A Stepping Stone, Not a Replacement For Individual Creativity
Written: Sep 12 '02 (Updated Sep 12 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Few books on this topic, condenses information and research, very light
Cons: This book shouldn't be used to think for you, few critical details
The Bottom Line: Although this book is great for covering all the technical aspects of eloping, there was little for me otherwise
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| Javelina's Full Review: Lynn Beahan and Scott Shaw - Let's Elope: The Defi... |
Since the idea of a non-traditional wedding is the most practical idea for me, I set out on a search for books on the topic. At my local library, there was a selection of wedding books, which included Let’s Elope. The cover reads, “How to Have the Wedding Your Mother Never Dreamed Of”, and “The Definitive Guide to Eloping, Destination Weddings, and Other Creative Wedding Options”. So upon first glance, this is exactly the kind of thing I was looking for.
General Information
This is a mid-size paperback book, written by Scott Shaw and Lynn Beahan. (These are just co-authors, not a couple). This is a fairly new book, published in 2001. The back of the book lists the price as US $12.95.
Let’s Elope
This book is broken down into parts and chapters. Let’s Elope begins with a very short and light Introduction where Shaw talks about how when he was first engaged, he and his fiancée were unable to find any books on the topic of eloping. I really thought these sentiments hit the nail on the head, because it does ring true. Shaw set out on a mission to write a book of his own, which seems like such a genuine motivation and goal.
Just one page, A Word About Stereotypes is next, where Shaw suggests to readers that they should be creative with the information in the book, and that there are many ways to utilize what they have read.
The rest of the book is divided into Part One: Eloping 101 and Part Two: Where to Elope. These two parts consist of:
1. Why You should Elope
2. A Short History of Elopement
3. What Are Your Options?
4. Which One’s Right For You?
5. The Etiquette of Eloping
6. How to Convince Everyone Else
7. Start With the Web
8. Wedding Packages
9. Old Favorites
10. Other Romantic Destinations
11. Eloping to the Tropics
12. Weddings on the Water
13. Mexico
14. Europe
The first section really tries to convince the reader that eloping is just the best way to go. I found it humorous when the authors basically say that most people secretly would prefer to elope. They blatantly persuade the reader that weddings are too much money, hassle, stress, and so on. Sure, even I was a little thrown by the obviousness of it all, but the Shaw and Beahan back up all of their statements with negatives and positives of each. I felt like I was listening to a salesperson trying to sell me a car- and the authors did a very good job of selling their point. However, chances are, if you’re reading this book, you’re already considering eloping, so there probably isn’t much of a persuasion factor.
This isn’t a book about being rash and running off and eloping to spite your parents. It puts an incredible amount of consideration into planning. Let’s Elope covers various types of eloping, which does of course include what they call the “True Elopement”, which involves minimal planning and so on.
The other sections of Let’s Elope are, for the most part, self explanatory. The authors explore a variety of modern options for those who are considering (or have already made the decision) to elope. If you’ve already become familiarized yourself with the various elements of eloping, this book simply summarizes general concepts, then elaborates on them.
There are resources provided throughout the book. At various points there are little “true stories” of people’s experiences. There are tables and charts, websites, and other resources.
Obviously, one can ramble on forever with ideas for eloping. Just like a wedding, you can take your elopement anywhere, and you can do anything with it that you please. Shaw and Beahan simply explore a bunch of ideas and make suggestions for the reader.
My Likes
The best thing about Let’s Elope are all the bits of nitty gritty information. Legal aspects of eloping, timing issues, costs, announcing, and so on. Little tidbits of critical information sort of spread out throughout this book.
Ahh… so much humor! Section titles like “What About the Loot?” are pretty self explanatory in this sense. I really liked the atmosphere and the mood of the book. It was sometimes vaguely humorous, while other times it was outright hilarious! There is absolutely no beating around the bush, and the authors get right to the point and then run with it.
I think this book is a nice starting point if you’re considering or have decided on an elopement. It introduces the reader to the aspects of elopement, and for each one, presents a variety of ideas. Even if you don’t choose from the ideas that the authors threw out at you, Let’s Elope starts the creative thought process.
This is a nice size book, and it’s easy to browse through. I didn’t need to read every little last bit of information, because not all of it would be useful. The layout allowed me to skip over sections that were of no relevance to me.
Although there are some books on eloping out there, this is still amongst the few, so I have to give the authors some credit there.
For me, the really useful things in Let’s Elope came down to things like marriage laws (in terms of where you get married), etiquette, and other sort of technical details. I’m less in need of creative ideas from other people, and would rather come up with those things myself, bringing me to…
My Dislikes
Honestly, there wasn’t really too much I didn’t like about the book. Let’s Elope was written by someone who saw that there weren’t any books out there on the topic of eloping. A quick search on Amazon.com shows that there is now somewhat of a selection to choose from, meaning that there’s new competition on the topic. The authors did a good job of compiling a sampling of ideas and a variety of ideas- but that’s truly all it is. In terms of dislikes, well, it’s not so much of a dislike, but I think most of the book provides creativity and originality for those who aren’t thinking for themselves as much as they could.
Let’s Elope was actually lacking in some of the information that I needed. In terms of providing examples of announcements for a couple who is planning on eloping (or already have), there wasn’t much of a range. People elope not just out of financial need, avoidance of stress, etc, but also for family issues. I don’t think the authors addressed much in terms of more serious or saddening issues, including death, disownment, and so on. When Shaw and Beahan discuss convincing parents of an elopement, it’s taken very jokingly. More like, you’ll just have to convince dad that you don’t want an outrageously expensive wedding, in which case he’ll probably want to just give you the money anyway. Unfortunately, eloping is often a situation of duress, and I was looking for a little bit more. Sure, I enjoyed the lightheartedness, but the information I was looking for just wasn’t there when I truly needed it.
I felt like the book ends a bit abruptly. I don’t know how I would change this, but the last few pages are just information on eloping in Scotland, as a continuance of overseas places to elope. And that’s it. This isn’t an appendix or anything, it just trails off with information.
Overall
I’m torn on choosing a rating for this book. Personally, there were a few things I took from Let’s Elope as valuable information. The rest of it was more for the indecisive or for people who haven’t really put too much thought into the idea of eloping. Obviously, one can choose anywhere in the world, any place, any time for their elopement. On the other hand, there were technical, legal, and other aspects of eloping covered by the book that made reading it valuable.
I enjoyed having researched information condensed into one place. The research that I have done on the internet and by talking with people has yielded a great deal, so by the time I got to this book, I felt like much of the information was stuff I already know.
If eloping has been a fleeting possibility for you, Let’s Elope is a nice introduction to the idea. If you’ve already done some research on the internet, know people who have eloped (and can discuss it with them), or if you’re familiar with the topic, you might not gain too much from this book. This isn’t such an incredibly complicated subject, because it is so vague and open to creativity.
As usual, I’ve gotten this book from my library, so nothing lost monetarily. I’m by no means disappointed with this book. I guess I thought there was more to learn but I suppose I had already done my research. At this point, I’m taking the wheel in terms of creative ideas. Shaw and Breahan do a great job, but I’ll be doing the brainstorming from this point out.
3 stars… great effort in a lacking book topic area… wonderful attitude… but it’s also possible to do your own quick research and creative thinking…
Recommended:
Yes
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