How to include your loved ones when you’re eloping abroad
There’s a weird misconception floating around that if you elope - especially if you get on a plane, cross time zones, and get married in a country like Denmark - you’ve chosen isolation over community, that you’ve traded the joy of being surrounded by your people for a quiet day that belongs only to you.
And yes, sometimes that’s exactly what couples want, but often it’s not the whole truth. Some people have to travel to get married, for whatever reason (to escape endless bureaucracy, because they can’t legally get married where they are, or maybe simply because feeding a hundred guests isn’t in the budget).
And even if eloping isn’t exactly your dream choice, the truth is you can still run away to marry abroad and have the people you love right there with you in ways that feel intentional, personal, and deeply moving, without them physically being in the room.
Why Denmark Is Perfect for This
When couples come to Copenhagen, Aarhus, Ærø, or any of Denmark’s other dreamy wedding destinations, they’re often doing it because the process here is fast, efficient, and free from the bureaucracy headaches they’d face back home.
But what they don’t always realize is that if it’s just the two of you, you’re automatically free from the weight of tradition: no rigid timelines, no managing hundreds of guests, no playing by rules written for someone else’s life. You get to decide exactly what the day looks like. You’re untethered. You’re free.
And this makes it easier to include your loved ones in a way that’s deliberate.
Creative Ways to Bring Them With You
1. Live-stream your ceremony
Set up your phone and hit “go live”. That’s it. Your people get to watch you say “I do” in real time from across the world. It doesn’t have to be professional or cinematic: cheap phone tripod is enough. And yes, they have free and open WiFi at Copenhagen City Hall.
2. Read letters during your ceremony
Before you leave for Denmark, ask your closest people to write you something, like a story, some advices, their wishes, or the one sentence that will make you ugly-cry. Read them out loud before the ceremony or after your vows. The act of holding their words in your hands turns absence into presence you can feel in your bones.
3. Carry something personal from them
This is where it gets beautifully weird. Wear your mum’s scarf. Pocket your friend’s terrible drawing of you. Pin a note to your bouquet that only the two of you understand. These small tokens become talismans, proof you’re not walking into marriage alone.
4. Pre-record toasts
Get your crew to record short, chaotic video messages before you travel. Play them while you eat cake in your hotel room or sip champagne on the harbour. I’ve seen couples dissolve into laughter and tears watching these. It’s pure magic, and it travels better than people do.
5. Invite them to join the celebration later
When you get home, throw something together: a dinner, a backyard BBQ, a night at your favourite bar. Show the photos. Play the videos. Relive it all with the people who couldn’t be there. Because marriage isn’t one day, it’s the community that holds you in all the days that follow.
Your Day,
Your Rules
As a Copenhagen wedding photographer, I’ve worked with couples from all over the world, people who were told an elopement means “just the two of you” and nothing else, and then proved that theory completely wrong. I’ve seen three-hour elopements in pouring rain that felt bigger and louder than 200-guest weddings, simply because the couple carried the love of their people with them, in every look, in every letter, in every glass raised.
Eloping abroad is not about shrinking your circle, or just get the signature on that paper. It’s about designing the day exactly how you want it: quiet and private or connected and overflowing with love from every corner of the world. And in a place like Denmark, where the process is stress-free and the scenery is unforgettable, you have the space to make those connections truly count.
