Must Consider These Wedding Things When Eloping in Austin, TX

As an elopement wedding planner, something we laugh about now, is that eloping use to be considered a edgy way to get married (and Austin has never turned away anything edgy - even a couple "eloping") - not tell a soul and tie the knot. "Hey, guess what, I eloped in ATX last weekend". Parents and friends were usually left out of the picture and felt pretty disappointed. Now in modern times, eloping or micro weddings are considered a more intimate experience. Often times you will have parents only, or parents and a few of your closest friends. Some people still run off to elope without anyone, courthouse is still popular, Brittney reminded us Vegas still has legs, some states you can even marry yourself; it's not uncommon to do any of the options we mention.

As a wedding planner and elopement expert, we see many elopements, almost as many as we see bachelorette parties. Austin has so many beautiful intimate venues to elope, courthouses, and stunning hill country and views, it's hard to even think of a place in Austin where it wouldn't be possible to say your I-do's or vows and have a intimate experience. In Austin, if you want to keep it simple - a Justice of the Peace will perform a civil ceremony in the courthouse on certain days at the various precincts. If you are eloping in Austin, just keep in mind your marriage license has to be 72 hours old before it can be considered "legal" for you to have a ceremony (no more than 90 days old).

There are a lot of "pre-packaged" experiences you can buy online. At Wedding Day Girl - we have helped couples with simple elopements to a more custom elopements and coordination of ceremony experience. Everything from coordinating the hotel stay to orchestrating the ceremony at the preferred venue, the vendors and the intimate dinner or celebration post wedding ceremony. These are some of the things you may want to consider hiring a coordinator to help you with the eloping so you can come to Austin and have everything simply prepared for you with a high level experience.

Venue: Decide if you are going to wed in the courthouse, the Texas State Capital, a intimate venue or hotel / resort, museum, restaurant, the lake, etc. Consider time of day as well so you make the right choice on location.

Guest list: Will you have anyone there with you? Witnesses are optional in Travis County, but you need someone who is able to perform ceremonies to legally sign your marriage license.

Ceremony: Who will be that officiant for you? Will you write your own vows or will you have your officiant or judge lead the way on this? When you are deciding who will marry you - discuss with them how their process works and make sure it's a fit for you.

Rings: Will you have rings or will you forgo? If you do, make sure you get them cleaned and you bring them with you to your ceremony. Put someone in charge of this important task - your future spouse?

Wedding attire: What will you wear - something traditional, modern, or even colorful? Will you keep it short and playful or go formal and long? What will your partner wear? Something to mirror you?

Flowers: Will you hold anything or wear anything like a corsage, pin on or boutonniere? Will you pick wildflowers just before ceremony? Will you go to Central Market, HEB Flowers, or Whole foods and DIY your wedding flowers or do you prefer flowers to be dropped to you by a vendor?

Photography/Videography: At the very least photography is always a great way to document your ceremony, even if it means taking photos when you come out of the courthouse or just before you go in. Photography is definitely a recommendation, but what about video? How far do you want your ceremony to be documented?

Hair and Makeup: Will you hire someone to come to your hotel or house? or will you go somewhere just before ceremony to get your hair blown out, done up, and makeup put on? There are so many salons that offer all in one services now here in - or just bring someone to you and enjoy the process.

After your I-do's: Will you have a nice intimate breakfast, lunch or dinner together? If family and friends are coming, do you want to plan something nice in the evening where you are all there to celebrate and have a beautiful tablescape with candlelight prepared for you with a chef coursed dining experience? Or will you go for tacos, queso and margaritas and live music? Maybe plan your ceremony around an ACL concert or at Stubb's and get tickets for everyone. Or will you have a huge reception in the evening to surprise everyone you wed in the AM? We have even planned surprise ceremonies for couples and all their friends.

There are a lot of different packages you can buy into online for your elopement in Austin, but if you are looking for something more custom, designed to fit you two as a couple, Wedding Day Girl - Austin can definitely help you coordinate and orchestrate your ceremony and post ceremony activities with our simple Elopement or Small Wedding Package (Microwedding). Just contact us! Happy Wedding XO