The Pros and Cons of having and elopement wedding in Northern Ireland
Are you considering eloping to Ireland and weighing up the pros and cons of doing so? Here, we give you the warts and all guide to having an elopement wedding in Northern Ireland incluing the many positives and the few negatives.
The Pros of Eloping
Some of the most beautiful weddings we’ve photographed have been elopements and we always feel privileged to be part of them. As we’re glass half-fill sort of people, we’ll start first with all the positives of having an elopement in Northern Ireland.
PRO: They are more intimate
Let’s start with this one, because it’s the most important. By their very nature, elopements are more intimate. At a large traditional Irish wedding, you may find it hard to get a breath, never mind talk to each other. Elopements offer you unparalleled time with each other. The cliché is that a wedding is all about the couple, and that is no more true than with an elopement. It removes all of the distractions of a big event.
Elopements can be every bit as emotional, intimate and fun as any other wedding.
PRO: They are exciting
They really are. It’s hard not to think of elopements without imagining it as a spur of the moment decision - of a couple running away, hand in hand, with nothing in their heads but complete love for each other. A footloose and fancy free expression of love just seems to feel more romantic than spending your Saturdays trying to decide on what shade of white the table runners should be.
PRO: Elopements are much cheaper
There are no two ways about it, weddings in Northern Ireland can be expensive; it’s so easy for costs to spiral out of control. Having an elopement takes away so many of the costs associated with a wedding, especially the catering and reception costs. And it’s not just you that’s saving money. The average wedding cost of attending a wedding as a guest is £451, so you are helping ease the burden on your friends and family too.
We believe that very few things can match the beauty of the Irish countryside.
PRO: But they don’t have to be cheaper
That’s right, not all elopements have to be a penny-pinching experience. But, instead of paying for hundreds of dinners for people, you can just splurge some money on a bit of luxury for yourself. If you’re eloping to Northern Ireland from another country, treat yourself to the best hotels and fine dining. And whatever you do, never feel guilty about spoiling yourself.
PRO: They’re less stressful
The Irish are a fairly relaxed bunch, but wedding planning can push our limits. Organising a wedding can be a large undertaking that takes up a lot of time and can cause a bit of stress. Planning an elopement is much easier, and there’s less that can go wrong and cause stress on the day.
Life doesn’t get less stressful than eating cake and drinking Prosecco on an Irish beach on your wedding day.
Pro: They’re much quicker to organise
In Northern Ireland, you need to give 28 days notice before a legal wedding. With your photographer and celebrant’s help, this is more than enough time to organise an elopement. With more going on, a larger wedding is much more time intensive, especially when balanced with your working life.
PRO: You can get married in a spectacular outdoor location
Ireland is beautiful and one of the great appeals of eloping to Ireland is having your wedding photos in gorgeous locations. Northern Ireland is Game of Thrones country, and you can get married in spectacular coastal settings or among the mountains. We’ve also right next door to Donegal and Sligo, two of the most scenic counties in Ireland.
You can have your elopement on a clifftop beside an old ruin of a Castle… just sayin.
PRO: You don’t have to wear traditional wedding clothes
Who says you have to wear a suit or a white dress? There is no legal dress code when getting married. Elopements remove the pressure of having to wear traditional wedding clothes, allowing you to be your authentic self.
PRO: You can avoid any family dramas
Families are wonderful. They can also be complicated and stressful with all kinds of dynamics going on. Eloping can help avoid any potential conflicts and family drama that might arise during a typical wedding day.
Sunset in Donegal. When we daydream, this is the place we go to.
PRO: Photography is much more RELAXED
For most elopements, your photography will consist of candid ceremony shots and your portrait session. A lot of the formal elements of wedding photography can be put to one side in favour of an experience that is often more natural and intimate.
But best of all, you won’t suffer the fatigue of posing for a million phone pictures and having them plastered on social media before you’ve had a chance to catch a breath.
The slower pace of elopement photography gives you time to take things in and appreciate the moment.
PRO: You can make last minute changes
There’s not much you can do if the weather is unkind on a traditional wedding day - you can’t just tell 200 guests that you’re postponing the ceremony for a few hours until the rain has passed. With an elopement, though, you often have the flexibility to make last minute changes. If rain is forecast for your 3pm ceremony, we can push it back until it clears. In the summer, you can have a ceremony at 8pm and still have plenty of time for portraits.
PRO: There are no rules
When you choose to elope, you have the freedom to choose any location, time, and style for your ceremony in a way that the constraints of a traditional wedding perhaps don’t allow. In Northern Ireland there are few constraints on the location, and the style of your ceremony is only limited by your imagination ( yes, we DESPERATELY want to shoot a cosplay elopement).
An elopement is whatever you want it to be.
The cons of Eloping
As with everything, there may be some downsides to eloping. While these may not apply to your situation, it’s worth having the full picture before deciding on whether an elopement is right for you.
CON: You may receieve less gifts
While you can save a fortune by not having 100 guests, the knock-on effect is that you’re likely to receive less gifts. If you’re like us and feel incredibly awkward receiving gifts, this could actually be a positive.
CON: You might miss your friends and family
To get that extra intimacy with each other, you have to sacrifice having your friends and family present. If you’re the sort of person that likes a bit of a party and fanfare with your loved ones, then you may find this unappealing.
Let’s be honest, crowd surfing is a lot harder if you elope.
CON: You risk upsetting family and friends
We feel that people should respect the couple’s wishes, but you could find that some are not so generous. Some family or friends could see it as a snub if they aren’t invited to your wedding. The likelihood of this is increased if you invite a small number of guests. One of the reasons couples choose to invite no guests is to avoid any particular person feeling left out.
CON: You have to contend with the Northern Irish weather
No matter what time of year, that romantic, wind-swept, clifftop elopement can quickly become a horror-show if the weather doesn’t play ball. But honestly, some of our favourite photos have taken place in the rain.
Probably our favourite elopement photo we’ve taken. It’s definitely the wettest, and possibly the most joyful. It always brings a smile to our face.
CON: You’re (mostly) on your own
When organising a wedding in Northern Ireland from a different country, having a wedding venue who take care of you can be a big help with organising things from afar. With an elopement, you’ll have to source things yourself.
Book a photographer at the earliest opportunity as we’re walking encyclopaedias of local wedding knowledge and can help you find everything you need from wedding suppliers and wedding locations, to hotels and great pubs and restaurants.
CON: You might miss planning a big wedding
We know people who like planning things. They love spreadsheets and bugeting and table-planning. If you’re this sort of person, you might miss ‘PROJECT WEDDING.’ While planning a big wedding is time-consuming, some people can find it good fun. Shopping for clothes and visiting wedding fairs can be a good social activity if you rope in some friends and family.
CON: There are no rules
Sometimes it’s easier working within what you know. The format of a traditional wedding is more widely known and you could find it easier working within some confines. But to this we’d say, keep it simple and get advice and help from your photographer and celebrant as they’ll have plenty of experience.
CON: Potential for regret
There is always the possibility that you come to regret not sharing the day with your family and friends. To avoid this, you can plan a big night out for them after your elopement. This can be days, weeks or months after you get married and take the form of a sit down dinner or just a big night out in your favourite pub.
The final word
No matter what kind of wedding you’re having, the most important thing is for it to reflect who you are and what you want the day to be. If you sit down and have a good talk about it, it will become clear pretty quickly whether an elopement if for you.
Northern Ireland is a fabulous place to elope. Ultimately, you should never feel pressured into having a traditional wedding if that’s not something you’d enjoy - and an elopement is every bit as meaningful and beautiful.
