WHAT IS ELOPING?

Elope - To leave home secretly in order to get married without parental agreement
Eloping - To run away, or escape privately, a woman or a man, either married or unmarried, who runs away with a paramour or a sweetheart.
Elopement - The act of running away with a lover

You're basically getting married without telling anyone, until after you say, "I do."

WHY DO PEOPLE ELOPE?

• Parents don't like your choice of partner.
  
• Just wanna get married and get it over with
  
• Illness
  
• Your fiancée is pregnant
  
• You're going to jail
  
• You're going to war
  
• You're leaving the country
  
• You want to become a citizen of a country
  
• Spur of the moment thing, "What the heck, let's do it!"

WHAT ARE THE PRO'S?

• You don't have to go through a year of wedding planning
• It's less expensive
  
• You can marry whomever, whenever, however you like

WHAT ARE THE CON'S?

• Dealing with family wrath and disappointment when they find out
  
• Dealing with you own disappointment
  
• Not being able to share your wedding with those close to you
  
• Answering the question, "Why did you elope?" a million times
  
• It's a secret wedding and people will always wonder what the real reason was

GETTING MARRIED IN CANADA

See our Helpful Links page and click on the "Vital Statistics" link in your province.

GETTING MARRIED OUTSIDE OF CANADA

See our Wedding Requirements Chart for marriage license information and our Destination Weddings article for ideas on eloping.

ELOPEMENT IDEAS FOR CANADA

• Hire an officiant to perform your ceremony at a beach, park, your backyard, anywhere
  
• Decorate your living room and have the ceremony there
  
• Rent a cottage
  
• Stay a night in a fancy hotel
  
• Go to you favourite restaurant
  
• Celebrate at home with a candlelit dinner (order out, no cooking and cleaning)
  
• Get married in the morning, take a limo to the airport for a fabulous honeymoon
  
• Take a long train ride to another province and get married there.
  
• Rent a hot air balloon and exchange vows in the sky.
  
• Charter a small boat or yacht. Get married at dusk, take the minister back to the dock and have a romantic dinner on the deck.
  
• You could even do something wild that we usually see on TV, like getting married on a roller coaster, bungee jumping, scuba diving

Whatever you do, make it fun, romantic and memorable.