40 Celebrity Couples You Probably Forgot Eloped

Whether it was for privacy reasons, a rush of spontaneity or just plain not wanting to plan a wedding, over the years a number of famous couples have eloped. They ditched the wedding frenzy and revealed their secret wedding ceremonies to the world after the fact. From courthouse vows to tropical nuptials, here are some of our favorite celebrity elopements.

The Hollywood actors held a press conference to announce their nuptials after they eloped in 1939. It was Carole Lombard's second marriage and Clark Gable's third. They were happily married until the actress's tragic death in a plane crash in 1942.

Rita Hayworth look overjoyed receiving her marriage license in Santa Monica, California with Orson Welles. For her second wedding, the bride wore a simple suit and veiled hat with a fan brooch on her lapel.

The press flooded San Francisco's courthouse when news traveled that film star Marilyn Monroe and famous baseball player Joe DiMaggio were eloping in a civil ceremony. Sadly, they were married for less than a year.

Henry Fonda was introduced to Italian baroness Afdera Franchetti while he was filming War and Peace in Italy. Not long after meeting, they got married in Fonda's New York apartment. Franchetti was Henry's fourth wife.

Hollywood had a major celebrity scandal on their hands when Elizabeth Taylor and Eddie Fisher eloped in Las Vegas in 1959. The news of their affair was already in the tabloids, as Taylor was good friends with Fisher's wife, Debbie Reynolds. The couple tied the knot on the same day his divorce papers came through.

For her second marriage, Brigitte Bardot skipped the wedding gown and big church ceremony. Instead, the actress wore a pink gingham dress for her civil ceremony at city hall with French actor Jacques Charrier in Louveciennes, France.

Despite a nearly 30-year age difference, Frank Sinatra and Mia Farrow wed on July 19, 1966. They got married in a small ceremony at The Sands Hotel in Las Vegas and had an intimate reception at Bill Goetz's nearby estate afterward.

Brigitte Bardot and her third husband, German businessman Gunter Sachs, walk through the airport after eloping in Las Vegas in 1966 a few weeks after they met. They were married for three years.

Friends of the newly-married couple throw rice at actress Jane Fonda and French director Roger Vadim, as they exit town hall in Saint-Ouen Marchefroy, France. The couple got married by a judge in a civil ceremony.

Raquel Welch wore a white croquet sun dress to the courthouse in Paris to marry American film producer Patrick Curtis. The elopement was flooded with photographers who spotted the couple, ruining any chance of keeping it a secret.

While their first wedding in 1957 was beautiful, the union ended in divorce. Both parties moved on, with Wood marrying and having a child with Richard Gregson. But in 1972, Natalie Wood and Robert Wagner rekindled their relationship and remarried in a small ceremony on a 55-foot yacht.

Melanie Griffith met Don Johnson when she was only 14 years old, but it wasn't until she turned 18 that Don proposed. "Melanie called at about 4 or 5 in the morning. We professed undying love and flew to Las Vegas and got married," Don told PEOPLE. They divorced that same year, but remarried in 1989 and were together until 1996.

Although their relationship was highly publicized, their elopement when they married for a second time was a low-key affair. The couple said "I do" (again) in an outdoor ceremony in Botswana with just an official and a witness joining them.

After just three months of dating, Demi Moore and Bruce Willis called a reverend from Las Vegas's Little White Chapel and said "I do" in a suite at the Golden Nugget hotel. The couple had three daughters together, but split in 2000.

The actors started out as an on-screen couple on All My Children, which also blossomed off-screen. Their TV characters got married in an elaborate church ceremony, but Mark Consuelos and Kelly Ripa eloped in Las Vegas. "Right before we got married, we broke up," Kelly revealed in a Comments by Celebs podcast. "We broke up and we got back together the day before we went off and eloped."

Before she was famous, the reality star eloped in Las Vegas at 19 with music producer Damon Thomas. However, it turns out she wasn't exactly in the right state of mind. "I did ecstasy once, and I got married," Kim Kardashian told her family on Keeping Up With the Kardashians.

After a whirlwind two month relationship, Billy Bob Thornton and Angelina Jolie shocked the world by eloping in Las Vegas in 2000. The couple — who first met on the set of Pushing Tin — kept it casual, opting for blue jeans and t-shirts.

Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin announced that they were expecting on December 3, and news of their elopement leaked just a few days later after they obtained a marriage license from the Santa Barbara courthouse. The secret wedding didn't include any family or friends and the couple honeymooned in Mexico shortly after.

Britney Spears was America's sweetheart when news broke that she eloped with her childhood friend, Jason Alexander, on a New Year's trip to Las Vegas in 2004. "She just came out and asked me," Alexander told ABC News. "She was like, 'Well, let's get married.' And I was like, 'Sure. You know, let's do this.'" Britney annulled the marriage, stating she "lacked understanding of her actions, to the extent that she was incapable of agreeing to the marriage."

When Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott decided to say "I do," they jetted off to Fiji for their big moment. Tori and Dean, who were both married when they met and became involved, got hitched on a private island a year after meeting.

Jack Black and his wife Tanya Haden first met in high school and later eloped in Big Sur, California in 2006. The notoriously private couple haven't divulged any major details about their big day, but the bride's father shared with PEOPLE that, "They love each other very much. We're thrilled."

Mel B and her longtime friend, movie producer Stephen Belafonte, eloped in Las Vegas in 2007. The couple filed for their marriage license in Las Vegas county, but the whereabouts of their ceremony weren't disclosed.

