Western Australia Pop Up Wedding

One venue, eight talented wedding vendors, three ceremony locations and six couples – meet the popup wedding!

Take an incredible venue (Chapel Farm) a talented photographer (Angela Higgins), a florist and stylist with plenty of imagination (The Butcher, The Baker, The Stylist & The Creator), a celebrant (Dru Soltys and Joshua Withers) and of course a cake baker (Charlotte The Baker) up to sixteen of your closest family and friends, a champagne toast and the popup wedding, a concept born by celebrant Joshua Withers comes to life (check out his Popup Wedding site here).

Designed for couples who want an intimate ceremony in a beautiful setting without the complications and decisions that come with wedding plans. Couples pay a small fee, choose their pre-styled ceremony space, their bouquet and invite up to sixteen of their closest family and friends. They say their I do’s, take a few photos and celebrate with cake and champagne. If there is anything that got back to the core of what a wedding is about then I think this might be it.

Joshua Withers explains the theory behind the popup wedding idea. “The pop-up wedding concept was born out of the desire to see engaged couples presented with more options in how to celebrate their nuptials. There is more than one way to get married, and pop-up weddings are just one new and creative way for two people to say I love you, without the stress of hosting a major event and a guest list consisting of your favourites list on your phone.”

The good news is a popup wedding can be yours! While September’s has already sold out there are spaces available for February and May next year! Check out the Perth Popup Wedding website for more!

The first setting couples could choose from was “Boho Glam”. Tarnished gold vessels were filled with brightly coloured blooms and greenery. A hanging installation of greenery was topped with gold glitter letters spelling out “You & Me”.

Celebrant Dru Soltys coordinated the vendors for this event and performed a number of the ceremonies! He explains, “The second I started planning Perth’s first ever Pop-Up Wedding, I just knew it would be a hit with Perth couples. I was so excited to host the day, as it’s a fantastic opportunity to give couples something unique and fresh in what can be an overly saturated wedding market. The concept is pretty straight-forward… As a Marriage Celebrant, I speak to a lot of couples who definitely want to celebrate their marriage with a really tight bunch of their family or friends, but who aren’t interested in spending the equivalent of a house deposit on a big, white wedding for everyone their parents have ever met or lived next door to. These couples still want something a little more beautiful, personal and stylish than the Marriage Office though, and I think we’ve filled that gap perfectly.”

Dru continues, “What we’ve managed to do is un-complicate the whole planning process by allowing couples to simply show up, choose one of the stunning ceremony areas styled by Jessica Butcher (The Butcher, The Baker, The Stylist & The Creator ), providing them with a choice of amazing bouquets and marrying them in a short, sweet little ceremony in front of their nearest-and-dearest before sending them off for photos with Angela Higgins in a relaxed, gorgeous atmosphere. The reason we decided on the ‘Boho-Chic’ theme for this first Pop-Up Wedding day, is because I’m really familiar with the mood in the Perth wedding scene and just knew it would be well received.”

“Obviously, Chapel Farm matched that theme perfectly and asking Jess and Ange to round out the team was a no-brainer. I think everyone did such a fantastic job for the first event and although we decided to cap the numbers at six couples for our first day, the interest has been so overwhelming that we’re now looking at putting on another themed Pop-Up Wedding Day on the Queens Birthday weekend!” (Editors note: The September event has sold out but the popup wedding team have spaces available for their February and May events!)

Couple one – Paul and Emma  chose this setup, marrying with their children by their sides.

Ceremony setup two was “Industrial”. Old ladders and worn tables sat in the grass amongst coloured metal chairs. Couples joined their celebrants on the verandah of a teeny old building to say their vows.

Jessica of The Butcher, The Baker, The Stylist & The Creator explains her take on the day. “When I got the phone call from Dru about styling Perth’s Pop Up Wedding day I think I squealed and said a huge “YES” before he had even explained it properly to me! The whole concept excited me and being able to “run wild and free” with the look had me weak at the knees, also the reason why I had my heart set on three very different theme’s for the day – something I couldn’t have done easily if weren’t for Darrell at Curio Warehouse (that shop full of eclectic hire treasures is to die for)!”

Jess goes on to say, “I loved that each couple were shown around the grounds to view each setting and decide on the one that suited them best, this was no easy feat for them with each being entirely different to one another with Industrial to Pretty Pastel and then Boho Glam – we then made it even more tricky by asking them to choose one of three bouquets to take down the aisle with them to complete the look, all celebrated at the end with a delish slice of cake, glass of champers and a toast to their love as husband and wife!”

Couple two! Natasha and Dougan chose the industrial setting for their wedding ceremony.

Couple three! Kayla and Nathan traveled from Kalgoorlie to tie the knot at the popup wedding! I love Kayla’s mini dress with her black boots and flower crown!

The third and final setting for couples to choose from was a pretty pastel look. Mint green and soft pink industrial style chairs  were lined up, surrounded by mint green vessels containing soft pink and white blooms. A teal, pink and mint trunk were stacked with vases of flowers and a cream, and a vintage table and chairs were used for the registry signing.

Photographer Angela Higgins remarks, “As a photographer I was drawn to the Pop Up Wedding concept because of its uniqueness. I know in speaking with my own brides that the whole process of planning a traditional wedding with a large guest list and a sit down dinner can be expensive and even bring the most ‘A’ type of bride to her knees.

Couple four! Meet Megan and Luke!

Angela tells, “The Pop Up Wedding, although styled beautifully and creatively, was in my mind, a chance to bring the focus back on the marriage rather than the party. It was an absolute pleasure to witness our couples marry (in fact some of our creative team were literal witnesses in signing the legal documents) and to know that while they may have compromised on the huge party and big dress, they didn’t compromise on the sentiment or on beautiful photography, which is truly gratifying.”

And finally couple five! Vanessa and Ryan chose the pastel wedding set up (I am loving Vanessa’s rockabilly look, her stunning hairstyle and tea length dress won me over).