Elopements & Small Weddings in Exeter & Devon
Small wedding? Big love.
An elopement or small wedding can be incredibly special – intimate, relaxed and completely focused on the two of you.
Wedding Celebrant of the Year – Devon
LuxLife Global Wedding Awards 2023, 2024 and 2026
Not everyone dreams of a wedding with 150 guests, a three-course meal and a seating plan that requires military precision.
Sometimes you just want to marry the person you love, surrounded by the people who matter most.
And small doesn’t have to mean boring.
Your wedding, your way
As an independent wedding celebrant, I can create a ceremony around you, rather than expecting you to fit into a standard wedding format.
Perhaps you’re planning an elopement with just the two of you.
Perhaps you’re bringing along your closest family and friends.
Perhaps you’re having a small ceremony now and a bigger party later.
Whatever you’ve got in mind, I’ll help you create a ceremony that feels like a proper celebration.
You can still have the things that make a wedding special – your story, your vows, music, readings, rings, family involvement and all the emotion that goes with saying “I do”.
You just don’t need an enormous guest list to make it meaningful.
Let’s have a chat about your wedding.
You don’t need to have everything worked out before you get in touch.
Eloping doesn’t have to mean disappearing
An elopement can be wonderfully simple.
You might choose a beautiful location, bring a handful of your favourite people, exchange your vows and spend the rest of the day doing exactly what you want.
Or you might genuinely want to disappear somewhere together and have a private celebration.
Either way, I’ll create a ceremony that reflects you.
And if your idea of an elopement involves something a little more unusual, that’s fine too.
I’ve conducted ceremonies in some pretty unusual settings – one of my smallest ceremonies was by a beautiful waterfall – just the couple and their three young children. No other guests at all.
It was perfect.
Small doesn’t mean less personal
In fact, the opposite can be true.
With a smaller wedding, there’s often more opportunity to involve the people who are there.
Your parents might tell stories. Your children might read a poem they’ve written for you. A close friend might play the guitar. You may feel able to say things to each other that you wouldn’t necessarily say in front of 150 people.
And because I’m creating a bespoke ceremony, I can make sure the whole thing feels like your relationship, rather than a scaled-down version of somebody else’s wedding.
What can we include?
Anything that matters to you.
Your ceremony could include:
- Your love story
- Personal vows
- Exchange of rings
- Readings or poems
- Your favourite music
- Family and friends
- Children
- Cultural or spiritual traditions
- Memories of people who can’t be there
- A surprise for your partner
- Something completely unexpected
There are no prizes for having the biggest wedding.
There is something rather wonderful about having a ceremony that feels completely and unmistakably yours.
Do we need to get legally married separately?
If you’re having a celebrant-led wedding in England and Wales, yes – you’ll need to take care of the legal marriage separately.
For many couples having a small wedding or elopement, this can actually be an advantage.
You can have a simple legal ceremony at the register office with your two witnesses, then have your personalised celebrant ceremony wherever you choose.
The legal bit can be simple. The celebration doesn’t have to be.
If you’d like to know more about how this works in Devon, I’ve explained it in more detail on my The Legal Bit page.
Elopements and small weddings in Exeter & Devon
Whether it’s just the two of you, or twenty of your favourite people, I’ll make sure your ceremony gets the attention it deserves.
Because you don’t need a big wedding to have a big celebration.
Ready to plan your little wedding?
Tell me what you’re thinking.
It doesn’t matter if you’ve got every detail worked out or just know that you don’t want a traditional big wedding.
We’ll start with a conversation and take it from there.
I reply within 24 hours
Prefer to talk? Call 07990 592021
