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"While plenty of brides dream of eloping (I couldn&amp;amp;#8217;t be the only other one, right?!!), Save the Date reader alaineann is actually going to do it. There&amp;amp;#8217;s just one problem ... She&amp;amp;#8217;s not sure how to drop the &amp;amp;#8220;I&amp;amp;#8217;m married!&amp;amp;#8221; bomb on her family when she gets back. Here are my thoughts: Bring back souvenirs. Make sure you have lots of photographs of your wedding day. And definitely consider splurging on a video of your ceremony. Watching the video might help your families feel like they&amp;amp;#8217;re a part of your special day. Tell your immediate family&amp;amp;#8212;parents, grandparents, and siblings&amp;amp;#8212;as soon as you return home. Don&amp;amp;#8217;t make a big fuss. Just say, &amp;amp;#8220;Mom, Dad, can we talk to you guys for a minute?&amp;amp;#8221; Then, when everyone&amp;amp;#8217;s sitting, say, &amp;amp;#8220;We didn&amp;amp;#8217;t just go to Aruba for vacation. We also got married while we were down there. We weren&amp;amp;#8217;t prepared to deal with the stress of planning a 200-person wedding, and we realized we were most comfortable planning a two-person one. We&amp;amp;#8217;re really happy.&amp;amp;#8221; Tell them together. If your new husband isn&amp;amp;#8217;t by your side when you tell them, their first instinct is going to be to take any negative feelings they have about the elopement out on him. Be prepared to answer tough questions. Which may include: &amp;amp;#8220;How could you do this to me? I was looking forward to planning your wedding!&amp;amp;#8221; Answer: &amp;amp;#8220;We were looking forward to being married, but we weren&amp;amp;#8217;t looking forward to having a big wedding. We wanted our marriage to be about the two of us, not a big party.&amp;amp;#8221; Take the time to talk everything through&amp;amp;#8212;and don&amp;amp;#8217;t get defensive. If you start to act like a bratty teenager&amp;amp;#8212;&amp;amp;#8220;Can&amp;amp;#8217;t you guys just be happy for me?! God!&amp;amp;#8221;&amp;amp;#8212;they&amp;amp;#8217;re not going to respect you or your decision. Give them the opportunity to celebrate. Money may have been one of the reasons you eloped, but try to find room in your budget for a small celebration. Invite your immediate family&amp;amp;#8212;both sets of parents and grandparents and any siblings&amp;amp;#8212;plus your very closest friends to your home a couple weeks after you get home. You can wear your wedding outfits, serve yummy island-inspired food and drinks, and show them pictures of your vacation and your wedding video. If they see how happy you are, it will be easier for them to be happy for you. Does anyone else have ideas for breaking the news? Did any of you guys elope? Or is anyone planning to? How did (or how will) your families react? Does anyone planning a big wedding ever wish they had eloped? How would your family feel? More readers&amp;amp;#8217; dilemmas, solved! * &amp;amp;#8220;I&amp;amp;#8217;m Marrying a Divorced Man. Will it Be &amp;amp;#8217;Til Death Do Us Part?&amp;amp;#8221; * &amp;amp;#8220;My Dates Always Choose Chain Restaurants, Which I Secretly Hate!&amp;amp;#8221; * &amp;amp;#8220;I Had a One-Night Stand. Now I Want to Date Him! How?&amp;amp;#8221; More Ways to Get Glamour You could win $50,000 just for registering or logging in to Glamour.com! Sign up for Glamour.com&amp;amp;#8217;s Style Tips of the Week and Beauty Tip of the Day newsletters! Add Glamour to your iGoogle homepage. Follow Glamour on Twitter. Photo: Jupiter Images"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/weddings/blogs/save-the-date/2010/01/readers-dilemma-help-we-want-t>