Pop-Up Elopements: The New Wedding Trend?

If you’re getting married in Washington D.C. and looking for a way to make your wedding as simple and painless to plan as possible, Pop! Wed Co could be your answer. The company, run by wedding photographers and real-life couple Steven Gaudaen and Maggie Winter, offers brides and grooms a chance to have a “pop-up” elopement at some of the coolest and most famous spots in the city­ — and all for the fraction of a cost of a normal wedding.

While it may seem contradictory to hire planners for an elopement (isn’t the point of one to be spontaneous?), Pop! Wed Co is for those who want to keep the ceremony private and low-key, but still get all of the signature trappings of a bigger conventional wedding, like photos, keepsakes, etc.

So how exactly does it work? Pop! Wed Co chooses one date per month at a different location in the city. Once you choose your date and locale, Gaudaen and Winter get to know their clients as a couple to personalize the ceremony and photo session to fit their style — whether that means costumes or a certain kind of flowers. They even take care of your marriage license application, so that you don’t gave to wait in line at the courthouse. In fact, the only thing each couple really has to do is show up on their wedding day at their chosen location and enjoy.

The entire Pop! Wed Co package costs $1900 (without tax) and includes the fare of the wedding ceremony, as well as an approximately hour-long portrait session, keepsake photo album, and lots of digital negatives to print out and share. Gaudaen, who is a registered humanist officiant, conducts the ceremony and handles the necessary paperwork, while Winters works on the photography and aesthetics of the wedding. The entire experience takes just about an hour and the rest of the day is for the couple and their families to celebrate as they wish.

I’m definitely a go-to-the-courthouse kind of gal myself. In fact, the idea of a huge wedding and walking down the aisle with 200 pairs of eyes on me is terrifying. So this option really appeals to me, especially because it gives you a chance to get married in front of the most famous landmarks in the city for the cost of what some people pay for one month’s rent (in NYC, at least)! In any case, I think it's a cool alternative to look into.

Check out more on the company and what they offer below:

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