Relationships What It’s Really Like To Elope, From Four Women Who Did It From pragmatism to romanticism, here are their stories. By Kate Leaver Relationships From pragmatism to romanticism, here are their stories. By Kate Leaver Previous article ‘Useful And Reliable Are Not Enough. You Want To Be Valuable’: Redesigning Your Career In 2020 Next article The Daily Edited’s Alyce Tran On Building A Business And Feeling The Pressure To Grow Weddings are dreamy. The white dress, the layered cake, the slow first dance. The public declaration of love, the bridesmaid dresses, the speeches. They can be so beautiful. Brides and grooms describe their wedding as the best day of their lives. But what if you don’t fancy being ogled by 200 of your closest friends? What if you don’t want to pay a small fortune for flowers that’ll wilt before the night is out? What if you don’t like crowds, don’t like tradition, or don’t like organising large scale events, even in the name of love?Perhaps the most romantic possible scenario is to run away to a stupidly beautiful location and get hitched with just enough people to legally witness the ceremony. Whether it’s pragmatism or romanticism, lots of couples decide to do exactly that. tildeathdouspart Best Of Future Women Culture “Never an excuse”: Why Katrina still can’t stand the smell of bourbon By Sally Spicer Culture Janine never thought divorce would mean losing her family and friends By Sally Spicer Culture “Invisible victims”: Why Conor was forced to live in an unsafe home By Sally Spicer Culture Miranda*’s mothers group helped her escape abuse. Then the stalking began By Sally Spicer Culture “We can’t change this on our own” By Melanie Dimmitt Culture “Marching forward means ensuring all our voices are heard” By Melanie Dimmitt Culture Dr Ann O’Neill’s husband committed “the ultimate act of revenge” By Sally Spicer Culture The question victim-survivors like me are tired of being asked By Geraldine Bilston Your inbox just got smarter If you’re not a member, sign up to our newsletter to get the best of Future Women in your inbox.