When you get married you want your family, friends and co-workers to know about your marriage and how happy you both are to be together. Whether you eloped on the spur of the moment or planned a small, intimate ceremony limited to family and close friends, there may be quite a few people who don’t yet know you are married. Get creative and spread the news.

Print your own wedding or elopement announcements to tell your friends and family your good news. You could include pictures of the wedding and the two of you together. Candid shots offer more variety and options than studio shots. You could intersperse professional shots with candid photographs and give your friends and family a feel for who you are with your new mate. Add captions and details of your story, such as how you met, how the proposal happened and wedding and honeymoon details. Set it all up like a small booklet people can save as a keepsake.

Create an event on your Facebook page with a snappy title such as “We’re Married!!” or “Surprise! We got hitched.” Choose those you want to receive the notice and tell them to click on the link to your page where you posted a picture of your linked hands with the new wedding rings and your wedding flowers. Create a short video clip that will tell your story. Once your family and friends receive the notice, you know they will call other family members and friends to make sure everyone knows your news.

Show up unexpectedly at your parents’ house or that of a close friend. You could act like this was a spur of the moment, we-were-in-the-neighborhood kind of visit. Do some significant hand fluttering until they catch sight of the wedding rings or pop a small photo album out of your purse with pictures of the wedding. Explain why you didn’t invite them to the wedding. Invite them to share your joy and excitement, but not to share it with others, so you can tell the most important people. Make your trips to tell others very quickly or it will be all over the country before you can blink.

Invite family and friends you want to know about your new marriage to a party and don’t tell them what the party is about. You could have everyone meet you at a local restaurant with a meeting room or at your home, if your place is large enough. After everyone has arrived and people are milling around chatting, you can ring a bell or tap a glass to get their attention and thank them for coming to your wedding reception. Allow for some shocked looks from those who didn’t see the marriage coming. Show pictures that indicate only a few were present so people don’t get angry because they weren’t invited.