Are you married? Did you wish your wedding planning was a bit less stressful?
A local company is looking to make a trend now reality for more couples. It is called pop-up weddings and its aimed to take the stress out of taking the plunge.
Amy Foster and Austin Hamilton live along the Central Coast and are counting the days until October. The big day is set to take place at Chase Palm Park in Santa Barbara. But there is something different to this wedding.
Coronavirus concerns aside, there isn't much stress to the planning. That is because it's a package deal.
"It's a huge stress reliever," Foster said. "I can focus on school, he can focus on work. But most of all we can focus on each other while her and her team are planning for us so its been really nice."
Amy Grace owns her own wedding planning firm and has been in the business for nearly 20 years. She knows it is not cheap to get married on the Central Coast.
"It's $50,000 on average to get married on the Central Coast and because of that, we wanted to find a more affordable options," she said.
These "Bespoke Weddings" are all inclusive, everything from the photographer, venue, floral, food and beverage, to the cake cutting -- all for a fraction of the average wedding price starting at less than $10,000 for everything.
"So basically a pop up wedding is taking the collective cost of a traditional wedding, and sharing that cost with multiple couples so that so they can afford a nicer, more traditional style wedding," Grace said.
Couples don't get married at the same time. The weddings are scheduled in the morning, afternoon, and evening. Foster and Hamilton will have their wedding in the morning with a brunch style set up with a guest list of around 60.
The trend started in Australia and is now making its way here on the Central Coast.
"I definitely see this getting more popular," Hamilton said. "I don't think it's just a trend. But traditional weddings are still going to exist. People love tradition."
"We're excited to bring it here," Grace said. "It's going to be beautiful, it's going to be nice, it's going to be a fraction of the cost. And all of our vendors are local, so that's going to be exciting as well."
Foster says the money saved by her and her fiance can now go toward a home, starting a family, even a better honeymoon. And getting married next to the ocean has its perks too.
"I think it's going to be unbelievable," Hamilton said. "I can't wait. I think it's going to be crazy to get married on the beach."
There are two dates for each location, Chase Park in Santa Barbara and The Monday Club in San Luis Obispo.
You can learn more about the pop-up weddings by visiting Amy Grace Events' website here.
