To elope, most literally, merely means to run away and to not come back to the point of origination. More specifically, elopement is often used to refer to a marriage conducted in sudden and secretive fashion, usually involving hurried flight away from one's place of residence together with one's beloved with the intention of getting married.

In England, a legal prerequisite of marriage is the "reading of the banns" — for the three Sundays prior to the intended date of the ceremony, the names of every couple intending marriage has to be read aloud by the priest(s) of their parish(es) of residence, or the posting of a 'Notice of Intent to Marry' in the registry office for Civil ceremonies. The intention of this is to prevent bigamy or other unlawful marriages by giving fair warning to anybody who might have a legal right to object.^{[citation needed]} In practice, however, it also gives warning to the couples' parents, who sometimes objected on purely personal grounds. To contravene this law, it is necessary to get a special licence from the Archbishop of Canterbury — or to flee somewhere the law did not apply, across the border to Gretna Green, Scotland, for instance.

Brian James Buchanan (born July 21, 1973 in Miami, Florida) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder. He played for Fairfax High School in Fairfax, Virginia, where he excelled not only at hitting but at pitching as well and was named First Team All-Region for all of Northern Virginia. He once played for the St. Paul Saints of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball. He played in Major League Baseball from 2000 through 2004.

A standout player at the University of Virginia, Brian was drafted by the New York Yankees in the first round (24th overall) of the 1994 amateur draft. In February 1998, he was traded to the Minnesota Twins in the trade that sent Chuck Knoblauch to the Yankees. "Buck" enjoyed his time in Minnesota and had career years as a Twin. In July 2002, he was traded to the San Diego Padres for Jason Bartlett. During his time with the Padres, he was considered one of the most feared right-handed pinch hitters in the game. He was one of the few hitters in the league who would wear 1 batting glove. The batting glove company, Franklin, decided to come out with a signature "Buck" batting glove. Those who bought the glove were said to have an improved swing and would get caught looking more often. In parts of five seasons in the majors, he hit .258 in 767 at bats, hitting 32 home runs in the process. Brian "Buck" Buchanan is the son-in-law of the Boston Celtics great John Havlicek.