My Realistic Savannah, GA Elopement

I'm married. I just love saying that. Mrs. Elkins has a nice ring to it, no? I love being Scott's wife and I am obsessed with the fact that our wedding is over. I know it's usually the other way around, but ever since I said, "yes!" I've been dreading the, "I do!" To read more about that, read this post I wrote back in January.

After we got engaged last December, we started planning a small destination wedding to Siesta Key, FL for November 2016 and the stress was really getting to me. Scott didn't care at all about where / how / when we got married, he just wanted to be married! He would ask me about every Wednesday (we both have Wednesdays off and consider that “our day”) to just go to the courthouse so he could make me his wife… it was super cute and tempting but I resisted because I wanted an experience, not just a short “get it over with” type ceremony.  In March I got a nice job promotion that increased my stress by about, oh, a gazillion percent. On top of that, we were struggling to stick to our savings budget for our wedding AND furnish our house AND pay off debt AND enjoy being together, going out, etc. It was getting to be a little too much and I wasn’t enjoying the process at all. 

So, on Monday, May 9th I had reached a slight breaking point. It wasn’t a huge deal, but it was the day I said, “let’s go. Let’s just go Wednesday.” My fiance was a little caught off guard, but got excited and we started brainstorming ways to make it a little unique instead of just a typical courthouse wedding. We had some savings for the wedding already and decided we’d take some from that and try to get away for two days and do a mini vacation / elopement all in one. 

We’re pretty fortunate in that we both worked together at the time and had an awesome team, so we were able to switch some shifts at work to get Thursday – Saturday off work together. Now we had a timeline, we just needed a plan! 

I started diving into Google to find the “perfect” place within driving distance and landed upon the hidden gem that is the company, “Elope to Savannah.” 

Here is my review I wrote a few weeks back that I posted to their Facebook page that sums up our entire experience with them: 

“Incredibly happy with our experience at Elope to Savannah. We decided the week-of that we were tired and stressed out about planning a bigger wedding in November, so eloping was the perfect (and incredibly romantic) option for us! I started emailing Elizabeth at the first of the week, and she answered all my questions really fast (sometimes way late at night – totally not expected but very appreciated). Everything was SO EASY… too easy, almost. I asked questions just to “double check” and I really didn’t need to because Elizabeth takes care of everything. We stayed at Mansion on Forsyth Park (highly recommend) and walked across the street to Forsyth Park and met Elizabeth & the officiant right on time. She brought a beautiful bouquet that was exactly what I asked for & Scott’s boutonniere. The ceremony was lovely… short & sweet but not too short that we couldn’t savor the moment. Our package came with an hour of photography (starting when the ceremony started) and it was the perfect amount of time. We received over 200 pictures (way more than we expected for the price we paid) exactly one week after our ceremony (about a week before we expected to see anything). We definitely got more than what we paid for. If I were to have organized it myself, the flowers & photography alone would have cost more than what we paid for our package (we went with the Captured Memories package). I HIGHLY suggest this company for your elopement… if you want to really be stress free, not deal with ANY planning and show up with your love to the best day of your life, go with Elope to Savannah. We eloped on the first day we arrived in Savannah & had an amazing, stress-free three days to explore the town as husband and wife. Thanks, Elizabeth!!”

This package really was perfect for us. It came with everything we needed besides ourselves! Here’s what it included:

Captured Memories

• Officiant to perform quick civil ceremony with vows and sign and file license
• Unlimited email, text or phone consultation with Elope to Savannah consultant
• Photography provided by a professional photographer for up to an hour with an online gallery link sent to couple after the ceremony. You will be able to download all the photos and have printing rights. You may also share the album with your friends and family with the option for them to place orders directly from the site.
• Wedding roses are provided for the COUPLE, your choice of color. Various combinations available. Just ask us. 
• Up to five guests allowed, up to 10 guests, with addtional guests $25 per person. See additional terms
• Wedding in one of the downtown squares, Forsyth Park, or Tybee Island. Not available for any cemetery locations.

