Let’s start at the beginning
Most people spend their engagement touring venues, tasting cakes, and planning receptions. Elopement planning is a little different, so we spent this time getting fit, taking dance lessons, and traveling across North America.
Here’s a peek behind the scenes of planning our adventure elopement.
Eloping:Step One
First, on a random day in January, we Googled how to elope and elopement locations. Seriously.
Let’s back up a little. Technically, Alex had technically proposed some time earlier, without a ring, but the traditional wedding planning process felt stressful. With our 15-year anniversary approaching and a few practical benefits of a marriage license, eloping made perfect sense.
We found a service to build-your-own-elopement, but instead of paying the marked-up price, we sourced everything ourselves by checking out recommended locations, venues, etc. We fell in love with Glen Oaks in Big Sur. The redwoods and Central California scenery were bucket-list destinations for us, so we reached out.
Glen Oaks responded quickly, and their process for elopement was quite simple. We booked, and it was actually coming together. Crazy.
But that was only the first step. Next came photography and logistics. Enter Salisha Blackburn at Storybook Photography - our photographer, planner, officiant, elopement expert, and “unofficial third wheel.” She had the exact vibe we were seeking, and she was very familiar with the area. Despite only taking ~20 couples a year, she was (luckily) available for our date.
Within a week of a spontaneous Google search, we were officially eloping.
The Rings: Harzin in Jeweler’s Row, Philadelphia
Our search for Hannah’s engagement ring started long before we planned to elope.
But we could never find the perfect ring. After visiting several shops, we decided to take a different approach. We purchased a loose diamond and brought it to Harzin, a family-owned jeweler in Philadelphia’s historic Jeweler’s Row. Vic, the master jeweler, and Susan, his longtime associate, helped us create a custom engagement ring and even finished it the same day! On March 8, Hannah finally had her ring.
Unlike Hannah, Alex knew exactly what he wanted for his ring before we decided to elope: a blue sapphire in a gold band.
We even had quotes for his ring from other jewelers prior to January, but we decided to stick with Harzin. Harzin sourced a gorgeous sapphire and crafted his custom ring at a fraction of the cost of other jewelers. He was going to be able to get exactly what he had envisioned, handcrafted for him by an expert jeweler.
While Alex was working on designing his ring with the jeweler, Hannah went ahead and got her band from Harzin. It’s incredibly special to us to have custom made pieces unique crafted by an old school artisan jeweler in the country’s oldest diamond district. We also got my niece’s birthday earrings from there, so maybe the folks at Harzin are just as good at sales as they are jewelry.
After weeks of anticipation, we picked up both bands on July 12.
They were perfect. So perfect that Alex could not wait, and he wore his band as both an engagement ring and a wedding band (we’re modern like that).
Now you may be thinking, why didn’t anyone notice these rings? To keep our elopement a secret, we hid our rings in photos, Facetime, and in person. We even had to “undo” a few text messages that included photos with the rings revealed.
Later, we added silicone bands by Enso for all our adventures.
First Dance:
Fred Astaire Studios
Aunt Kathy - you were right! Our dance classes were indeed preparation for our wedding!!
We are not dancers. In fact, coordination has never been our strong suit. But we wanted a first dance - one that felt elevated instead of awkward.
We started lessons at Fred Astaire Studios, a dance studio just a few blocks from home, and we were guided by our amazing instructors, Olga and Evgenii. What began as a humbling 30-minute consultation on May 30th turned into weekly classes that transformed us from two left feet into convincing dancers. On October 17, we debuted our routine for the studio - with applause, compliments, and plenty of “aww” moments.
Our song? Baby I’m Yours by Arctic Monkeys.
This was one of our favorite parts of elopement planning.
During a sushi lunch date with our neighbor Gary,
Alex spotted a burnt orange suit in a shop window. That was it - he was going to get married an orange suit.
On July 23, we attended our appointment at Suit Shop. He tried two shades: burnt orange and clay. Clay won, and the full ensemble - vest, jacket, pants, and white shirt - looked so good.
We even had to paint his Funko Pop to match!
The Suit
The Dress: Boudoir 1861 in Montreal
Our neighborhood is basically a hotspot for wedding shopping.
There are over 10 bridal shops within just a mile of us. Most of them, while beautiful, were well outside our budget. The average wedding dress costs around $2,000, which felt absurd when we could put that money toward our actual elopement adventure instead.
But that presented a problem. We didn’t want to gamble hundreds of dollars on a dress online, and we also didn’t want to miss that magical “say yes to the dress!” moment in person. According to every wedding article we could find, it’s recommended to start dress shopping a full year in advance. Most dresses are made to order and can take months to be ready. We didn’t have that kind of lead time! We needed something we could get our hands on within just a few months, without compromising the experience.
So, we did what any practical couple would do: we went to Canada.
Specifically, we went to Boudoir 1861 in Montreal on August 16.
At Boudoir 1861, Hannah tried on several gowns with Alex cheering her on. The first two dresses brought happy tears, and though she tried on more, those first two were special.
We considered having two bridal gowns, but only one was in stock. Thus, the dress that we could drive across the border at the end of the weekend was the one. It fit like a glove as well, and she found the perfect accompanying veil.
