Eloping Announcements

How to let the world know you just go hitched!

So, you're going to elope and think "Yippee, now I don't have to send out invitations to the wedding!"  Well, yes and no.  Yes, you don't have to send out invitations to the wedding, but, no, you should send out some form of elopement announcement to let friends and family know of your plans.

There’s nothing wrong with deciding to elope, but you owe it to those you care about to break the news in the right way. If they hear it through the grapevine, it could cause irreparable damage to your relationships with them. Here are some ideas for announcing your elopement the right way.

• Send out elopement announcements. It’s best to prepare these before you get married and send them out immediately afterward. If it was a spur of the moment affair, prepare and send the announcements as soon as possible after the ceremony. Be sure to word the announcement carefully and include the date so that it’s not mistaken for an invitation.

• Include a picture from your ceremony with the announcements. This will give recipients a memento of the occasion and give them a sense that they were a part of it in some small way. You can either enclose a print or have the photos printed on the announcements themselves.

• In some cases, a phone call immediately after the ceremony is in order. This is most important when it comes to the parents and children of the bride and groom, but you may choose to inform siblings and close friends this way as well. This will ensure that those closest to the couple will not find out from someone else first.

• Consider having a reception. A celebration of your union will give friends and family of the bride and groom a chance to get to know them as a couple and help assuage any hurt feelings. You could include the party information in the elopement announcements if you like. Avoid making invitees feel like they are obligated to bring a gift – while many may do so, the rules of etiquette do not require them to since they were not invited wedding guests.

• Set up a website about your elopement. There are plenty of web hosts that will allow you to set up a small site for free, and with their site building tools you won’t have to know anything about web design. One free host is blogger.com, which allows you to build a blog for free, and which allows users to include static pages. Include all the details and lots of photos so that friends and relatives can catch up on what they missed. Add the web address to your elopement announcements if possible, or email it to friends and family once you’ve completed the site.

• Run an elopement announcement in the newspaper. This should be done after you’ve informed family and friends so that there won’t be any unpleasant surprises. An announcement in the paper will serve to inform acquaintances and the general public about your union.

Sharing the news about your elopement can be rather awkward. But as long as you inform the people who are most important to you right away, the news will more likely be met with congratulations than hard feelings.