What are the differences between an intimate wedding and an elopement?
Intimate Wedding vs Elopement
If you have recently started planning your wedding, you have probably come across an overload of information that is confusing you and raising lots of questions about intimate weddings and elopements, since they are the real novelties of recent years, breaking the classic wedding mould. So how do we define them? What are the differences between them? How do they compare with a full-day wedding, and how does the photography work?
INTIMATE WEDDING VS ELOPEMENT: What are the differences?
The true definition of an elopement is when a couple decides to run away from it all and marry in secret. Some will want their very closest loved ones, such as mum, dad, brothers and sisters. That's all: a wedding for just a few, and some couples simply use their photographer as a witness, with no other guests at all. It is usually an “improvised” wedding, arranged at the last minute and typically planned 1 or 2 months ahead. So the true definition is a romantic runaway to get married. Most elopements are not centred on the ceremony (which may last only a few minutes) but on a creative portrait session after the “I do”, in which photographer and couple create fabulous images in fairy-tale settings.
How can we define an intimate wedding?
An intimate wedding is simply a normal wedding with a shorter guest list. Instead of a huge banqueting hall and extravagant menus, you choose a smaller, more intimate venue, with a guest list of around 10 to 20 people. The wedding doesn't necessarily have a smaller budget; that, of course, is up to you. In short, you can use the same budget for an intimate wedding and give your guests an extraordinary experience. Intimate weddings are much more relaxed and, if you like, not traditional in the strict sense of the word. Sometimes the couple get ready in the same house and see each other for the first time in the hallway; after all, not everyone believes it's bad luck to see each other before reaching the altar. A couple's complicity wins out over clichés too. Sometimes there isn't even a seated dinner; at other times, as with Erika and Filippo, we find ourselves before a lavishly laid table reminiscent of a royal banquet, with an air of refined, old-world taste. Meanwhile the focus is on fabulous portraits; chaos has no place at intimate weddings, and everything has a stillness and calm that lets the day flow with a unique serenity, while reportage shots capture intimate, unguarded moments that are hard to get with posed shots, giving the photos of the day an exquisite flavour
Intimate Wedding VS Elopement: Photography Coverage
A couple usually needs 2 or 3 hours of photography for an elopement: covering the ceremony and a portrait session. There are rarely images of getting ready or of the wedding meal. So the photographer's work will be 2 or 3 hours, simply photographing the ceremony and a portrait session afterwards, reflecting the few hours spent with the photographer.
Elopement: a word that is often overused
Lots of couples have read up on this trend, but it has to be said there is often some confusion. If you are looking to save money, bear in mind that this isn't possible with a photographer: choosing an elopement wedding will result in less photographic coverage of the event, since the photographer will have less time available, with no difference in price. Elopements that make sense are, for example, a wedding we at My Happy Wedding photographed in Florence: they were an American couple who had left home without telling anyone, married on the spur of the moment, then had a photo session and enjoyed a holiday… forget running off to Las Vegas, this was running off to Florence.
Gallery
Frequently asked questions
What is an elopement?
It is a wedding just for the couple, sometimes with a handful of witnesses, often in a spectacular setting far from home.
What is an intimate wedding?
It is a wedding with a few chosen guests, usually family and close friends: more intimate than a classic wedding, but with a real celebration.
Do you need a photographer for an elopement or an intimate wedding?
Yes, even more so: with only a few guests, photos become the only way to share and remember the day.
