Noosa Wedding Ring’s Diana Playford says  ‘It’s very satisfying as a wedding planner to help turn people’s wedding dreams into reality.  In the early years,  I was  surprised by how many people chose to elope to Noosa or alternatively have a very intimate destination wedding here.  But I’ve come to really enjoy these weddings which are so personal and  so meaningful to the bride and groom who need only to think of each other and the vows they want to make rather than having to worry about large numbers of guests.

Some clients choose to elope because they want to come back to a place they’ve loved on a previous visit to make their vows and their family and friends aren’t in a position to travel sometimes to the other side of the world.  Others start to plan a conventional wedding but become frustrated by the process of trying to find agreement with the families on guest lists, costs etc.  Yet others tell stories of being put off by a sibling’s wedding which was spoiled by awkwardness and even bickering between recently separated and repartnered parents.  So they elope and this way they know that they can marry the way they want without fear of unwelcome side issues.

From the parents’ viewpoint, it’s sad that they’re not going to be there on their offspring’s wedding day so we recommend that the ceremony is videographed and of course lots of photos are taken by a good professional photographer to record forever the bride and groom’s happiness on their wedding day.   On their return home, the bride and groom organise a party for their families and friends to congratulate them and view the ceremony video and photos.

One very clever couple I met some years ago had gone into one of those photo booths in Melbourne armed with three signs – WE – HAVE – ELOPED – so they could take three photos of themselves with the individual words. They then arranged the photos one above the other to be printed in a bookmark type format with the photos on the front and the party invitation details on the back.  A trusted friend and workmate was then left with the bundle of stamped addressed envelopes to put in the mail on the Monday after the wedding.

‘Trusted’ is the operative word here.  It’s really best to tell absolutely no-one of your elopement plans,  human nature being what it is.  Most people are not very good at keeping secrets and you just never know what well meaning person might tell the very person you’ve decided to elope in order to escape having your wedding hijacked by.   I’ve actually seen what was supposed to be an elopement wedding taken over by parentzillas in hot pursuit.  So sad!

To make it even easier for a couple to plan their Noosa elopement wedding, we have a draft Elopement to Noosa Wedding Package on our website www.noosaweddingring.com and our award winning Wedding Planner Glenda McCallum would be more than happy to adapt this draft to your requirements. It’s excellent value for money.

Happy planning!

Wedding planner, Glenda McCallum