Eloping to Ronda, Spain and having the best time of your lives!
If you’re reading this page, it can only mean one thing, that you’re super interested in the idea of an elopement in Ronda. And if that is the case, prepare for your excitement to go up a notch after reading this post.
In this feature you’ll learn about eloping to Spain, and in particular eloping to Ronda, all the things to consider and most of all, how to get started with planning your awesome elopement in Ronda!
Why an elopement in Ronda?
Ronda is one of the most romantic and visually dramatic towns in southern Spain and without doubt ticks all of the boxes for a perfect elopement setting. Found in the Malaga province, this mountain top town has been built over the El Tajo gorge which gives the town the most breathtaking backdrop and incredible views. Ronda’s stone bridge, the Puente Nuevo, not only is the perfect spot for some awe-inducing views, but it’s a great place for some post elopement photos, but we’ll come to that soon! It’s also a popular place for engagements too!
The old town itself is just brimming with the cutest cobbled streets and stunning nooks and corners. As with most Spanish towns, Ronda is incredibly well kept, the streets are clean, there are flower beds and hanging and walled flowers everywhere you turn and the town has a perfect blend of historical and natural charms. Everywhere you look there is a pretty sight to see.
And don’t even get us started on the food and wine. Okay, now we’re started! Ronda is the home to several amazing vineyards which are producing some of Spain's top wines and have really put Ronda on the wine map. If you're wine lovers, you will want to add a Ronda vineyard visit to your itinerary.
And oh the food! You can feast like kings and queens on all manner of Spanish traditional dishes from tapas to paella and everything else in between. And very economically too! Let's just say that Spain is dripping with great food and wine. It's a passion!
On a practical note, Ronda is incredibly easy to get too once in Spain. There are great train links from Malaga City and Ronda’s location makes it easy to get to other towns around Malaga province, Marbella, Cordoba, Sevilla. In a hire car from Malaga, Ronda can be reached in less than 2 hours and the drive from Malaga itself is pretty incredible (with good, flat, straight roads). If you travel during the day, prepare to see fields of sunflowers and stunning golden, rolling fields from left to right.
Traveling from Marbella is also easy but maybe not for the faint-hearted. On this route you have quite a climb to get up to mountain top level, it does eventually flatten out but if you’re not a fan of heights and bends (I am not) you can take other routes around that might be a bit longer but you may prefer it. And if not, just don’t look down!
Why elope in the first place?
An elopement is one of the most magical ways to celebrate your relationship and the start of your marriage. For some couples, the fuss and/or stress of a big wedding is just not attractive to them. Or some couples want to have something intimate for themselves first, and then return home to celebrate with family and friends at a later date. For some adventure-loving couples it seems like a obvious and total non-brainer that an elopement would be a natural step for them and their relationship. A way to bring a sense of fun and adventure to the beginnings of their married life. To be honest, it doesn’t matter what your reason is, only your acceptance and readiness to undertake something so magical.
When it comes to an elopement itself, there is literally nothing like it. Life is busy. Couples can take one another for granted. And whilst your love is strong, you can get caught up in the crazy day-to-day of life and sometimes lose sight of what’s important.
An elopement ceremony allows you to focus on the two of you and the two of you only! It enables you to step out of the busy day-to-day and to plug in to your connection with each other. It allows you to pause and to disconnect from the rest of the world, whilst you take this moment to celebrate yourselves and to enjoy each other’s company with no distractions. It is one of the most life-affirming and emotional experiences you could possibly have.
How can Malaga Minister help with your elopement in Ronda?
As wedding celebrants we create the space to allow you to have this magical connection and experience. From the start, we work with you to create an elopement ceremony and experience which is just what you want. But at the same time, we also keep everything simple and really chilled. Elopements don’t have all of the fluff of other types of weddings (which is likely why you’re eloping!) and so we help you to create a simple, laid back experience with minimal planning needed. Win-win, right?
From then planning of your ceremony, to your first look (if you have one) and all of those candid moments in between, we will lead you through your elopement experience to ensure nothing but relaxed vibes, a fun atmosphere and the feeling that you're hanging out with a pair of friends who happen to also be your wedding celebrant and photographer!
By the time the ceremony happens, will have already worked with you to create your elopement ceremony. We will have learned about you both, asked you to do some ceremony preparation homework for us and together we use all of this information to create a 100% bespoke, custom elopement ceremony just for the two of you.
And then you get to actually live the ceremony in the flesh. Goosebumps! To absorb the beautiful words being said about you by one another, and really having a special moment to connect and be connected. And even though you’re there with a wedding celebrant (me) and your photographer (quietly taking shots in the background), you will honestly feel like it’s just the two of you, on the edge of the world!
After the heartfelt ceremony, you’ll have a chance for more photos before heading back up to the old town for more amazing photos. And here’s a heads up - Spanish people love a wedding, so it’s quite normal and really lovely to have cars and buses beeping at you and people waving at you as you walk the streets, or stopping to watch as you have your photos taken. It’s so sweet!
At a recent elopement, when the ceremony finished, there was a round of applause and we all looked up to see some hikers above us on a ledge. (El Tajo is an area for walking and hiking). They had stopped at some point to watch the ceremony. We hadn’t seen them and they didn’t bother us at all but it was such a lovely moment to hear their applause and cheers. So heartwarming. An elopement bonus - quiet, no-strings-attached wedding guests that leave right after the ceremony!
Words to describe our elopements in Ronda: rustic, charming, heartfelt, adventurous, natural, fun, intimate, personal, organic and chilled. And these are some of the same words we'd use to describe our elopement couples too.
Are you ready for your Ronda elopement experience?
Fingers crossed, after reading this, you are! Most of our elopement couples typically come from the USA and Canada and so they make their elopement part of their overall travel in Spain.
If eloping to Ronda sounds like the most amazing thing ever and you’d love to find out more about our Ronda elopement package, fill out our form below and we’ll send you our elopement brochure full of our pricing and full elopement breakdown and the next steps for booking your dream elopement in Ronda with us! It’s exciting isn’t it? We can’t wait to hear from you.
All photography featured in this post by Pedro Bellido.
Get in touch! We can't wait to hear all about you!