Just Married Journal

If you have decided to elope or have a very small wedding, there is a good chance this decision did not come easily. Not because you have any doubt about what you want — but because you know you are going to have to tell the people you love. And that conversation can feel enormous before it even happens.

We want to help you have it with confidence.

You are far from alone in this

At Just Married Weddings, we have helped thousands of couples elope or hold weddings far smaller than the pressure from their families would have demanded. This is one of the most common things we hear: “We know what we want — we just don’t know how to tell everyone.”

You are not being selfish. You are not doing anything wrong. You have simply decided that your wedding should reflect who you actually are as a couple, not what everyone else expects.

You don’t have to exclude everyone

It is worth remembering that an elopement does not have to mean just the two of you. For example, with JMW you can have up to 20 people.

You can have your mum there. You can have your best friend standing beside you. You don’t have to exclude everyone you love — you simply get to choose the people who will truly hold that moment with you, rather than filling a room with obligation.

For some couples that is two witnesses and nobody else. For others it is 15 people at a cliffside at sunrise. Both are perfect. The point is that the choice is yours.

Most people will understand — sooner than you think

Here is an honest truth about the people on your guest list: most of them have already been to a lot of weddings. People in their twenties and thirties are accustomed to attending ceremonies, sitting through speeches, and buying gifts. Your wedding is not the only one they will ever be invited to.

They may feel a momentary sting of disappointment — and that is natural, and you can hold space for it. But most people move on quickly. The next big wedding on the calendar comes around, and life continues.

The people who truly love you will come to understand. And the ones who make it about themselves for longer than a week or two? That is worth noticing.

Ask anyone married ten years how often they still see their wedding guests

Here is a question worth sitting with: think of someone you know who has been married for ten years or more. Ask them how many of their wedding guests they still see regularly.

The answer is almost always a small handful — the people closest to them. The rest have drifted, as lives naturally do. The 120 people who came to the reception, the distant cousins and old colleagues and family friends of family friends — most of them have moved on too.

The fear of letting people down is real. But it is worth asking whether the people you are most worried about will even remember in five years that they weren’t there.

“You only get one day” — but will you actually remember it?

One of the most common things people say to couples considering a smaller wedding is “you only get one day, you have to make it special.” It is said with love, and it is worth hearing — but it is also worth examining.

Talk to anyone who has been married for more than ten years and ask them honestly: how much of their wedding day do they actually remember? Many will tell you it passed in a blur. The day was so big, the expectations so high, the guest list so long and the logistics so consuming, that it was almost impossible to stay present in the moments that actually mattered.

A small, intimate ceremony — just the people who truly matter, in a place that means something to you — is far more likely to be a day you actually live in, rather than survive.

You can celebrate with everyone else — just not all at once

Telling your family and friends that you are eloping does not mean you are cutting them out of your joy. It just means the celebration looks different — and honestly, often better.

Take a bottle of champagne to the next family gathering and toast your marriage over a long, relaxed lunch. Bring a cake into work and let your colleagues cheer you on. Book that restaurant you and your closest friends have been talking about for years and celebrate over a dinner that is actually about you — no running between tables, no speeches you have to sit through, no seating chart drama.

You get to celebrate your marriage multiple times, in ways that feel genuinely meaningful, with the people you are actually celebrating with. That is not a consolation prize. For many couples, it turns out to be the best part.

How to have the conversation

When you tell the people you love, be kind. Acknowledge that they might feel disappointed — and mean it. But be clear.

You are not asking for permission. You are sharing a decision that has already been made, with love and with certainty. You can say something like:

“We wanted you to hear this from us directly. We have decided to get married in a small, private ceremony. We know this might not be what you imagined, and we completely understand if you need a moment with that. But this is the right decision for us, and we are so excited about it. We cannot wait to celebrate with you soon.”

Then stop. You do not need to justify, defend, or negotiate. You have made your choice, it is a good one, and you deserve to feel that.

We are here to help you every step of the way

If you are ready to move forward — or even if you are still figuring it out — get in touch with our team. We will walk you through everything, from the legal paperwork to choosing the perfect location, so that when the day comes, all you have to do is show up and get married.

