Elopement packages have gotten harder to compare over the last few years. The market has grown, the offerings vary enormously, and a lot of packages use similar language… So how do you know if what you're looking at is genuinely well designed? Here are the things I'd look for.

The fact that a lot of people love popular destinations doesn't mean you can't have a ceremony that feels completely private. It just means you have to be thoughtful about it. The couples who feel like they had the place to themselves planned for it.

For some couples, that kind of package works beautifully. But there's a gap in it that most couples don't discover until the morning of their wedding day — and by then, there's no one equipped to fill it.