At a time where wedding extravagance can often overshadow the real meaning of getting married, Sydney and Steven chose to strip it back to basics with an elopement that was budget friendly but packed full of personality, heart and love. They tied the knot at the iconic A Little White Chapel in Las Vegas with no wedding planner other than Google, no attendees other than their photographer and no extra props, decor or flowers.
The bride wore a silver sequin dress from Revolve and Converse high tops while the groom was in a $40 gold tiger print velvet suit and a gold chain both bought on Amazon and Pit Viper sunglasses.
With a “tiny” budget but the whole internet at their disposal, the couple planned everything themselves. “Our wedding planner was Google,” Sydney shares. “We decided to forgo the traditional wedding ceremony and just focus on the commitment to each other. This was the first of our two elopements – Tulum in March and Vegas in November in to make it legal.”
Opting for the ‘pink Cadillac’ ceremony at the chapel, Sydney and Steven were married in one of Elvis’ old Cadillacs, a nod to Steven’s passion for cars. After the quick ceremony, they walked around the downtown area for photos, ending the night at a rock n’ roll 9pm with room service in their hotel room! “We had big plans to party all night, but we were in bed ordering cake from room service and watching crime documentaries by 9pm”, Sydney laughed. “Best party ever.”
Looking back, Sydney and Steven wouldn’t change a thing about their elopement. It was a day that allowed them to focus solely on each other and the commitment they were making. “Making the decision to limit things to just us was a tricky one”, the bride admits. “We wanted the people we loved to be there, but the further we went down that path, the more the decisions we were making became about the other people and not about the commitment itself. Deciding to elope freed us to focus on each other.”
“Everything you have to do around planning a big wedding takes on more weight. Even the smallest decisions feel big… and expensive. There can be intense pressure to include all these infinite, expensive details that add more stress than value. Letting go of the idea of the ‘perfect’ wedding allowed us to make it perfect for us.”