Your wedding. Your way. Just married.

Something is changing in the way Australians get married. Quietly, and without much fanfare (which is rather the point), more and more couples are skipping the traditional big wedding altogether and choosing to elope — or to hold a small, intimate ceremony with just the people who matter most.

We’ve seen it first-hand at Just Married Weddings. Over the past decade, demand for elopements and micro-weddings across Australia has grown enormously — and the couples choosing this path are not who you might expect. They’re not all running away in secret. They’re not all budget-conscious. They’re simply people who have decided that their wedding should feel like them.

What is an elopement in Australia?

An elopement no longer means what it used to. You don’t need to sneak away in the middle of the night or keep your wedding a secret from your family. In modern Australian weddings, an elopement simply means a small, intimate ceremony — often just the two of you, or with a tiny guest list of your very closest people.

Legally, an Australian elopement is exactly the same as any other wedding. You need a licensed marriage celebrant, a signed Notice of Intended Marriage (NOIM), and two witnesses. That’s it. The setting, the size, the formality (or lack of it) — all of that is completely up to you.

Why are couples choosing to elope?

The reasons are as varied as the couples themselves, but a few themes come up again and again:

• It feels more like them. For many couples, the idea of performing their most personal moment in front of 100 people just doesn’t feel right. An intimate ceremony lets you be fully present — emotional, authentic, and completely yourselves.
• The cost savings are significant. The average Australian wedding costs over $36,000. An elopement or micro-wedding can be done beautifully for a fraction of that — freeing up money for a home deposit, a honeymoon, or simply a less stressful start to married life.
• Less planning, less stress. Wedding planning is a full-time job. Eloping means you can go from engaged to married in a matter of weeks, without the months of vendor negotiations, seating charts, and family politics.
• It’s actually legal anywhere in Australia. Got a favourite beach in NSW? A garden in Victoria? A rooftop in Melbourne? As long as you have a celebrant and witnesses, you can get married almost anywhere. And with JMW we have hunted out the best locations for our couples to take the stress out of it for you.
• You can travel for it. Some of our most memorable ceremonies have taken place in the Blue Mountains, on the cliffs and Maroubra, in a hidden forest, in an abandoned brickworks. Destination elopements are one of the fastest growing trends in Australian weddings.

Is an elopement right for you?

There’s no right answer — only what’s right for you as a couple. But if you’ve ever caught yourself thinking “I just want to be married without all the fuss,” you might be a natural eloper.

At Just Married Weddings, we specialise in making elopements and micro-weddings feel exactly as special as they should — without unnecessary complexity. Our ceremonies are available across Australia, seven days a week, with no weekend surcharges and no requirement for face-to-face interviews. Everything can be handled online.

How to elope in Australia

Here’s the simple version:

1. Give your celebrant at least one month’s written notice (the NOIM — Notice of Intended Marriage).
2. Choose your location and date.
3. Arrange two witnesses aged 18 or over.
4. Show up, say your vows, and sign the paperwork.

That really is it. Just Married Weddings handles all of the legal paperwork, guides you through the process, and ensures your ceremony is everything you want it to be — whether that’s deeply sentimental, relaxed and low-key, or somewhere in between.

If you’re ready to find out more, explore our elopement packages — or get in touch and we’ll help you figure out the best option for your situation.

Your wedding. Your way. Just married.

Spring and summer tend to get all the attention when it comes to weddings — and we completely understand why. But if you’re open to it, autumn and winter offer something a little different. Something quieter, cosier, and honestly? Quite magical. Here’s why so many of our couples are choosing the cooler months — and loving it.

