Running away to elope in secret in Perth
For this couple, living in a small town in regional South Australia made it hard to have the simple and low-key marriage ceremony they wanted. When everybody in your town knows everybody, keeping the guest list small can cause a lot of headaches! The solution? Run away to Perth and elope while on holidays!
Starting to plan a secret Perth elopement
I received this delightful enquiry:
"We are running away to get married on our own in secrecy.
We are from South Australia and so far all we have done is booked flights to Perth. I have organised a friend from Perth to be a witness / amateur photographer.
We have both been married before and both have our own kids who are almost all adults. But none of them know we are planning this.
We don't know where or how to start to organise anything but we are wanting a very low cost low frills easy I do... and need some ideas."
I love enquiries like this!
If you don't know where or how to start to organise anything for your elopement, I'm more than happy to ask questions to find out what you really want, share ideas and make recommendations.
Planning a Perth elopement from interstate
I help many couples who don't live in Perth to get married in Perth. We can organise everything online, only meeting in person on the day of the ceremony.
We had a quick video chat to get to know each other. I recommended they elope in an an AirBnB to have the ease of their accommodation and ceremony location in the same place.
A quick Perth geography lesson followed, explaining some of the different elopement vibes available here - for example city, beach, bush and Fremantle.
They decided to elope in an AirBnb in the Perth Hills and booked into one they liked.
Then we moved through the process of preparing the legal marriage paperwork and planning out their ceremony, all via email and video calls.
We put together a short and sweet ceremony where they said their vows, exchanged rings, and were pronounced husband and wife - just the 'low-frills easy I do' they were after.
Keeping an elopement secret
Elopements don't have to be secret, but for this couple in a small town they told me it was almost guaranteed that if one person knew it was happening, the whole town would have known and been hoping for an invitation. This made a small guest list for a low-key ceremony extremely tricky. It was easier to invite nobody from the town and tell nobody it was happening until it was a done deal.
However, in South Australia, the cat was nearly let out of the bag a couple of times! One of our zoom meetings had to be rescheduled when a family member was unexpectedly in the house, and the local seamstress who was adjusting the bride's dress was privy to the secret plan in the weeks before (but thankfully kept quiet about it, as requested!)
In Perth, a friend of the couple was happy to come along to take some photos, and her and her partner were the two legally-required marriage witnesses.
Read about another top-secret Perth elopement in Kings Park
Plan for the elopement day
They were able to arrive in Perth a couple of days before the ceremony, giving them time to get into relaxed holiday mode. They could also get to know the property where they were staying and suss out some good ceremony spots.
The day turned out to be beautiful - sunny but not too hot. If the weather had been extreme we had undercover and indoor options for a Plan B ceremony location - one of the many things to love about eloping in an AirBnb.
The couple's big day looked like this:
Morning - wake up, go for breakfast, start to get ready, hairdresser etc
Lunch - they arranged a platter for themselves and their two witnesses to snack on while they got dressed. They were able to chill out and enjoy the peace and the surroundings - and watch the cricket
Afternoon - get married!
Dinner - their local Perth friend/marriage witness booked a nice restaurant for the four of them to have a celebration dinner.
The next day they headed to Fremantle to spend a few days there to relax, before coming home.
Did they regret their decision to run away to elope in Perth?
They were really happy with their decision to run away and elope in Perth. They said:
"We are still smiling. The day was perfect. Exactly what we wanted and better than our expectations. We had the best time away - and thank you again for helping make our day the best day ever."
As for how the announcement went, they told me
"The family were really great.
We rang them all the next morning, they were all really excited and happy for us.
Both of our mums cried (tears of happiness) as well as one of our close friends.
All of our kids were great, shocked but extremely happy for us - they had even organised a vase of flowers for us for when we returned home."
5 star Google review from elopement couple for Sally Bruce Celebrant
"Sally was absolutely fantastic. We travelled all the way from South Australia to elope in Perth, and Sally made the entire process a breeze.
She organised Zoom catch-ups to walk us through every step, kept us up to date with all the legal requirements, and provided a clear timeline so we knew exactly what needed to be done and when. Thanks to her attention to detail, everything stayed on track and stress-free.
From the get-go, Sally was warm, helpful, and genuinely invested in making our special day unforgettable.
Her bubbly personality and easygoing nature put us at ease, helping us relax and truly enjoy the moment.
She went above and beyond to personalise our ceremony and made sure everything was perfect for us.
We can’t thank her enough for her kindness and support throughout the whole journey—Thanks again for everything Sally, we are truly grateful!"
