'It was perfect [and] it was just us': Couple cancels their lavish wedding plans, eloping in secret after getting crushed by the expectations of a tyrannical mother-in-law

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Mar 11, 2025 10:00 PM EDT

Weddings are supposed to be a romantic and wholesome celebration of the love you share with your future spouse. Yet, oftentimes it's the parents who turn this beautiful event into a circus of stress, unneeded pressure, and silly event with a 7-tier cake that nobody wanted. 

Monsters-in-law frequently become wedding parasites, exhibiting a hostile takeover of their child's big day. You'd think they'd be happy to celebrate their children's love but no, they turn this event into a bragging match for themselves and their yacht club buddies, one ridiculous orchid bouquet at a time. 

So when this bride and her groom couldn't take the stress of planning a big, lavish wedding anymore, they took their love story by the reins and did their own thing. Keep scrolling to read the wholesome story of romance and true love, straight from the courthouse, proving that marriage isn't about the wedding day, it's about the person holding your hand at the altar. 

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  • "AITA for eloping with my husband without telling anyone because I have a monster in law?"

    Cheezburger Image 10478395392
    via Asad Photo Maldives

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • This happened years ago but I always wonder if I'm a total j for doing this cus I've heard it from both sides. My husband asked me to marry him when we were teenagers. I
    via mrsvrolyks
  • was planning a huge wedding. I mean the works. I had a guest list of 100, multiple venues and live music. We had been excited to plan our wedding but this is where the problems started. My mother-
    via mrsvrolyks
  • in-law is a total monster-in-law. She is very passive aggressive and very pushy. Little comments started becoming demands. Whatever excitement I had became just dreading. She had opinions on EVERYTHING. MY
    via mrsvrolyks
  • Cheezburger Image 10478395648
    via Jeremy Wong
  • music, the food, my dress, my guest list. It became so overwhelming I actually started dreading it. My husband tried to get her under control but she would just say "I never had a wedding" and "he's my only son"
    via mrsvrolyks
  • and I would feel guilty about cutting her out of the wedding plans. We kept postponing the wedding due to all the edits and rebudgeting and replanning. Eventually we both just got tired
    via mrsvrolyks
  • of it and decided we weren't having a wedding. We went to the courthouse and eloped without telling anyone. Nobody knew we were getting married. And it was perfect. It was just us. I wore a
    via mrsvrolyks
  • white shirt and skirt and he wore his favorite button down. We both cried while saying our vows and we both to this day say it was a great wedding. I honestly felt better just marrying him without
    via mrsvrolyks
  • the crushing feeling of being overwhelmed with wedding plans and complaints. It was nice to just be us in the moment. Unfortunately his mother says I ruined her only son's wedding for her. She says it was unfair to not
    via mrsvrolyks
  • have the wedding with her involved. My mom said she understood why I did it but thought I should have at least told her. I didn't mean to hurt anyone, I just wanted to not feel so stressed
    via mrsvrolyks
  • about my own wedding. It really got to a point where I felt so overwhelmed with it all. I have been married to my husband for 10years now, we will be celebrating 11years in April. Every
    via mrsvrolyks
  • now and then my family will tell me that they think I'll regret not having a traditional wedding but the only thing I regret is not having a honeymoon. So AITA for not having a big wedding and eloping without telling anyone?
    via mrsvrolyks
  • fiestafan73 "his mother says I ruined her only son's wedding for her." No, SHE ruined her the wedding for herself. I'd have told her when she said this, "We were planning a big beautiful wedding, and we would have had it if you had just backed off and acted like a mother instead of like the bride. No one ruined anything but you."
    via fiestafan73
  • nerd_is_a_verb Got married in the courthouse. No regrets here. If your MIL wants to throw a party, then tell her to plan and pay for it. Then she can have all the control, but it's not a wedding. She can't call it anything wedding related.
    via nerd_is_a_verb
  • Amazing-Wave4704 It sounds LOVELY. People get so obsessed with the wedding and dont pay attention to the MARRIAGE. I think you had the perfect wedding for a marriage (to hl with the giant stressful party!!)
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  • WonderfulParticular1 You marrying your husband not you mother in law, it's nice that you two enjoyed your day in privacy:)
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  • hmelt72 ⚫ NTA. The 2 of you did what you had to do. How about for your 11th anniversary, take your honeymoon?
    via hmelt72
  • Fickle-Lemon-5982 NTA- its YOUR wedding and should just be about you and your spouse.....not everyone and their opinions, wants, and expectations. I feel like weddings can easily become overwhelming
    via Fickle-Lemon-5982
  • stressful and huge money pits if you aren't careful. I understand the moms feeling cheated and wanting to have been there...but at the end of the day..... its your wedding and you loved it....and that is what really matters.
    via Fickle-Lemon-5982
  • WiseSuit5150 I had a big wedding the first time I got married. I had help, and it was still stressful. I was so ready for the whole thing to just be over. Marriage ended in divorce. When I got married the second
    via WiseSuit5150
  • time, I didn't tell anyone. Just us, a courthouse wedding. No stress, and we stayed married until he passed away. Wouldn't change a thing about the second marriage. You are NTA!!!
    via WiseSuit5150
  • im_a_sleepy_human Honestly.. if after 10 years people are still ped off about you and your husband eloping, you definitely did the right thing. A wedding is a day.. a marriage
    via im_a_sleepy_human
  • is a lifetime. NTA by a long see if shot. Congratulations you can take a trip together.. after almost 11 years.. you both deserve some time spent together.
    via im_a_sleepy_human

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