Abigail Connick, Librarian, Review on Reedsy

ELOPE is a thoughtful, comprehensive guide for couples looking to add adventure to their elopement.

Sherry Martin Peters begins her book with a brief introduction of the historical definition and background of elopements. She then segues into the more modern interpretation that has developed and how her personal elopement experience, as well as her life as an adventurous flight attendant, has led her to write this book.

“Adventure elopement” weddings, Peters suggests, provide couples with the option of a destination wedding, but in a mini, more intimate, and flexible form that the elopement-type of wedding ceremony can handle.

Following her introduction, Peters decides to break down the book into three major parts: plan your adventure elopement; destinations, locations, and ceremony sites; and real flight attendant elopement profiles.

Plan your adventure elopement

In the first part of the book, Peters encourages her readers to define the financial parameters of their elopement. This is a perfect way to begin, as it provides the couple the opportunity to discuss their expectations, how much they want to spend, and how they might go about fulfilling those dreams within their budget. She also provides guidance and resources on all the details of setting up an elopement and pointing out (when needed) how these details differ from traditional wedding ceremony planning. This includes guidance on finding and working with a photographer, narrowing down a location for the ceremony, how to navigate the legalities, and tips for planning the entire event (however simple or complex it might end up being). She also helpfully provides anecdotes of how couples have simplified or splurged on various elements of their elopements in ways that fit their budgets and their goals.

Destinations, locations, and ceremony sites

The second part of the book includes some of her suggestions for elopement destinations from around the world, including Alaska, New Zealand, Patagonia, Mexico, St. Lucia, and Ireland. She includes helpful information on areas of interest and suggest times of year to visit. (My one critique on this section is that I would have loved to have seen some examples from Eastern Europe, Africa, and Asia. Peters does admit she highlighted destinations she personally is familiar with, so perhaps she simply does not know these other regions as well.)

Real flight attendant elopement profiles

The third and final part contains stories from flight attendants who eloped. I had expected this section to be brief essays about these couples, but surprisingly, Peters decided instead to share her questions and the couples’ answers directly. I personally found it fun to hear from the couples themselves.

Admittedly, this was a fun and fascinating book to read. While I am not necessarily the exact audience for this book, as someone who loves to travel, I enjoyed learning about the adventure elopement industry and would love to somehow finagle an invite to one!