It’s not a great time to have a big wedding scheduled.

That’s why Sean Oblizalo’s inbox has been filling up over the last month or so. Subject line: “We want to elope.” After having to cancel their traditional weddings because of the coronavirus outbreak, couples have been reaching out to Oblizalo, who describes himself as “your elopement ninja,” about ditching a large ceremony for a small — really small — one.

“I just got quite a few bookings because people can’t really have a wedding right now,” he said. “They’re like, ‘We still want to get married this year.’”

It’s a good time to decide to tie the knot with just a party of two or three. And it’s a good time to be Olizalo and others in the elopement business.

“We’ve definitely been hearing from people who had to cancel or postpone big weddings and are now wanting to elope instead,” says Matt Dalley, who co-founded the elopement planning business Simply Eloped.

But Simply Eloped, which plans ceremonies around Colorado and other destinations, has paused weddings to follow stay-at-home orders.

“As a matter of fact, we’ve so far had to cancel or postpone 350 weddings,” he said.

There will be plenty of elopements happening when those orders expire, Dalley predicts.

Jennifer Dziuvenis, an elopement photographer based in Louisville, says her clients are still good to go.

“And super happy they decided to go that route,” she said.

She’s also been contacted by couples who are opting to elope after scrapping their big weddings.

“I expect that number will increase dramatically once things start shaking out and we get an idea of if and when the lockdown orders will be lifted,” Dziuvenis said.

The Denver-based Oblizalo has been photographing and planning elopements for two years. He started the business, called Vows and Peaks, after getting eloped to his wife in Northern Ireland.

“A light bulb kind of went off,” he said. “We were outside on this cliff with waves crashing and castles and cows.”

He thought, “This is the most epic way to get married. Why wouldn’t you get married like this?”

Not everyone dreams of that kind of big day. Oblizalo knows it has been crushing for couples forced to forgo their original plans.

“My heart really breaks for a lot of these people,” Oblizalo said. “I can’t imagine putting all that time and investment into something and just have it fall through your fingers.”

“While it’s beneficial for me, it’s not a fun thing to capitalize on,” he added.

But eloping can be special. That’s why Oblizalo and so many others go that route.

As his website says, “It’s not about the color-coordinated bridal parties or the posed photos or the likes on Insta. It’s about a real, intimate adventure that is true to you.”

He has photographed intimate weddings on beaches, cliffs and mountains and at Yosemite National Park.

“The big thing for couples is it’s stress free,” Oblizalo said. “You get to show up in a really cool, epic setting and get married with no stress.”

And, if they choose, couples only have to deal with one other person on their wedding day.

These days, less stress sounds pretty good. And couples reaching out to Oblizalo aren’t exactly settling for something less.

“I heard from one who said, ‘We wanted to elope at first, but our families wouldn’t let us,” Oblizalo said. “They wanted to do this in the first place.”