Until a few weeks ago I had never heard of a pop-up wedding. It was a friend of mine (she ran off to Vegas to get married) who told me all about this new trend.

“You basically just show up,” she said. “If you don’t want the stress and the cost of a traditional wedding, it’s perfect!”

I wanted to learn more, so I asked almighty Google: “What is a pop-up wedding?”

What I discovered is that not all pop-up weddings are the same, but they do have a common purpose: to make it easy for a couple to get married, and to make it less expensive.

Pop-up weddings truly are perfect for couples who simply don’t have the cash to pull out all the stops on their wedding day. They are also ideal for couples with other priorities, such as travel.

And because not all of us dig wedding planning, they are a great option for couples who don’t want to invest months orchestrating an event.

Some pop-up weddings are like fancy elopements with no guests. Australia’s The Pop Up Wedding describes their service like this:

“We find the coolest venue, the hottest photographer, really creative stylists and florists and a rocking celebrant and put them all together so for one hour you can have your dream wedding with no fuss, no stress and a few guests.”

Perth Pop-Up Wedding, also in Australia, allows up to 16 guests, and lets you choose from eight different venues.

“We provide an incredibly stunning and romantic venue with three inspiring and uniquely styled ceremony options … a beautiful mini bouquet, Perth’s most awarded celebrant… your Marriage Certificate, celebratory champagne and cake for you and your guests and photographs of your ceremony followed by a short portrait session as husband and wife with one of Perth’s most sought after photographers…”

Thankfully, you don’t have to go all the way to Australia to have a pop-up wedding. The trend is catching on in North America.

Victoria Hogan’s Flora Pop offers pop-up weddings in Las Vegas. Today, we’re featuring an interview with Victoria, along with a gorgeous desert styled shoot by Gaby J Photography highlighting Flora Pop’s Pop-Up Wedding Chapel (that’s Victoria in the photos).

What is a pop up wedding?

A pop-up wedding is much like an elopement. A short & sweet ceremony usually consisting of the couple, their witness & myself. Endless natural landscapes for backdrops & vintage neon signage are a favorite of couples that I work with. I’m a floral designer & recently acquired the ability to officiate these ceremonies that I create with my mobile altar. I built by hand the Teardrop trailer in the photos. It’s modeled after a 1950’s Kenskill trailer & comes complete with neon signage, flowers & for the adventurous couple, a full sized bed in the cabin should they want to continue their honeymoon in nature.

I opened the flower shop two years ago and I do gardens & weekly flowers for businesses in town. The Teardrop was intended to be my mobile flower stand, but after some thought it just didn’t feel right. I kept brainstorming & one day it hit me: I can do it all! Officiate, flowers, ceremony, the works. It became a very stress-free solution for brides because the price is right, the planning is finished, they just have to show up & have a great time!

Why are couples choosing pop up weddings?

Large scale weddings aren’t for everyone. A lot of the couples I work with would rather spend money on their honeymoon, instead of a ceremony that isn’t really about them. My pop-ups are all about the couples & the love they share. It’s really a sweet & genuine moment.

When did you start Flora Pop’s Pop Up Wedding Chapel?

I started this only about 4 months ago.

 What’s the cost?

Packages in-town start at $550. Out of town trips to remote desert locations go up in price depending on the location. There is a dry lake bed just outside the city limits. (The images were taken there.) These packages start at $1200. Flowers are extra & I have a list of preferred vendors for vintage bridal hair, specialty mixologists, custom rings, donuts & vintage airstream add-ons.

 Is this trend catching on?

Yes, I have bookings all the way until 2017. I have weddings every week & the interest is growing rapidly.

Photos: Gaby J Photography

Whether you’re having a tropical destination wedding, want to add some punch to a winter palette, or are looking for a fresh spring color, we think chartreuse will be right up your alley! An unconventional choice, this lime green shade will be the life of the party – or at least your color scheme – and we’ve put together 5 palettes to show you how you can rock it on your wedding day.

Here, chartreuse adds interest and life to an otherwise drab color scheme. We love the juxtaposition of rustic and modern created in this color palette.

Navy can be a little heavy and dark on its own, but throw in a little chartreuse, and this palette takes on a whole new spunky personality.

Chartreuse and pink are a great color combo for spring. Accent the pairing with lots of creamy white to keep the palette light and fresh, or add a touch of black – like we did here – to give it just a little bit of edge.

Chartreuse looks great paired with other shades of green and yellow. Just make sure to throw in enough white to mix things up a bit.

