How to involve friends and family on your elopement day
If you do decide to bring friends and family along to your elopement, there are multiple options on how you can include them in your day.
Have one intimate ceremony
Planning a single ceremony to include your family and friends in your elopement is a beautiful way to have the people closest to you standing right by your side as you commit your lives to each other. The only caveat is that you might have to consider making compromises about the ceremony location to make sure to accommodate everyone’s needs.
Split up the day
If you want to involve your family and friends in your ceremony, but don’t want to make compromises on your ceremony location you can have a private vow-reading with just you and your partner, and then have another ceremony with your family and friends during a different part of the day. You can choose to read the same vows for both ceremonies or you can keep your vows private and have a different type of ceremony in front of your family and friends. This way, you get to read your vows in total privacy, in the exact location you’re envisioning, but also have a meaningful ceremony with your closest people next to you.
Spread it over two days
If you like the idea of doing two ceremonies but feel like that would make for a very long day—spreading your elopement experience over two days can be the perfect solution to really being able to relax and not feel super rushed or exhausted. You can include your friends and family on the first day, and then have a second day all to yourselves. Or, you can have your dream 2-person elopement experience on Day 1, and then celebrate and take photos with your friends and family on the following day.
Include them in other intimate moments
Your family and friends can be physically present and involved in your wedding day, even if you don’t necessarily want to have a ceremony with them. You can invite them to help you get ready or see your first look, before sending you off to have an entirely private ceremony by yourselves. Or you can invite them to just take some formal portraits with you afterward and have a celebratory dinner in the evening.
How to involve friends & family if they’re not physically present
If you choose to have a “just us” 2-person wedding, or if you have family members or friends who aren’t able to be physically present—you can still involve them in the process of you getting married in many creative and beautiful ways.
Throw an engagement party
Ask them to help you pick out your wedding attire
Invite them to watch you sign your marriage license before you leave for your trip
Include family heirlooms as detail items in your day
Facetime, Skype, or Zoom them on your day
Invite them to write letters that you’ll read during your ceremony
Send them photos, videos, and selfies during your day
Open gifts or cards from them on your day
Bring something back for them from your trip
Have a party or reception with them after your elopement
Share your full gallery of photos with them (You can even have a photo reveal party!)
Gift them prints or an album
