An elopement is where a couple effectively "runs away" to get married. They marry usually in the presence of just the required witnesses and the officiant who legally marries them.

Gretna Green in Scotland and Las Vegas in the USA are two places renowned for couples wanting to elope. Gretna Green has a much grander elopement history, however, as it was the place to where British couples fled to get around the restrictive marriage laws in their own country, and the potential disapproval of the nuptials by the couple's families. Las Vegas is known worldwide for the ability of couples to walk in off the street and get hitched, and some of the chapels have names as garish as their design and decor.

People do elope in Australia and there are two main reasons why. Firstly, people who elope often tend to do so because they don't want the fuss or expense of a big fancy wedding. Secondly, people who elope often tend to do so because they would prefer to put the money they would spend on their wedding into their honeymoon or other big project such as their home.

A celebrant friend related some disturbing statistics to me by phone tonight about the ratio of ceremonies conducted to the number of celebrants. If the low figures are indicative of the market as it currently stands, it would appear that few celebrants can actively work full-time anymore on weddings alone.

I mentioned that I'd seen a new celebrant's website promoting a low, non-refundable booking fee. I discussed this with my celebrant friend, who concluded that people were dropping booking-fees down to secure work on the basis of a cheap sign-up fee. The downside of this, I pointed out, could be that if couples find an extra-cheap celebrant they could ditch an arrangement already made with another celebrant on a higher fee and this person may have done a lot of work for them before the couple cancelled - leaving that person overworked and out of pocket. It's unfortunate, and it's disappointing that potential clients can be so heartless. Unfortunately, some people simply think that's okay.

It's been ages since I posted - sorry! Just so busy!

Today I performed a ceremony in a nice park in a new estate not far from my home. The couple had thought about most things except their signing table set-up. When I arrived at the ceremony, there were two chairs present but no table. Ten minutes later, someone arrived with a fold-up card table - but no tablecloth.  It was very bare though, even with the marriage register and certificates on the table and my fancy pen. Not a good look.

One of the guests came to the rescue. She rushed to the shopping centre just 200 metres away and returned with two disposable white tablecloths and three bright pink fancy ribbons that you stick onto gift-wrapped presents. In three minutes, this lady, another guest and myself had turned the bare signing table into something very presentable, complete with decorations matching the couple's colour-theme. Everything was held together with blue-tak, believe it or not, and it stood up to the test of the fresh breeze flowing through the park.

So, whilst it is important to remember the little things (like ensuring you have a presentable signing table), it just goes to show you what can be achieved when a can-do attitude prevails.