The perks of a cooler-season ceremony

• More comfortable.  It can be hard to keep your cool on a 30 plus degree day – summer can u some extra pressure on couples, especially ladies investing in hair and makeup that melts off, or a gorgeous outfit that just makes you roast under layers of unforgiving fabric
• More flexibility. Our most popular locations and celebrants are in high demand through the warmer months. Come autumn and winter, you’ll find it much easier to secure your preferred date, time, and setting — which takes a lot of the stress out of planning.
• Peaceful locations. Popular parks, gardens, and outdoor spots feel completely different in the cooler months — quieter, more private, all yours. For an intimate ceremony, that sense of having a beautiful place to yourselves is really special.
• The most beautiful light. Ask any photographer — the golden hour in autumn and winter is something else. The sun sits lower, the light is softer and warmer, and it lasts longer. Your photos will genuinely glow.
• Cosy outfit possibilities. Velvet, wool, a gorgeous long-sleeved dress, a tailored coat — the cooler months open up a whole world of beautiful options that just aren’t practical in the middle of an Australian summer.

Our new Snowy Mountains location

We’re so excited to share this one. We’ve just added a Snowy Mountains location to our portfolio, and it’s everything you’d hope for — snow-dusted peaks, crisp mountain air, and scenery that makes your ceremony feel genuinely cinematic.

If you’ve ever thought “I’d love our wedding to feel completely different from anyone else’s,” a winter elopement in the Snowy Mountains is your answer. Whether you’re imagining snow crunching underfoot or just crispy icy air air with snow-capped mountains in the distance, we can absolutely make it happen. Get in touch to find out more.

Canberra in autumn — a hidden gem

We have a soft spot for Canberra in autumn, and once you’ve seen it you’ll understand why. From April through May, the deciduous trees scattered throughout Lennox Gardens turn the most extraordinary shades of gold, copper, and deep red. It’s one of the most photogenic settings you can imagine for the perfect winter wedding — and it feels like a wonderful secret because Canberra rarely gets the credit it deserves.

An autumn elopement here, with all that colour behind you, is the kind of photograph you frame and keep forever.

A few things to keep in mind

• Outdoor ceremonies work beautifully in the cooler months — and we have a shelter in mind if we need it
• Golden hour arrives earlier, so late afternoon ceremonies around 3–4pm are the sweet spot for gorgeous photos
• June and July are the quietest months in most of the country— you might get some bargains on your accommodation, flowers, reception etc

If you’ve been thinking about an autumn or winter ceremony, we’d love to help you plan it. Browse our packages or explore our locations — and see what’s waiting for you in the cooler months.

We’ve been doing (and loving) micro weddings and elopements in Melbourne for over ten years. Ten years of early mornings in Queen Victoria Gardens, golden afternoons at Brighton Beach, and more than a few beautiful moments shared with beautiful couples. We know this city’s best-kept secrets for an elopement — the spots with the light, the privacy, he celebrants, the photographers, the magic — because we’ve spent a decade finding them.

So when we say we’re excited to announce some new Melbourne locations, we mean it. Not because we’re new to this. Quite the opposite.

New locations added across greater Melbourne

We’ve expanded our Melbourne portfolio to include some genuinely special new spots — from waterfront settings on the Yarra river to tranquil garden escapes hidden conveniently in bustling suburbs  Whether you’re after the drama of the city skyline, the serenity of a quiet leafy park, or a coastal ceremony with the bay stretching out behind you, we now have more options than ever.

These aren’t random parks we’ve pointed at on a map. Every location in our Melbourne collection has been scouted, visited, and tested for the things that actually matter: the quality of the light, the level of foot traffic, the acoustics, the backdrop. We’re particular about it. We have to be.

Melbourne’s original elopement specialists

We’ll have noticed the copy cats — there are a lot of businesses now offering “elopement packages” in Melbourne. It’s flattering, really. Imitation being the sincerest form of flattery and all that. When Just Married Weddings launched, the concept of a dedicated, streamlined elopement service was genuinely new in Australia. We built the model. We refined it. We trained some of the best celebrants in the country.

And then, naturally, others noticed.

Experience matters enormously when it comes to small ceremonies. There’s no crowd to hide behind, no elaborate production to carry the moment. When it’s just the two of you, your celebrant and a photographer, every single element has to be right. That takes practice. We have ten years of it.

