Why Luxury Elopments Will Kill the Traditional Wedding
By: Nathan Bryant
Tags: Elope, Acadia National Park, Weddings, Millennials, Elopement

As a millennial, I’m used to taking the blame for killing certain businesses or industries. But there is one industry I actively took part in killing — and enjoyed every minute of it.

I got married last week. This is actually my second marriage. For my first one, 10 years ago, I did the “traditional” big southern wedding that my first wife had probably been dreaming about since she was 4 years old. I hated it. It was in my first wife’s hometown, all of my family had to travel to be there, and 75% of the guestlist were friends of her parents. I also had very little part in planning. Whatever that wedding was, it certainly wasn’t “my” wedding. So when my current wife and I got engaged last summer, we were determined to make this wedding special and unique to us.

So we started planning. We had fun with it at first. We went around town to check out all of the wedding venues and vendors. We went to the bridal conventions and saw all the nifty services you could hire for your special day. My (now) wife works as an event coordinator, so she was right at home planning our wedding. We even picked out a venue — a old mansion that the current owners had been renovating for the past ~1 year they’ve owned it and just started hosting weddings. Given another year to make additional renovations, we were certain this was our place to do a unique wedding and reception. So my event planning wife sat down, made a wedding budget, and then we both nearly choked and fell out of our seats.

Our projected cost, all things considered, was going to be at least $30,000. That’s more than I make in a year as a graduate student! Even with financial gifts from our parents, we were still going to be in this for at least five figures. We figured at this point in our lives, if we were going to spend five figures on something, it sure as hell wasn’t going to be a traditional wedding. Don’t get me wrong- we still wanted to get married. But we felt like we could do it for a hell of a lot less than $30,000. In rationalizign what we should do, I said to Laura, “For $30,000 we can get married anywhere in the world. Where do you want to go?” And things took off from there.

We had planned to go on vacation with family to Acadia National Park in the summer of 2020, but COVID has effectively cancelled our plans. We both still wanted to go, and I had extended family a few hours away. So we said, “What the hell, let’s elope at Acadia!” I use the term “elope” loosely. It was really more of a microceremony. Our immediate family was there, along with two very close friends, plus our dog. Now, technically all you need to get married at Acadia is a $50 permit, plus whatever travel expenses will get you there and back. But as the title implies, we went for a more luxury elopment. I also use “luxury” very loosely here. We stayed in an AirBnB in Bar Harbor, which allowed us to see the town, eat lobster at Stewman’s, and drink beer at Atlantic Brewing Company. When we had free time we could explore the park. Laura wore a custom wedding dress, and I wore the finest cheap suit that Jos. A. Bank had to offer. We got married on Otter Cliffs overlooking the rocky coastline, with an amazing photographer snapping breathtaking pictures. And afterwards everyone celebrated on a chartered boat ride around Mount Desert Island, catered by a nearby cafe with the lobster rolls and other fixings you would expect from a northeast wedding. A few days later, we again celebrated with my extended family in Portland, at a brewery with a beautiful catered meal and an open bar. We have additional celebrations lined up later this summer to celebrate with Laura’s family in their hometown, as well as with our friends closer to our current home.

So again, I will admit that I’m using “luxury” very loosely here. However, we don’t feel like we really skimped on anything. And the crazy part? All of this is costing us WAY less than the $30,000 we projected for a traditional wedding.

My wife and I sharing a post-ceremony kiss atop Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park

Are millennials killing the wedding industry? Probably. But is it so hard to see why? In an era where wages are stagnant, young adults are burdened with huge student loans, and adults children are still living with their parents — you can understand why people these days are so adverse to spending tens of thousands of dollars on a one day venture. It would take a young adult years to save $30,000 in the first place; nevermind trying to save near that amount again for a house. Plus, you probably are NOT getting these views from your average wedding venue. So I, for one, am quite happy to be part the traditional wedding killing generation.