desktop
Using your phone is convenient but having it on the big screen is useful so you can keep window tabs open to switch back and forth easilyNotepad & Pen OR a Google Excel Spreadsheet
Make 3 columns and label them as follows: “Vendors/Items I want”, “Average Cost”, “My Budget”Your phone’s calculator app
A few uninterrupted hours – You'll need this to do market research!
Once you’re ready to start putting together your budget for your elopement, here are 4 steps that will get the ball rolling:
1. Pick your elopement vendors, items and activities you’d like to include.
Make a list of all the vendors, items (like travel and other wedding prep things), and activities you want to have access to for your elopement day.
Label this column as “Vendors/Items I want or need”
For vendors, the most common are the officiant, makeup artists and hairstylists, an elopement photographer, a venue or location, the florist, and your wedding attire.
Then as add-ons, clients typically choose a videographer, musicians, and even a private chef.
If you need a reminder of all items you can include, click here to go back to the lists at the top of this article!
Once you have your list, prepare 2 columns next to the first one and label them: “Average Cost”, and “My Budget”.
2. Do market research to find out what each item costs in your area.
Get on Google and start searching each vendor and item on your list.
This step is tedious but trust me, to have the elopement you want, you need to know how much it will cost you.
If you’re thinking of winging it, be careful! Without understanding how much an elopement costs, you’ll be surprise and discouraged once you start contacting vendors to book.
By doing market research, not only will you know what to expect; you will also come to find out that too cheap or too expensive isn’t always better.
3. Now you’ll be able to calculate the average cost for your elopement
While working through Step 2, write down the cost of different options for each of the items on your list.
For example, for elopement photographer, you’ll look up about 3 different photographers in the area and write down the cost of their package that fits your needs the most.
Do the same for other vendors and for the prep items you’d like to budget for.
Then, determine what the average cost is. You’ll do this by adding the costs of the packages you wrote down and dividing by the number of options you found.
Example:
Elopement Photographer A - $3500
Elopement Photographer B - $5400
Elopement Photographer C - $3000
Estimated Average Cost is:
($3500 + $5400 + $3000) / 3 = $3967
The estimated average is what you should expect to pay for that specific service or item. Write it down on your list under the column “Average Cost”.
Also, if you find a vendor that catches your eye from the get-go, write their contact information right away. This will save you an additional step when you start choosing vendors to work with.
4. Set your own spending limits now that you know the estimated average costs
Every couple is different when it comes to how much they can budget for their elopement.
It’s the reason that statements like ‘affordable’ or that ‘don't cost an arm and a leg’ are far from helpful when looking for vendors.
So once you have the estimated costs figured out, set some time aside to talk to your partner about your elopement fund. From there you’ll determine how much you can or want to spend on your day.
Regardless of the experience you’re looking to have, come up with a concrete number that you’ll use as your anchor is useful to see how to allocate your spending.
On the last column of the list (‘My budget’), write down what your realistic budget would be for those vendors, items and activities you wrote down.
How Much Should You Spend on Your Elopement
There are 3 different ways you can celebrate your elopement but it’s not limited to just those. These are: budget elopements, luxury and/or adventure elopements, and destination elopements.
So how much you should spend on your elopement will be based on the experience you want.
It's a common misconception to think of elopements as the cheaper version of traditional weddings. But it doesn’t have to be if you don’t want it to.
Ultimately, your day should simply reflect and prioritize the experiences you want to have that day.
Budget Elopements
You’re looking for something as simple as being your ceremony and a restaurant dinner, but you still want to be pampered and have a professional capture the moment.
A budget elopement can last approximately 1-3 hours and the cost can go up to around $5000.
Luxury and Adventure Elopements
You want your day to be as memorable as possible, so you prefer to make a day out of it. You can plan on having an elopement to last half a day or even 2 full days!
It’s common for couples to go with this option because after all, their elopement day is a moment in time that calls for the biggest celebration in their own style.
A luxury elopement can cost from $5000 to $20,000 and the total cost will vary on the number of activities you choose to do, how many guests you plan on inviting, and even the location you pick to have your ceremony at.
Destination Elopements
You and your partner would love to start your journey as a married couple by traveling to a new place. If you’re already planning to take an international destination honeymoon, why not have your elopement there too?
The logistics of marrying abroad are a bit complex but you can always marry in your home country and then have a symbolic ceremony or exchange your vows abroad.
For destination elopements, the cost will depend on flights, lodging, and the length of your stay. If you’re inviting guests, you can choose to cover their lodging costs and they provide their own transportation.
Another upside is that you can easily have your honeymoon there and no additional travel costs may need to be spent.
Elopement Budget Sample Ideas
Simple 5-Hour Elopement with 10 Guests
The sample budget below shows a breakdown of a simple 5-hour elopement including 10 guests. It demonstrates the couple values budget and spending time with loved ones.
*Average costs have been calculated based on vendors based in California. ‘My Budget’ costs are made up.
Pro-Tip: The sample above shows photography coverage for 3 hours only. If coverage is wanted for the full timeline, make sure to account for the additional hours and any additional permits that may be needed.
Luxury/Adventure 10-Hour Elopement, No Guests
The elopement budget sample sheet below shows what average costs and a made up budget for a 10-hour luxury and adventure elopement to a location where the couple has to fly.
This made-up elopement plan does not include any guests and it has both photography and videography coverage for the full timeline.
This budget sheet shows that couple value their experiences being documented.
*Average costs have been calculated based on vendors based in California. ‘My Budget’ costs are made up.
2-Day International Elopement, No Guests
Having your elopement internationally doesn’t always mean it’ll be more expensive than eloping at home. Check out this sample budget for a 2-day elopement in Iceland.
The couple picked Iceland because this is where they wanted to honeymoon so they felt eloping here was the best choice.
*Average costs have been calculated based on vendors based in California that would travel to Iceland and vendors that are local to Iceland. ‘My Budget’ costs are made up.
Pro-Tip: Although this sample timeline shows that the elopement is happening over 2 days, photography coverage is only for 12 hours total (split). This means that you get time to do a lot more exploring on your own if you value complete privacy.
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Hey, I’m Sara!
I’m a California elopement photographer based in the Central Valley.
If you’re recently engaged or ready to start planning your elopement day, I’m cheering you on and I’d love to help!
Let’s talk about your vision, gush over stunning locations and spend the day creating memories.
I’m here to guide you through the process + capture your day how you dream it.
YOUR PERFECT DAY STARTS HERE
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