The Shotgun Blog

You've done the easy part. You picked your person. Now you're realizing you don't actually want the year of planning, the guest list negotiations, the venue deposits or the catering minimums. You just want to be married. That's a completely reasonable thing to want. And it's more doable than most people realize. A lot of people assume the only simple option is the courthouse. It's not. The courthouse is optional. Seriously. In Washington state, once you have your marriage lic

Most wedding content is there to tell you what a wedding "should" look like. Flowers, venues, timelines, seating charts, vendor lists. An elopement ceremony is none of that, and if you're reading this you probably already know that's exactly the point. But "we skipped all that" doesn't tell you much about what actually happened instead. So here's the real version. Before you arrive The only thing you need before you elope is a valid marriage license. In Washington State, that

What "Shotgun Wedding" Actually Means (And Why It Still Matters) The original shotgun wedding meaning is straightforward: it was a marriage that happens quickly - usually because the bride was pregnant - often under pressure from family or circumstance. Here's the short version: What it is: A rushed marriage arranged because of an unplanned pregnancy Where it comes from: 1800s America, where a bride's father would sometimes literally use a shotgun to force a reluctant groo

The courthouse works. It's legal, it's fast and nobody's going to judge you for it. But if you're eloping in Seattle, you have options that are a lot more interesting and most couples have no idea they exist. Bronwen Stevenson , officiant and owner of Shotgun Ceremonies in Georgetown, has been performing elopements in Seattle for over 15 years. While the majority of her weddings are in her Georgetown chapel, she recently visited three of her favorite off-site ceremony spots