When it comes to helping couples get hitched, Joyful Elopements knows how to spark happiness.
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Story by Jenny Webster Jurica
When she was 18, Houston native Jennifer Harper — owner of Joyful Elopements — put Texas in her rear view mirror to attend college.
Little did she know that, 16 years later, she’d be back in the Lone Star State.
Settling down in Fredericksburg, she became a wedding planner. When her time came to walk down the aisle, she didn’t want the stress of coordinating all of the details.
That’s when Harper and her (then-) fiance, Marcelo Guzman, decided to elope in the Hill Country. But after searching high and low for the perfect place, they were left with lackluster results.
“We looked all over the place for elopement options and there wasn’t very much in the way of offering romantic getaway packages with wedding ceremonies for two. We eventually found something but it was pretty ‘Podunk,’ compared to Fredericksburg or Boerne,” said Harper. “When we got home, I said, ‘Honey, elopements are an untapped market.’”
So, in 2015 Harper started her business offering Texas Hill Country elopement packages.
Her hunch was right. Busy couples wanted options for intimate ceremonies. Harper’s business quickly took off.
Eloping makes cents
There are lots of different reasons why people chose to elope these days.
From complicated family dynamics, to people getting married for … well, not the first time … more couples than ever are opting to forego an expensive, large and stuffy wedding in favor of an intimate affair in a beautiful setting.
Then there’s the money. It’s not unheard of for a small, rather conservative wedding to cost $35,000. Many couples, when faced with spending that kind of money on one fleeting day, would rather invest their money into a new home, a new business, or to help put kids through college.
That’s why — in addition to her regular wedding planning — Harper is focusing more on elopements and small, intimate celebrations (or “micro weddings”). Whether they take place near or far, these tiny nuptials offer authentic, personal and memorable experiences.
Most of Harper’s current business is in the highly sought after locales of Fredericksburg and Boerne. Vineyards, bed and breakfasts and even Enchanted Rock—all of these settings are frequent backdrops for romantic ceremonies Harper pulls together. For busy couples, Joyful Elopements takes care of all of the details from start to finish.
All brides and grooms have to do? Show up.
The wisdom of Joyful Elopements
Think you’d like to schedule your own elopement?
Harper was gracious enough to share some tips, rooted in her years as a wedding planner.
To save money and to get the best bang for your buck, Harper recommends scheduling your big day in the middle of the week or on a Sunday.
“You can get a pretty venue, but don’t have to pay an arm and a leg for it,” Harper said.
She also suggests looking at nontraditional times of the year to get married. In the Texas Hill Country, the weather is typically decent year round.
“January, February, August and September are typically slower times and less expensive for weddings,” said Harper.
The pandemic’s impact on Hill Country weddings
By early 2020, Joyful Elopements had expanded to the Mexican Riviera. Harper had set her sites on France, too.
Then came COVID-19. And while Harper had to put her Parisian plans on hold, the pandemic brought an unexpected small wedding boom.
“We’ve seen a huge spike in business from COVID,” said Harper.
Joyful Elopements saw its busiest year yet, despite the fact that the business stopped for five months after the pandemic began.
“In the beginning, when everyone was in lockdown, obviously there was no business. But the minute that Texas opened up? We were flooded with calls,” recalled Harper.
Nationwide, ingenuity and creative thinking helped many 2020 couples work around issues related to crowd size and safety — and experts anticipate those factors will continue to shape wedding planning for the near run.
For Harper, elopements helped her own brides and grooms pivot toward safe, lovely options that kept the romance alive during the pandemic’s darkest days.
“I’m really thankful that we could help these couples who had to cancel their large weddings,” she said.
Explore Joyful Elopements
To learn more about eloping to the Texas Hill Country, the Mexican Riviera, or Paris, France, visit Joyful Elopements. You can also peep their gorgeous events on Facebook and Instagram.
