I'm probably too late, but for what it's worth, I'd say go for it, if that's what you want. That's what DH and I *wanted* - just to go to Vegas (or Tahoe) and get married on our own, but we "caved" to the pressure from the "moms" to have a small ceremony here in town. It didn't take too much planning - that wasn't the problem, the problem was the almost *constant* pressure on us to do this or that and "give in" to how other people wanted the wedding to be. Even though we didn't have much planning stress, it was still made stressful by the parents, friends who were upset they weren't included, and non-immediate family who also weren't included. It was low-key - in a backyard (though even that was dicy, due to family trying to pressure us again), with a JP (which we caught flack for as well), lunch for the family (which we had to fight to pay for, and it was a pain finding a place that everyone would agree to - in the end, *I* ended up compromising & our wedding lunch was at a buffet, of all places)...I suppose it was okay, but it wasn't the "special" day just for us that I had envisioned. Nothing nearly as memorable or exciting as running off and just spending the day *together* somewhere else would have been, and we were both so focused on just getting it over with and getting away from the family that we didn't even really notice much of the ceremony or vows - it all felt like we were just "going through the motions" for other people, puppets on display, rather than two people vowing to be together forever (DH agreed with me when we had a chance to talk later). We didn't take a honeymoon because my in-laws wanted to go along (they were going to pay, and we couldn't afford one on our own at that point since we were buying a house)...we spent the night in a local hotel instead. If I had it to do over again, I would *insist* on running off with just DH, and maybe a couple of our closest friends like we wanted to in the first place. It would have been an exciting trip, honeymoon included, and we wouldn't have had to deal with all the pressure and stress that just planning even a small wedding came with. So if running off and eloping is what you want to do - by all means, go for it!! You have the rest of your life to share with family - the wedding should be for *you* and your future husband, IMO...including family is "optional", and you shouldn't feel guilty for not wanting them there.

I think the previous posts are wise. I'm only posting to ask for clarification on the bride's desire for a religious ceremony, in "any type of denomination." I don't understand. If it isn't her religion, why would she want it? I mean, I am sure that there are officiants who would do a sort of non-denominational, vaguely deistic or Christian ceremony -- I imagine they do it all the time for couples who have different religions or none. But is this bride saying she wants the specific rite of a religion to which she does not subscribe? That I don't understand. From time to time, I see or hear of weddings in which the couple incorporate customs and even rituals from religions to which they do not belong, because it's "cool" or "spiritual" or "incorporates nature" or "makes our wedding 'different.'" Personally, I find that very offensive, at least when it's not just someone else's custom (in which case I think it's just sort of silly; because the whole point of a folk or ethnic custom is that it's an old family or community tradition), but an actual religious ritual. Members of the religion from which these couples are borrowing take these rituals seriously; to them, they are binding, legal (religious law) acts, not some quaint and colorful novelty. In my opinion, that's like wearing a rosary as a necklace because you think it's pretty.

I wondered if Heidi had promised to wear one of the designs from the project runway Jr! That was terrible. I didn't think it was possible to make Heidi look bad but I was wrong. I normally am not a fan of sea foam green but that dress was fabulous on Cate. I personally would not even wear that horrible sack dress to do my gardening that Jacqueline West was wearing, what were they thinking? The best thing Lady Gaga wore was her fabulous hunk of hot romance fiancé! I watch Chicago fire just to see him! I read recently that the 2 of them made love in the nude for one of her videos. I saw just a still clip and wow he is a work of art. She is a lucky lady. He looked so handsome in his tux.

Indeed. I'll be sure to use a bowl deep enough so splatter is reduced. The latest show is "Four Weddings and an Elvis". It takes place at a Las Vegas wedding chapel, and the minister is an Elvis impersonator. I am not helping out backstage, but I helped make artificial bouquets, boutonnieres, and strung beads to use for a wedding dress and veil. I also tacked two pieces of fabric together for a tablecloth (one on top of the other-the gold part was made to be in a diamond shape). The flats were painted Pepto Bismol pink (we really went for tackiness lol). Now, back to my lunch of my first ever homemade steak sandwiches (made with sizzle steaks (aka minute steaks), peppers, onions, and pepper jack cheese. Brad AKA Moonwolf