Hows the wedding planning coming along?

If youre getting married, prepare to answer this question at least once a week.

And good or fine wont do.

How will you transport the cake?

What kind of flowers will you get?

Is your DJ going to play my favorite song?

If any of this sounds unpleasant, allow me to offer an alternative: elope.

When my fiance and I got engaged, a few people joked that we should just elope.

Theyve pictured it for years, they have every detail planned, and they know how to get started.

Before getting engaged, I never gave much thought to a wedding.

If that sounds familiar at all, wedding planning might not be a fun process for you.

Most of us already struggle with time and stress.Were all busy.

We all have packed schedules.

For some people, these extra tasks are welcome and fun.

If youre not a wedding person, theyre probably just going to stress you out.

Plus, youre not the only one whos busy.

Everyone reminds you that all the planning is worth it because itsyourspecial day.

Weddings Are Expensive

And then theres the money.

Theaverage wedding costs something like $26,000, and can be a lot higher depending on your venue.

Sure,there are ways to cut costs, but even frugal weddings are expensive.

You sure youre not going to have the ceremony in a church?

Is everyone going to like that?

You should use the florist Jim used instead.

Unlike any other party, people seem to think every aspect of a wedding is up for review.

To be fair, Ive done it, too.

It just seems to be a natural part of wedding culture.

After a while of this, you start to get resentful, and that makes things evenmorestressful.

Worse than that, many people dont evenlikegoing to weddings.

And when those guests start to complain, youll really wish you wouldve just eloped.

Nah, my people arent like that, I said.

If youre not prepared to follow the rules, be prepared to explain why you choose to buck them.

The choice is yours.

These witnesses will need to sign your license to make it validate it.

Beyond your guest list, heres how the process works.

Choose Your Location

The fun part: choosingwhereyou want to elope.

Depending on who you want to be there, you might consider a central, affordable location for others.

you could look up LGBT rights for different countries atTravel.state.gov.

Find an Officiant

Even when you elope, youneed someone to officiate your wedding.

You could also justfind an officiant online.

If you choose a friend, theyll have to get ordained, but its really easy.

Finda ministry online, fill out an tool, maybe pay a small fee, and theyll be certified.

Typically, you fill out the software, then go pick up your license at the county registrars office.

Otherwise you could find out and this has happened people have found out they werent even legally married.

This is good advice in general, but especially if youre eloping somewhere far from home.

The program should tell you exactly where to go.

Ours cost about $100 for Los Angeles.

If you want, you’ve got the option to get married right then and there.

It needs to be signed and filed within that time frame.

As attractive as eloping sounds to me right now, a wedding can be fun, too.

And best of all, those people get to witness an important, beautiful milestone in your life.

Illustration by Angelica Alzona.