Actress Jessica Alba and film producer Cash Warren eloped when she was nine months pregnant at the courthouse. In celebration of their 11th wedding anniversary, Cash shared details on Instagram: "It wasn't the dream wedding you deserved, in fact, it was laughably awkward. Standing under an arch of dusty plastic flowers in the courthouse chapel, we held hands and said I Do. No friends or family in attendance ... just you, me and the courthouse employee who served as our witness."

Scarlett Johansson and Ryan Reynolds were one of Hollywood's most elusive couples when they began dating in 2007. So, naturally, when they tied the knot, they opted for an elopement in Ryan's native Canada. The ceremony was reportedly held at a wilderness retreat outside of Vancouver.

While at Mariah Carey's mansion in the Bahamas, the pop star and Nick Cannon made things official in a surprise wedding. "We only told people who had to know. [To everyone else] we said we were [going to the Bahamas] for the video. If we brought a million people with us, it would’ve been obvious we weren’t shooting a video," Mariah told PEOPLE. "We got married at sunset on the beach. We were trying to get the really golden light. The whole wedding was really beautiful and sweet. Being there with loved ones under the sky ... it was a spiritual moment."

After meeting on a blind date, Jason Biggs and Jenny Mollen were smitten with one another. They eloped in Los Angeles and three months later had a small ceremony in Napa Valley with friends and family. "The newlyweds wanted to take in this moment without any distractions," the couple's publicist, Lisa Jammal, shared in a statement about their elopement.

Country singer Jewel wrangled herself a perfect match when she met professional rodeo rider Ty Murray. After 10 years together, they eloped in the Bahamas — just the two of them. "To pull off the wedding quietly made it magical," Jewel told PEOPLE. The bride wore a Monique Lhuillier, while Murray kept it simple in jeans and cowboy boots. "It felt like we were the only ones in the world," Ty said.

Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen got married in a church ceremony with only their parents in attendance, which they followed with a home reception. "We went back to the house and I barbecued aged New York strips. We had champagne, a cake, some ice cream. It was a great night. I think you always have this idea that weddings need to be 200 people and you invite everybody, and I'm all for it if people want to do that, but I think there was really something special about just having our parents there," Tom told GQ.

While Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem have always been a tight-lipped couple, their simple elopement takes the cake for secret Hollywood weddings. In 2010, in front of only their family, the couple made it official at their friend's home in the Bahamas.

Leave it to Harrison Ford to surprise even his guests at his wedding ceremony. In 2010, the Indiana Jones star and his longtime girlfriend, Calista Flockhart, pulled off an elaborate elopement that gathered their nearest and dearest without them even knowing it was a wedding. The couple chose the New Mexico governor's mansion for their venue.

After meeting in 2002, Isla Fisher and Sacha Baron Cohen got engaged and Isla converted to Judaism for her partner. In 2010, they informed six guests of their elopement plans at the last minute and said "I do" in a small ceremony in Paris. "It's very important to me to have a beautiful ritual celebrated with my family and friends," Isla told PEOPLE. "And when you are in the public eye, to keep that private and to make it happen without it being really visible is really difficult."

Fans of the celebrity couple were still celebrating their engagement news when reports of Orlando Bloom and Miranda Kerr's elopement circulated. The model was forced to make a statement in order to explain her last-minute cancellation from a David Jones department store event. "David Jones very graciously released me during this period so we could celebrate an intimate ceremony and honeymoon together," Miranda said in a statement.

Since the start of their relationship, Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz have kept their life together private. But a year later, they confirmed that they got married in a small New York ceremony with only four guests. "We did it privately and we've got a lot of people to thank for that," Daniel told GQ.

Kelly Clarkson ditched her planned October ceremony and opted for an elopement with Brandon Blackstock. "I thought my mother was going to be [disappointed] because I'm her baby," Kelly told ABC News. "I thought that was going to be weird but she totally got it. She actually responded, 'I'm just happy I don't have to buy a dress!'"

Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell aired for the unconventional when they decided to get married in 2013. They traded in a dreamy wedding venue for a courthouse ceremony and Kristen wore a black jumpsuit and statement necklace rather than a white dress.

It seems like Scarlett Johansson is a fan of eloping. Much like her first wedding to Ryan Reynolds, the actress chose to elope in 2014 with French journalist Romain Dauriac. They had recently welcomed their daughter, Rose Dorothy, when they wed in secret.

Emily Ratajkowski kept her wedding simple when she eloped with Sebastian Bear at the courthouse in New York City, wearing a mustard yellow pantsuit and a black veiled hat. Emily shared the news on Instagram, with the caption, "Sooo, I have a surprise, I got married today."

Fans of Selling Sunset watched as Mary Fitzgerald and Romain Bonnet planned their televised wedding, only to discover that the couple already eloped prior to filming the first season. "Mary and Romain had a civil union a couple of months before the show began filming in June of 2018, but they chose not to tell any of their friends or family, as they were still trying to see if their relationship would work out in the long term. In their minds they weren’t properly married until the wedding that was filmed during the show," Mary's spokesperson told Today.

Details about Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas's summer wedding in France were already spreading when they eloped in Las Vegas following the 2019 Billboard Music Awards. Apparently, the couple had to legally wed in the U.S. before their international vows and decided to have a secret Vegas ceremony — but Diplo blew up their plan by live streaming their wedding on Instagram.

While the COVID-19 pandemic delayed countless weddings, Lily Allen and David Harbour were determined to say "I do" and got married in Las Vegas on September 7, 2020. They shared photos of their Elvis-themed nuptials on Instagram and followed the event with an In-N-Out meal.