Mar and Nancy were Instagram friends for years before they met in person. Inspired by their spiritual journey, they chose to marry in Joshua Tree National Park, California, surrounded by their closest friends.
Their ceremony was unique to them and rather than plan every second, they let everything flow. They told us, “We didn’t plan our vows. We wanted everything to flow organically from our hearts. Our friends used their didgeridoos to cleanse our auricular field, and as a blessing for our union. It was simple, but powerful, given the location, the crystal grid our friends created, and the intention our friends and us set for our union.”
Corey and Brandon, from Melbourne, absolutely did not want a big, expensive wedding. Instead, they spent less than $5k (AU) to elope at The Altar Electric, a wedding chapel in their hometown. The venue provided all the décor and the Elvis officiant – they simply hired their photographer, found outfits and showed up!
Corey rocked a short sequin dress from Zara with Vans and a denim jacket (to which she added the patches herself), while Brandon was in jeans and also a DIY denim jacket.
“We were originally going to elope in Vegas but couldn’t because of COVID restrictions,” they told us, “so wanted to do something as close as possible to that. We wanted the day to represent us. We wanted it to be fun. We weren’t trying to be different just wanted it to be us.”
Eloping in a national park with just five of their close friends and family, Tabatha and Richie planned everything themselves, exactly the way they wanted it.
“We didn’t follow the expected traditions of a wedding itinerary,” Tabatha told us. “We booked a lake house in the national forest for four nights and cooked meals, played Switch games and board games, and just spent quality time together. The memories from that weekend are some of the most special that I have. I am so glad it became such a low stress, intimate event for us.”
Tabatha knew she wanted a black dress, but had a little trouble realising her dream. She explained, “I had several moments where I thought I had to give up on that vision because the options seemed either inaccessible for my budget, or too gimmicky. All the bridal shops in my area that had black options were the same dresses from the same couple of designers. And they were very trendy silhouettes. I wanted something that felt personal, and timeless, and unique.”
“I was very lucky to find an affordable option to have a gown custom-made. I went to a local boutique and tried on a few silhouettes to get an idea of what I felt was the most flattering, and then custom styled that to fit my vision. Seeing myself in all-white also solidified my thoughts that that was NOT for me.”
Paris and Danni’s elopement may just be the ultimate anti-wedding! Re-planned in just 48 hours thanks to ever-changing COVID restrictions, they held a private ceremony at a cottage in Meander, Tasmania with only their closet friend, a photographer and celebrant there with them. It all worked out great though as their new date, July 14th, is actually International Non-Binary People’s Day!
“We met and developed our friendship through indoor rock climbing, mostly bouldering (no ropes!)”, Danni told us. “For our wedding we were inspired by nature. We wanted to have a nice little holiday where we could be connected with each other and our environment. We basically did none of the expected things. We wanted our wedding to be an honest reflection of our authentic selves, a continuation of our relationship rather than a massive milestone.”
Dani and Dacari had been discussing how their big day would look for a long time. Having been together for eight years, they decided to elope because, as they told us, “The stress of figuring out how to include everything and everyone started to chip away at something that was supposed to feel like magic – elopement was the best choice that we could have made for ourselves and our union. We wanted the freedom to commit to each other in a way that felt deeply personal and private.”
The simplicity of an elopement means you can pick and choose exactly what you want (and don’t want!) included, making it deeply personal to you as a couple. Dacari and Dani continued, “The best thing about planning our wedding happened after we broke outside of the expectation of things looking a certain way. We leaned into the idea of choosing things that felt right for us and that felt like fun–and that’s when things really started to fall into place. We enjoyed picking things out and envisioning what our day would look like.”
They wanted their wedding to be relaxed and reflect them, so Inez and Ismail, opted to keep things small for their September wedding. They also didn’t want anything too traditional. The bride wore a black dress by Khaite, while the groom wore his favourite red Nike trainers and a black tee-shirt rather than a shirt. The ceremony was held at Marylebone Town Hall with just a few close loved ones present, and the went to a restaurant afterwards rather than having a formal reception.
“We had a civil partnership ceremony, which meant we didn’t have to follow any scripts based on tradition that didn’t align with our relationship”, the bride told us. “We organised everything within a month and we only picked the music the morning of the ceremony! For the entrance we had I’ll Follow You into the Dark by Death Cab for Cutie, and for the signing we had Dance of the Dream Man from Twin Peaks (a favourite show of ours). The ceremony was super quick because we didn’t want any vows or readings, we ended up cutting a lot of the script off.”
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