"We're going downtown, y'all!" says Nikki Osei, one of the six brides-to-be aboard a bus traveling down Manhattan's Sixth Avenue. "Are we going to Hudson Yards? Soho?"
When the double-decker reaches Houston Street, it turns right. "The High Line?! Are we getting married on the High Line?"
The bus drives farther west until it arrives at the secret wedding venue. The six couples didn't plan the celebration — they only brought their suits, wedding dresses, and rings.
The rest was up to the PopBliss team, a pop-up wedding service that organizes group ceremonies. The company threw its first pop-up wedding in New York City on March 31; the next wedding will be in Atlanta in 2017.
"The element of surprise is often missing in traditional weddings, and the preparations are often intended to wow guests, not the couples. We want to wow everyone," Racquel Kristi, PopBliss' founder, tells Tech Insider.
Pop-up weddings promise to cut down on the excessive planning and cost of a typical wedding, which costs between $19,800 and $33,100 for the average American couple.
PopBliss' two-day celebration was $5,000 for an all-inclusive package featuring invitations, hotel accommodations, make-up and hair stylists, bus transportation, a decorated venue, an officiant, photographers, tickets for 14 guests, catering, an open bar, a mini-cake, live singers, a DJ, a brunch before the wedding, and a party the evening before.
I tagged along for the first PopBliss wedding. Here's what ensued.
The six couples were chosen out of about 130 applicants. Kristi, who is a wedding planner by trade, said she looked for "cool, modern, courageous couples." The couples meet at the Trump Soho Hotel for a welcome party the evening before the wedding.
On the big day, the grooms and brides board double-decker tour buses. First, the couples ride to an undisclosed hotel for their "first looks."
Rebecca Taylor, who will renew her vows with Camille Smith, snaps a selfie.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider