Thinking of getting eloped in New Orleans? You have made an excellent choice. This historic, gorgeous city has become one of the choice locations for elopements throughout the entire country, for several key reasons.
From the agreeable weather to the accepting atmosphere, to the five-star dining, glamorous hotels, and assortment of museums, parks, parades, and events to attend, it’s no wonder why NOLA is becoming recognized as the best place to get eloped.
How do you actually go about planning an elopement, though? While there’s not as much to think about compared to an ordinary wedding, you don’t want to just wake up one day and decide to fly to Louisiana.
The best thing you can do for your big day is to plan it out properly! Even if you are a couple that enjoys spontaneity and excitement, you don’t want to run into any scheduling snafus, overbooked restaurants, unplanned for holiday parades, or any other x-factors. A lack of proper planning can take what is supposed to be a magical day and turn it into a giant headache.
This quick guide will cover some of the most important aspects of planning an elopement in New Orleans, so your big day will unfold seamlessly, for the best experience possible!
Start By Picking a Date For Your Elopement!
While it may feel a bit arbitrary or unimportant, you do want to get this out of the way. Now, it wouldn’t matter as much if you were planning on getting married on some remote mountain in Montana or something, but if you are getting married in New Orleans, you have to be aware of the date.
First of all, New Orleans is a lively city. There’s always something going on here, whether it’s a cultural festival, holiday event, live musical performance, or art show of some kind. The dates for these events are easy to find, and are featured in places like NewOrleans.com.
Why is this important? Because you want to plan your elopement around these days and incorporate them into your stay accordingly. For instance, if you are planning on holding your elopement at a particular historic site, and there just so happens to be a parade planned in the city for that day, on that street, you may just want to reconsider.
Keep tabs on the big events happening throughout the city, as well as federal holidays and other important dates, and choose a specific day that meets your needs and won’t cause you any unwelcome surprises. Remember, the day that you select for your elopement could also impact availability at local hotels, so book well in advance. This is why you want to choose the date and get it out of the way beforehand.
Where Will You Get Eloped in New Orleans?
Once you pick the “when,” you need the “where.”
New Orleans offers a wide assortment of different venues to choose from, depending on what your interests are as a couple and what theme you would like your elopement to have.
One great aspect of eloping in NOLA is the number of options you have to make your elopement truly unique and special. Select from a wide range of different parks, botanical gardens, cozy hotel balconies, aesthetic alleyways, bed and breakfasts, historical sites, and more. You can even incorporate more than one of these places into your plans, if you choose. New Orleans is full of romantic photo-taking opportunities, providing the ideal backdrop for any couple who are truly looking for a magical escape from the ordinary.
Do You Have a Theme For Your Elopement?
If you are planning to add a theme to your marriage proceedings, the location that you choose will play an important role here. You also want to think about whether or not you will be holding the elopement ceremony outdoors or inside someplace such as a hotel, and how this might affect your dress. Remember, one of the best aspects of an elopement is that you don’t have to feel pressured to wear something specific. Rather, dress for the weather or to be comfortable more than anything.
If you are putting together a specific theme, this is when you want to think about such things as the dress, any decorations, bridesmaid dresses, and so on. These points don’t come into play with every elopement, especially smaller-sized events, but it’s something worth noting if you plan on having a theme and a certain number of guests.
Elopement Event Planning
This is where you might want the assistance of a New Orleans elopement planner. There’s certainly nothing wrong with trying to plan out every last aspect of your elopement by yourself, but you are only increasing the chance that something could backfire if you do this.
An elopement planner familiar with the city will be able to guide you in your decision-making. Whether it’s to provide advice on a certain local restaurant that you may never have heard of before, or to help you plan out each leg of your day so that you can avoid scheduling conflicts and other issues, the benefits of a professional elopement planner are numerous.
Chances are, you’re not going to have nearly as many different services to account for as you would during the course of a wedding. However, there are still quite a few different things that have to come together in order to ensure that an elopement happens smoothly. Not only will an elopement planner be able to point out which services are better, they will be able to provide assistance with booking or take care of everything themselves without you having to fuss over anything.
Having someone on your side that is familiar with the area is important, and something that usually doesn’t come into play with a typical wedding. Most weddings occur close to home in a place that is familiar to the bride and groom, such as a family church. However, many elopements occur in cities or other locations that could be totally new to a couple, which means that even something as simple as navigating around could be an ordeal if you aren’t careful.
Don’t want to get lost in an unfamiliar city on your wedding day! That might sound romantic in movies but in real life that’s just a mood breaker.
In order to properly plan an elopement in New Orleans, you need the help of a skilled elopement planner that knows the city inside and out, in order to make the best possible recommendations for you and to help everything be as smooth and stress-free as possible.
Other Points to Consider When Planning Your NOLA Elopement
Many couples enjoy having a pre or post ceremony photo shoot with an elopement photographer, which can be a romantic and intimate time before/after all of the hustle and bustle of the actual ceremony. When planning your elopement, you might want to make room in your schedule for a photo shoot like this.
Depending on where you are having your ceremony and what your plans are for the rest of the day, you might prefer to work in a photo shoot afterwards instead. Either way, you want to make sure that you plan for this ahead of time and work it into your schedule accordingly. Photography is one of the most important aspects to get right when it comes to planning an elopement, because these are the memories you will cherish forever and you want to capture them professionally.
Hiring a capable elopement photographer is an essential part of the planning process. Here at Ibay Photography, you get an elopement photographer and planner all in one. If you are considering a New Orleans elopement and want everything to go flawlessly, contact me today or take a look at our packages here.
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