What to expect from a Just Married Weddings Melbourne ceremony

• A hand-selected location that suits your style and the season
• A celebrant who specialises in intimate ceremonies in our Melbourne locations and knows how to look after you no matter what
• A huge support team behind your celebrant to look after you in the lead up
• Photographers who have worked these locations for years and know how to get the best shots
• All legal paperwork handled for you
• Online booking, no face-to-face interviews required
• Ceremonies available seven days a week, including evenings — no weekend surcharges or cheeky ‘hook’ prices just to get your clicks

Melbourne, we’ve loved you for a long time. Here’s to the next decade.

Browse all Melbourne locations or get in touch to talk through what’s right for you.

We’re going to be upfront about something: a lot of people who find Just Married Weddings are Googling “cheap wedding” or “cheap celebrant.” And we get it — we really do. The cost of living in Australia right now is brutal. Rent is punishing. Buying a house feels like a distant dream for many young couples. The idea of spending $36,000 on a single day — the average cost of an Australian wedding — feels not just extravagant but genuinely irresponsible when you’re trying to build a life together.

So yes, we offer affordable weddings. We offer cheap celebrants, in the sense that our prices are a fraction of what a traditional wedding costs. But we’d gently push back on the word “cheap” — because what we actually offer is something far more valuable than that word implies.

The real cost of a traditional wedding (based on numbers from 2024)

Let’s look at the numbers. The average Australian wedding costs over $36,000. That figure includes:

• Venue hire: $8,000–$15,000
• Catering per head: $150–$250, multiplied by however many guests you’ve felt obligated to invite
• Photography: $3,000–$6,000
• Flowers: $2,000–$5,000
• Celebrant: $800–$1,500
• Dress, suit, hair, makeup, rings, invitations, cake, transport…

And that’s before the honeymoon. For many couples, a traditional wedding means starting married life in debt, or significantly depleting savings that could have gone towards a home deposit, an investment, or simply a financial cushion that makes life less stressful.

What you could do with the money instead

A Just Married Weddings elopement or micro-wedding starts from $460. Even with photography added, you’re looking at a fraction of the cost of a traditional wedding. The difference? You could use it for:

• A contribution to your first home deposit
• Three months of rent, paid in advance
• A honeymoon that actually blows your mind — Japan, Italy, the Maldives
• A renovation, a car, an emergency fund
• Simply starting married life without financial stress hanging over you

We’ve had couples tell us, years later, that choosing an intimate ceremony over a big wedding was one of the best financial decisions they ever made. Not because they compromised — but because they redirected the money to something that genuinely improved their lives.

Affordable doesn’t mean lesser

Here’s the thing about intimate weddings: they are often more meaningful, not less. When you strip away the production and the performance of a big traditional ceremony -the dramatic entrance, the styled venue, the huge bridal party, the guests you barely know or have never met  –  what’s left is the actual point of the day. Just the two of you, the people you love most, and a moment that belongs entirely to you.

The couples who we marry who are bursting with happiness all have one thing in common – they are excited about the marriage, not the wedding day.  Their ceremony is the gateway to the rest of their lives.

Our celebrants are experienced, warm, and genuinely good at what they do. Our locations are beautiful. The ceremonies we create are intimate and romantic. None of that is compromised by the price point. What you’re not paying for is the overhead — the venue’s profit margin, the florist’s minimum spend, the wedding industry’s ability to charge a premium simply because the word “wedding” is attached to something.

The most affordable wedding options in Australia

If you’re looking for an affordable celebrant or a cheap wedding that doesn’t feel cheap, here’s what we offer:

• $460 – $490 to be married – no hidden extras (price depends on which state you choose)
• Micro-weddings for small groups, elopements for just the two of you (and two witnesses) ‘legals only’ weddings – this is what we do
• Online booking — no interviews, no back-and-forth, no time wasted, no stress or pressure
• All legal paperwork included — no hidden costs
• Available Australia-wide, seven days a week, no weekend surcharges

You deserve a wedding that feels special.  See our packages and find out just how good simple can be.

Here’s something nobody tells you when you’re planning an elopement: photography is actually harder to get right at a small ceremony than at a big wedding.

