How much does an Elopement in Australia cost?

Are you considering an Elopement in Australia but want to get an idea of how much it’s likely to cost, read on as we break it down for you and give you an idea of what you are likely to spend for different levels of expectation…

The short answer

As a professional Elopement Planer, the majority of elopements I plan sit between $10,000 and $20,000 AUD, which is approximately:

USD $7,000 – $14,000

GBP £5,200 – £10,500

EUR €6100 – €12,200

That’s a fully designed day. Planning and coordination, a celebrant, photography, flowers, styling, somewhere genuinely lovely to stay, with a proper celebration afterwards. Everything considered, nothing left to chance, and nothing for you to manage on the day.

Multi-day experiences (several locations, a curated itinerary, accommodation that carries you into your honeymoon) sit above that.

Why an elopement in Australia costs what it does

An elopement isn’t a smaller wedding. It’s a different thing entirely.

There’s no guest list to absorb the cost of a venue, so the money goes into the parts you actually experience. The place you stay. The photographs you keep. The dinner that goes on longer than planned. The fact that someone else has thought of everything, so you’re not checking your phone between the ceremony and the champagne.

That’s what you’re paying for, and it’s why couples rarely regret it.

Where the money goes

Three things account for most of it: accommodation, photography, videography.

Everything else – celebrant, flowers, hair and makeup, styling – moves the number far less than couples expect.

Useful to know, because it means the day can be shaped without losing anything that matters.

It comes down to priorities

Every elopement we plan is different, because every couple values different things.

Some spend most of their budget on where they stay, and want three nights somewhere extraordinary. Others would rather have a photographer with them from sunrise until the last light, and keep the accommodation simple. Some want a private chef and a long table under the trees. Others want oysters and champagne on the sand, and wouldn’t swap it.

None of those is the cheaper option or the better one. They’re just different decisions about what the day should feel like.

The choices that shape the number most:

Where you stay. Anything from a lodge with a private pool to a beautiful cottage on the water. Both can be perfect – it depends what you want to wake up to.

How you celebrate. A private chef, a hatted restaurant, or a picnic on a headland at golden hour. We’ve done all three and loved all three.

How much of the day is photographed. Two hours captures the ceremony and portraits beautifully. Eight captures everything from the morning to the last drink.

When you marry. Midweek is quieter and more available, and most of our couples prefer it for that reason alone.

Where you marry. A remote location carries travel costs. A headland twenty minutes from town often gives you the same feeling without them.

And if you’re after something simpler than the figures above, say so. We plan elopements to suit the couple, and that includes the budget.

Tell us your number

The most useful thing you can do when you get in touch is tell us what you’re actually comfortable spending.

From there we’ll tell you plainly what’s possible, where we’d spend, and where we’d hold back. We’d far rather have that conversation properly at the start than have you guess.

Get in touch, or have a look at our planning packages.

All photographs courtesy of Underatreehouse Photography