To Elope or Not Elope, That Is THE Question
I come from a very close knit, Baptist family and the idea of me getting remarried was a little questionable for them. They wanted me to focus on my children and on providing for them the best that I could, and truth be told, I think that they were weary of opening their hearts to someone again.
In my first marriage, everyone had believed that my husband was a wonderful person and when he betrayed that trust, he hurt my whole family. Coupled that with the fact that we had made a choice to move in together before the wedding (which was really frowned upon by my family)… we initially thought that eloping and taking a weekend for just Robert and I was a great idea.
We began to research locations in the Midwest that cater to elopement weddings and we fell in love with Eureka Springs, Arkansas. It was littered with wedding chapels and Bed and Breakfasts. The thought of a quite secluded cabin in the woods was very appealing to us, not to mention the idea of having all the details taken care of for us.
When I informed my family of our choice to elope, we were met with mixed responses. My sister, especially was hoping that we would do a more traditional ceremony or at least one that she could attend. We began to consider the idea of not eloping and my family began to open up to our decision to get married, once they gave Robert a real chance… they could not help but fall in love with him too.
“I began to realize that while the idea of running away to a secluded bed and breakfast in the beautiful Ozark hills sounded incredibly romantic… deep down I knew that I wanted my super protective and close family to be a part of our day. I shared with Robert that I was having a change of heart and he was 100% supportive of me, he wanted the day to be special and told me repeatedly that he did not care where the wedding took place, as long as he was getting to marry me.”
We knew now that we wanted to do a more traditional wedding service, but that brought on so many challenges that could have been averted by packing a weekend bag and heading for the hills… We had to fight the schedules of a family full of busy people to find a day that would work for as many people as possible.
I had to come to terms with the fact that I would not find a date that would work for EVERYONE… we settled on the Fourth of July because everyone had the day off already! Plus the idea of fireworks on my wedding day… was too much to resist.
The planning of the wedding and the challenges that came with having it on a holiday will be shared with you in subsequent posts… but I can sit here today and tell you that I am glad for us that we did not elope, I am happy that our family was there to share the day with us.
Also we are already planning to visit that bed and breakfast in Arkansas for our first Anniversary next year, so we will get the best of both options!
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