What is Elopement (marriage)?
[[File:Thomas Rowlandson - The Elopement - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|right|200px|{{Center|The Elopement}}]] An '''elopement''' is a [[marriage]] done in secret or private.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/elope |title=elope |author= |website= |publisher=Oxford University Press |accessdate=27 April 2015 |archive-date=30 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150530210355/http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/elope |url-status=dead }}</ref> Elopement may be an alternative to a large expensive [[wedding]]. It may also be illegal or against religious customs.<ref>''Encyclopedia of Women & Islamic Cultures'', Volume 3, eds. Suad Joseph; Afsāna Naǧmābādī (Leiden; Boston, MA: Brill, 2003-2007), 263</ref> In some parts of the world, [[Bali]] for example, elopement is the preferred form of marriage.<ref>Helen Creese, ''Women of the Kakawin World: Marriage and Sexuality in the Indic Courts of Java and Bali'' (Oxford, UK; New York: Routledge, 2015), p. 114</ref> [[Celebrity|Celebrities]] often elope to escape the [[wikt:paparazzo|paparazzi]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://nypost.com/2014/02/24/new-wedding-trend-shocking-guests-surprise-nuptials/ |title=Surprise! You just walked into my wedding |author=Kate Storey |date=14 February 2014 |website=New York Post |publisher=NYP Holdings, Inc. |accessdate=27 April 2015}}</ref> In America, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, elopements reached epidemic proportions as young couples rebelled against Victorian norms. This trend reflected a desire for personal freedom and safety in numbers.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Linton|first=Weeks|date=8 September 2015|title=The Mystery Of 'Elopement Epidemics'|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/npr-history-dept/2015/09/08/433551894/the-mystery-of-elopement-epidemics|website=NPR}}</ref> == References == {{reflist}} {{wiktionary|elopement}} {{stub}} [[Category:Marriage]]