Here’s how our realistic budget broke down. We spent a total of $2,323.68 and we weren’t really pinching pennies at all. This really pretty chart comes courtesy of Everydollar… I am obsessed with this budgeting software! When I say this was our realistic budget, it's because as I was doing research about elopements & weddings and how people do them *incredibly* cheap, I realized most of them weren’t realistic at all. “We eloped & stayed in a 5 star hotel… thanks to my dad who owns a hotel,” and “We got married on $1000! It’s possible! Thanks to my mom who is a caterer, my brother who is a professional photographer & my sister who, as luck would have it, is a DJ!” These things are awesome if they can really happen for you, but they aren’t typical…

Everything is pretty self explanatory! The “Emergency 100” is $100 cash we took for when we couldn’t use our debit card & we also used it for gas. There’s also a Misc. category for a few things that didn’t really “fit” in a category, either.

A couple notes about how we spent our $$:

• I got my dress on clearance at Torrid (probably the best deal of the whole dang trip!)
• I was previously married, so I had to get a certified copy of my divorce decree from my hometown
• We splurged on a really nice hotel and stayed for two nights, totally not necessary if you’re on a tighter budget but it was worth it to us and we had a blast!
• I wanted to feel a little more “bridal” by getting my hair & makeup done; they did an excellent job! Hindsight? I would have just gotten my hair done and I could have just done my own makeup… I don’t regret it at all, but that’s a place we could have saved a bit. I do my own makeup pretty well, so I could have achieved the same look with my own products.
• Gas was about $50 for the whole trip, included in the “Emergency 100” category
• I ended up not wearing the shoes I bought because I forgot I had a pair in my closet that would work. Since I haven’t actually returned them, they are still in here as an expense! 
• Our rings are not included in this budget for a few reasons. My engagement ring was purchased by Scott separately and my wedding band was purchased months before we decided to elope so we already had it. Scott's wedding band was purchased for less than $40 the day before we left as a place holder because I haven't purchased his ring yet. I'll be upgrading his ring soon, but that won't be part of this budget.

Here are a few pictures from our day! These pictures were taken by Elizabeth and were part of our package. NOTE: I went with the Captured Memories package because I thought we needed a full hour of photography… to be honest, I love that we got so many pictures – too many to post here – but if I would have known how seamless the whole thing was, I’d have gotten the package a step down with only 30 minutes of photography. That would have been plenty since it was just us and we weren’t looking for that many pictures.

And that’s it! We drove from Charlotte, NC to Savannah, GA first thing Thursday morning, which was about a 3.5 hour drive. We went straight to the courthouse to apply & get our marriage license before heading to the hotel where we unpacked & took a nap. If you're planning to elope to Savannah, arrive as early as you can there because you never know what the wait time will be. We were in and our in less than an hour, but I've read reviews where it sometimes takes much longer. From there, Scott dropped me off so I could get my hair / makeup done and an hour and a half later, he picked me up & we got ready together which was really special! He closed his eyes while I put on my dress & jewelry and I got to have that “reveal” moment where he saw me for the first time… then we walked across the street to the park, hand in hand, met the officiant and boom! We got married! It was the most special time for us and I wouldn't change a single thing.

After our ceremony, we went back to our hotel and changed before heading out for dinner. We spent the next two days exploring Savannah & Tybee Island with zero stress. No worries about entertaining guests, no fretting over a huge ceremony... just spending time with each other and absolutely loving the city we were visiting.

Some people have asked me if I regret eloping and the answer is a very firm no way! I can't think of a better way to start a marriage than with an intimate, sweet ceremony that doesn't break the bank followed by a weekend of relaxing with your new husband or wife. Our families (with the exception of my dad -insert eye roll here-), were so supportive and happy for us and even though they weren't there with us on our big day, we knew they only cared about one thing: our happiness. 

Thanks for sticking with me this long & if you have any questions about our super successful elopement, leave me a comment!