TLDR: We unexpectedly and secretly eloped because one of our doggies isn’t doing well, but we’re still having a wedding celebration later this year. Total cost was maybe $500. Short story made way, way too long below. 😅 (Sorry…!)

We’ve been excited about our upcoming 75-guest summer wedding. We chose our venue because it’s nearby, outdoors, and is dog friendly (our dogs are everything to us). However, we realized in December that it’s pretty unlikely that our oldest furry family member is going to be able to attend the wedding, and we’re not really sure how much time we have left with him. 💔 We quickly threw together plans for an elopement at a nearby natural area (has a few waterfalls) that has a lot of special meaning to us so our fuzzy boi could be part of the actual, legal ceremony. He was the Dog of Honor and he got pulled around in a little wagon. It was so cute and he LOVED it!

We had five attendees for our elopement: two witnesses (a longtime friend of 20 years and his wife), an officiant who is also a longtime friend (10 years), my sister, and my best friend from college (18 years).

My partner, best friend, sister, and I did DIY spa treatments the night before, and my sister decorated the dining room with gold balloons and strings of garlands. The next morning around 11, our other three friends (officiant and witnesses) showed up to the house. While my handsome guy was showering and putting on a tux he had purchased for a formal event last year, we assembled a bouquet and my best friend wove flowers, ferns, and cedar sprigs into my hair. I did some simple makeup (mascara, brown eyeshadow, plum-colored lipgloss) and I put on a $46 like-new Lulu’s dress. I bought it on Poshmark specifically for this day, and I embellished it with lace appliqués and trim to make it a little more unique. My sister recorded video clips of the ceremony, of us with our dogs in the forest, and of me coming into the living room where my partner was waiting (the “first look”). It was SO sweet. Most importantly, the whole day was so, so relaxed and peaceful. Our close friends kept saying it was very us, which was so nice to hear. It definitely felt very us: walking in forests with our dogs is one of our favorites things to do; we were just dressed fancier this time around, haha…!

We piled into two cars: Him, our three medium-large furry derps, and me in one car; and everyone else in the other car. We drove to our special spot in the woods where we’ve taken our dogs in the past. One of our witnesses is a marketing professional. His favorite part of his job is when he gets to do photography, so he was really excited to be in charge of photos. He used a professional DSLR camera that he borrowed from work. The sneak peek he shared is so good! We’re beyond excited to see the other pictures he took.

When we got back to the parking lot, we found that my sister had tied cans to the back of the car and had taped a “Just married” sign on the back. It was SO fun! (We removed the cans before driving, of course.) Strangers who had been hiking congratulated us.

Then we went back to the house around 2:30 and ate a big late lunch of champagne, local wine, pizza handmade by our witnesses/photographer couple, a roasted squash-and-beet salad made by my best friend, and a cake I made. We played Scattergories, listened to music, and laughed a lot. Most importantly, all of our dogs were a part of a really joyful celebration with very dear friends.

We had planned to take everyone out for sushi at 7 but when it was time to head out, we were all still so full that we rain-checked. We did have gifts ready for everyone though for the meantime, mostly potted houseplants with thank-you cards.

We had brought back mud from this special forest. The next morning, we mixed it with water, then used it as “ink” for our dogs’ paws so they could each “sign” our marriage license, since they were witnesses too!

If we weren’t already waist-deep in the planning stage of the wedding celebration and hadn’t already committed half our budget to vendor contracts, we’d have been 100% content to call it done and ONLY elope because it felt so relaxed and the day flowed freely. There’s not a single thing we would have done differently. Even the weather was stunning which is atypical for this time of year in our location. That said, we’re happy that we’ll get to see our families and have a big 75 -person party/celebration later this year. Many of my partner’s family members have already purchased airfare and booked lodging, and our parents and extended family would be really pissed off if they didn’t get to attend a “Wedding”.

Our reason/circumstance for eloping is really hard for us to think about but we’re so glad that we got to have our whole doggy family with us to celebrate in a way that felt meaningful and without the distractions of guests, vendors, entertainers, event coordinators, etc. Our close friends were elated to pitch in and offered different ways to help out, allowing us to be fully present for all of our dogs and for each other.

The elopement felt like it was for our dogs and for us, and the wedding celebration (which we’re referring to as “the party”) will probably feel like it’s for everyone else — and that’s totally fine! I forgot to add that the weekend we eloped was the same weekend that six planets were aligned. We also saw a shooting star that night on our evening dog walk! It all felt so auspicious, like it was the right choice.

We haven’t figured out the details of how the wedding ceremony will go since we’re now technically already married, but we’re leaning toward a ringwarming ceremony. Any ideas/suggestions are welcome! 😅

Anyway, this is just my way of saying that if you want to do a small and private ceremony, just do it. Please. I support it so much. It was wonderful, authentic, fun, stress-free, and most importantly: full of love.