It sounds counterintuitive. Fewer people, simpler setting, surely easier? But think about it from a photographer’s perspective. At a traditional wedding with 120 guests, a 40 minute ceremony, multiple formal sessions, and a full bridal party, there are endless opportunities to get the shot. If you miss the first look, you can recreate it. If the lighting is wrong during the ceremony, you’ve got golden hour portraits and the first dance to fall back on.

At an elopement, you have perhaps 10-20 minutes of ceremony. There are no second chances. Every single moment has to be captured the first time, often with minimal preparation time at the location. That takes a very specific kind of skill — and not every photographer has it.

What makes a great elopement photographer

Experience with intimate ceremonies is non-negotiable. A photographer who has shot hundreds of big weddings is not automatically qualified to shoot an elopement well. The skill sets overlap but are not the same. What you need is someone who:

• Moves quickly and quietly — they can’t be directing or fussing. The ceremony is happening quickly whether they’re ready or not.
• Reads the moment — knowing when the exchange of rings is about to happen, when a tear is coming, when the couple is about to lean in for the kiss. Anticipation is everything.
• Knows the location — ideally has shot there before, can identify the best angles, best light, and plan their movement through the ceremony without disrupting it.
• Works instinctively with the celebrant — a celebrant who understands photography and a photographer who understands ceremony flow are a team.At Just Married Weddings, our photography partners have worked with us since the beginning- over a decade ago – they know our style, our ceremonies and our locations inside out and back to front –  and work seamlessly alongside our celebrants.

Why timing your ceremony matters

If there is one piece of advice we give every eloping couple, it’s this: plan your ceremony time around the light if photos are really important to you.

Golden hour — the hour after sunrise or before sunset — produces light that is warm, directional, and extraordinarily flattering. It’s the light that makes photographs look like paintings. It’s soft enough to shoot directly into without harsh shadows, warm enough to give skin tones a glow, and low enough in the sky to create the kind of depth and dimension that overhead midday light simply cannot.

For most of Australia, late afternoon ceremonies (typically 4–5pm in summer, 3–4pm in autumn and winter) will catch the golden hour perfectly. Early morning elopements at sunrise are another option — and have the added benefit of having popular locations almost entirely to yourselves.

Hot tip – check the sunset times for your location and time before booking your ceremony

Positioning — the thing your photographer and celebrant should be managing for you

At a well-run elopement, you shouldn’t have to think about where to stand. That’s the job of your celebrant and photographer working together. Here’s what they should be managing:

• Facing the light, not away from it. If the sun is behind you, your faces will be in shadow. Your celebrant should position the ceremony so the couple faces toward the best light source.
• What’s in the background. A breathtaking natural setting can be undermined by a car park, a bin, or a stranger walking through the frame. Positioning the couple and guests carefully against a clean backdrop is something our experienced team does automatically.
• Giving the photographer room to move. The celebrant should know not to stand between the photographer and the couple at key moments — vows, ring exchange, the kiss. This sounds obvious; but sadly a lot of celebrants get this wrong.
• Natural light on faces. Open shade is a photographer’s best friend. Direct harsh sun creates unflattering shadows. Your photographer should know when to seek it and when to avoid it.

Our photography partners, Kaptivations

At Just Married Weddings, we’ve done the hard work of finding photographers who genuinely specialise in elopements and intimate ceremonies. They know our locations, they know our celebrants, and they know how to capture an entire ceremony beautifully in the time available.

If you’re eloping, please don’t ask your enthusiastic friend with a good camera. Don’t book the cheapest option on Airtasker. Your ceremony will be over in 20 minutes, and you have only invited a key couple or people, so these photos will be all your extended family and friendship circle ever see of your wedding. Get someone who knows what they’re doing.

Find out more about our photography partners — and see some of the work that gets done when the right photographer meets the right ceremony.

Disclaimer – some couples don’t give a hoot about photos. If you are an in the moment due making mental memories we support you and love that for you. Photography is not essential for everyone.  Make your own rules.