So, I've been perusing the boards both here and elsewhere and have come to the conclusion that there is a lot of hostility towards eloping and having a ceremony and reception at a later date. My first question is, why?
My second question is more personal. My fiance and I have been together for almost two years, and engaged for a year this April. Due to personal and financial reasons (we weren't sure if we were actually ready to tie the knot and we weren't 100% secure about our budget) we pushed our wedding back from April 2012 to December 2012, which actually works better for everyone, including our families (his has to fly in from AK and WA).
We have recently decided that we are definitely ready and we've been discussing eloping in a week or two. It isn't for financial reasons (we've been living together for over a year and we both have really good jobs), we just love each other and want to get married. Still, we're planning on our wedding in December. I'm not sure that we'll tell everyone that we've eloped because both our families might decide not to come. We don't expect gifts and all that, and we're funding the ceremony and reception ourselves, so it won't be a financial inconvenience for anyone other than plane travel for his family. Opinions?