Mike + Nia chose to have a private elopement on Block Island, Rhode Island (one of the dreamiest elopement locations!) They were so intentional about making their wedding day intimate and special to them, eloping was all around the BEST decision for them! I asked the couple to go into detail about their elopement, giving insight into their choice to ditch the big wedding. PLUS the low down on keeping their elopement a secret!

What advice would you give to future couples who are eloping?

Follow your heart and do what makes you happy. In the end, everyone who loves you will be happy for you. Telling our families we eloped was extremely nerve-wracking, but ultimately very successful and exciting.

Telling our family we eloped

The only mistake we (almost) made was my fault. I sent everyone a picture of Nia with her engagement ring on, pretending I had just popped the question and she said yes. Everyone was together at my parent’s house waiting for us and very excited. In my excitement, I sent a few more pics from our trip. One of them had Nia’s hand with BOTH rings on. We were completely freaking out that they would see both rings. Luckily no one noticed.

Anyway, the most important thing for us when breaking the news was that we do it once, in person, and with the people we wanted to tell before anyone else. We kept everything off social media since we planned to break the news a week after our elopement ceremony (thanks Corey for also holding off on your social media). It was really nice too because this was the first time in our 7-year relationship that our entire immediate families were together under the same roof. Our families are spread out all over the country, so that was really special to have everyone together.

The big announcement

We decided to announce the news with a champagne toast (everyone thought we’d be toasting our engagement). I made it clear that Nia and I wanted to make the first toast. We will never forget the collective gasp in the room when I said “We didn’t just get engaged, we got married!”. It sucked the air out of the room.

Overall the response was complete shock and then completely elated. I think our parents were in shock that we managed to pull off such a big secret (eloping) without them having any clue or suspicion of it! Nia and I are blessed with such a loving family, so it’s no surprise everyone was accepting. We were nervous about sharing the news about our elopement on block island leading up to the announcement. We also went into the announcement with the mindset that everybody may process the news in their own unique way, and we were prepared to give them whatever space they needed to do so without taking anything personally. Thankfully, as I mentioned above, our families really were so happy and excited.

See the slideshow Mike and Nia shared with their family to pop the news they eloped!

Once the initial excitement began to fizzle, Nia queued up the slide show you made us and it was an instant hit. More tears of joy. This really helped transport everyone there. Your candid style of shooting made them feel like they were there, and it really captured how happy we were on the big day. It was a big deal for our family to see us happy and honestly, we could have just queued up the slideshow because the pictures really explain it all! In addition to the slideshow, we also went through the preview album with them. Having the slideshow and the photos helped make it more real for everyone.

Also, logistically it was so nice to have everybody together for an “engagement party.” The mood was already set, loved ones were all together, and once we made the announcement we just celebrated together… as if we were having a mini wedding reception.

Through all the joy and excitement, we could subtly tell our parents were a touch sad about not being there. Totally to be expected. I think my mom and Nia’s dad really enjoyed it when we went out on the patio to do a father-daughter and a mother-son dance.

Lastly, one thing that was immensely helpful in making the announcement…we didn’t elope in complete secret. Some of our siblings knew about it. Knowing we had their support made it a tad easier to tell our parents and grandparents.

We followed our hearts

We’re really proud of how we decided to make the announcement and that we followed our hearts by choosing to elope. We hope that couples considering elopement (or any type of wedding really), ultimately follow their hearts and do whatever it is that makes the two of them happy. Some people choose to have live music, some might do a destination wedding, or like us choose to elope…every single type of wedding can incorporate something unique, but the overall goal of a wedding is to celebrate the love of two people joining together forever. So do whatever your hearts may desire on your special day!

What did you love about your elopement location on Block Island?

The serenity. We loved feeling like we were on the edge of the world. Block Island is so quaint and beautiful, It’s hard to believe you’re only an hour away from the mainland! Both the place where we had our ceremony and the place where we stayed were so peaceful and quiet. We loved opening our balcony door and falling asleep to the sound of crickets every night and seeing the field of goldenrod.

By eloping we saved money to invest in our future together and created less waste that weddings normally produce. Eloping is much more sustainable than a large wedding.

What memory from your elopement do you remember the most strongly? What part of the day had the most effect on you or your relationship?

We remember most about exchanging vows and rings. Especially the moment the sun peeped through the clouds right after we were officially married. We will always remember the scooter ride on our way to have cake and champagne on the beach. It was so freeing and fun, a great carefree moment to ourselves.

Funniest moment on your elopement day?

Nias dress getting caught in the brush over and over and over again. Also, pretty sure we saw a ghost at dinner. And you getting pulled over for speeding while trying to get us to our dinner reservation on time! Thank goodness the officer was understanding.

How did I help you elope?

Scouting numerous locations and coming up with a timeline were our biggest planning items. You were thorough and communicative the whole time which made it all such a breeze! Also you managed to make us a special photo slideshow so we could share with our families within a few days of our ceremony!

Check out 5 Blissful Places to Elope in Rhode Island.

READY TO ELOPE ON BLOCK ISLAND?

Block Island is one of the dreamiest places to elope in New England! With a breathtaking coastline and wildflower fields, you have so much of natures abundance to choose from. I’m excited to connect with you and share all my resources. I cannot wait to hear from you and photograph your dreamy elopement!Contact me to get the party started!

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