Let's Elope

April 1, 2001
Here's a guide for couples willing to break some traditional rules. Behan and Shaw, who eloped with his wife in 1997, offer a short history of elopement and talk about reasons modern couples elope: stress reduction, finances, and the desire to be unique. They define elopement today as anything other than the big, traditional wedding and discuss options ranging from minimally planned escape elopements to some of the hybrid wedding-elopement choices like surprise weddings, dinner-party weddings, destination weddings, and theme weddings also covered extensively in Robin Kring's Storybook Weddings (Meadowbrook, 1998). Sidebars feature happy couples discussing their elopements, while a quiz helps readers identify which elopement option is right for them. Sections on communicating the big decision to others and elopement etiquette are quite helpful. More than half of the book discusses where to wed, offering tips on web sites, wedding packages, and favorite, romantic, and exotic locales. For all collections.

Copyright 2001 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.