Here's the story of one bride who took a shortcut to the altar.

Six weeks after meeting my now-husband, we up and got married. 

During a pandemic.

I know it all seems crazy, but the old adage, "When you know, you know," rang true for us. Rather than wait until the pandemic was over, we just decided to pull the trigger on getting it "legal" and then worry about having an actual ceremony and reception later. Now, it's not like we high-tailed it to the county courthouse in tee shirts and jeans; we had, in my opinion, a rather tasteful affair. I wore a hot pink 1960's-inspired cocktail dress and he wore a suit and tie. He bought me a bouquet of roses that I wrapped up in one of his old ties. We looked quite good, in my opinion. 

My mother-in-law was the only other person in physical attendance and she held up my iPhone so my parents could FaceTime the informal backyard marriage blessing from my husband's church leader—which was also performed over FaceTime. Afterward, we had a quick lunch, and then off we went to file the paperwork to officially become Mr. and Mrs. I won't lie, we would have loved it if our family and closest friends could have been there, but given the circumstances, we weren't about to risk any COVID-19 exposures. At the end of the day, it was just him and me, all married up and ready to start a new chapter of our lives. 

And here we are, four months later, just as happy as if we'd had the Wedding of the Century. 

Global pandemic aside, I am the type of person who'd elope anyway if it weren't for the fact that I'd like to have all our family and friends under one roof in our finery for a night of food, drink, and fun. I do, however, relish in the fact that we saved A LOT of money by eloping, but if we were to elope all over again, we'd splurge on an excellent photographer and have our nuptials take place at a local, intimate venue like Villa Parker where we could easily dash off to Denver International Airport for a honeymoon. The best part of eloping is that it allows you to have as few worries as possible. No bridesmaid drama, no flower girl running amok, no obnoxious groomsmen. It's just about the two of you, and maybe where you're having dinner later on that day. 

COVID-19 made us re-evaluate family gatherings—especially weddings—as well as what truly matters. If someone tells you that you must have a big, obnoxious white wedding in order to start your marriage off right, you can tell them to go play in traffic. Y'all, it's not about the wedding, it's about the marriage. I'm not saying that couples should forego a traditional wedding ceremony and shindig, just to make sure that you understand what actually matters to you before you say, "I do."

Did you elope? Let us know how it went in the comments!