Not everybody can pull off a rainbow themed wedding, but we think this bright and citrusy palette would be right at home in a tropical setting.

Photo one: invitationcrush.com; Photo two: bhldn.com; Photo three: elizabethannedesigns.com; Photo four: onefabday.com; Photo five: bridalmusings.com

These gorgeous DIY paper rose escort cards are made from egg cartons! We love craft projects like these paper roses because they are inexpensive – and they involve recycling! They also don’t require lots of fancy supplies.

Our first foray into making egg carton flowers was back in 2009 when we make this spring bouquet, then in 2011 when we made some paper  daffodils.

Recently we discovered paper roses over at the spanish blog Rosi Jo. We thought they were fabulous, and they they would be perfect for creating escort cards.

This is a great project for you and your maids to work on together. As the old saying goes: “Many hands make light work!”

For these paper rose escort cards you will need:

• egg cartons (we used two different sizes)
• acrylic paint in desired color (we used two shades of pink)
• raffia
• card stock
• floral wire
• floral tape
• scissors
• hole punch

Remove the shapes from the cartons.

Cut petal shapes.

This is how it should look:

Remove bottom portion of the egg cup.

mm

When you roll the paper it will look like the inside of a rose.

Remove second egg cup. This egg cup is larger than the previous one and will be used for the outside of the flower. Create four petals.

This is how it should look:

This is how the flower looks when the two pieces are put together.

Paint the outside flower light pink.

Paint the inside petals a darker pink.

Paint both sides.

Poke two holes in the back of the outside flower shape.

Insert floral wire in one of the holes.

Bring floral wire back through the second hole.

Pinch the two wires together just beneath the flower.

Wrap entire wire with floral tape.

Cut wire approximately 6.5 inches from base of flower.

Use glue gun to add glue to the inside of the flower.

Adhere darker pink petal shape to the larger shape.

Bend wire so that the flower will stand on its own.

Cut names from card stock.

Punch card stock.

Add raffia.

Tie raffia to the floral wire.

Voila! There you have your lovely paper rose escort cards!

Adventure lovers, Lauran and Timothy are the kind of couple that are constantly looking for new experiences to share with each other, so when they decided to get hitched, eloping seemed like the perfect next adventure for the pair. They chose North Carolina’s picturesque 200 year old Mast Farm Inn as the perfect venue to exchange their vows and we’re wed on the porch of the property’s old loom house. Beautifully captured by Heather Barr, Lauran and Timothy couldn’t have asked for a more romantic and relaxed wedding day.

Lauran, 31 & Timothy, 50

Valle Crucis, North Carolina

Wedding Date: June 9th, 2014

Number of Guests: 0

Wedding Cost: $2,190

Wedding Ceremony Location: The Mast Farm Inn, Valle Crucis, North Carolina

Wedding Reception Location: The Mast Farm Inn, Valle Crucis, North Carolina

Here at Intimate Weddings we’re hopeless romantics. So, when we saw the dreamy elopement photos of Joanne and D’Arcy (fellow self-proclaimed hopeless romantics!), it’s safe to say that we were instantly smitten.

Without telling anyone they were even engaged, the couple secretly planned their Alberta elopement, sight unseen, with the help of their photographer David Guenther, and surprised their family and friends after the fact with the wonderful news and beautiful images of their intimate lakeside ceremony.

Joanne, 27 & D’Arcy, 30

Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta, Canada

Wedding Date:  May 27, 2014

Number of Guests: none

Wedding Cost: $5,000 (including wedding bands)

Wedding Ceremony Location: Waterton Lakes National Park

Wedding Reception Location: Bayshore Inn

Why did you have an intimate wedding? 

D’Arcy and I are hopeless romantics. We always knew we wanted an intimate elopement. The idea of taking the commercial qualities out of something that is meant to be heartfelt and personal felt right to the both of us from the beginning. But obviously, with social media and other factors, there are pressures coming from every angle to get married a certain way. So we took our plans one step further and decided to forego the traditional engagement. As we secretly planned our wedding, we were engaged in our hearts – no ornamental diamond or Facebook status needed. It was such a perfect day; if we could do it all over again, we wouldn’t change a thing!

What are some of the challenges that you faced planning an intimate wedding?

We were working in separate provinces, planning a wedding in a town we had never visited. As you could imagine, we had to plan with open minds, but also an open imagination! Luckily, our photographer had worked in Waterton before; he was our eyes and our ears throughout the entire process. And of course, it was extremely difficult to not share the exciting news with our loved ones, but we knew the big surprise would be well worth the wait.