LOVE LIVES ON IN LOCKDOWN

Canada's First Pop-Up Chapel

Planning a wedding is hard—planning a wedding in a pandemic is harder still. Fortunately, there is a new solution for couples who are lost when it comes to planning a wedding in a global crisis. The Pop-Up Chapel Co. is Canada’s leading shared wedding planning company that marries up to 10 couples per day—that’s one couple on the hour, every hour, for 10 hours straight!

After serving the wedding and event industry for a decade, the team behind The Pop- Up Chapel Co. made a realization—the wedding industry was undergoing a major change. Couples were eschewing the traditional life sequence to follow their own paths, like pursuing careers, having children, or prioritizing travel, all before marriage. Today’s couples are less interested in following traditions that don’t feel authentic and more interested in simplifying their lives using technology, embracing the sharing economy, and saying no to brands that don’t reflect their modern values.

We were committed to filling the white space between a city hall wedding and a traditional banquet hall wedding with hundreds of guests, as well to provide an answer to this changing shift in values and needs, and that’s how The Pop-Up Chapel Co. was born. —Lynzie Kent, Founder of The Pop-Up Chapel Co.

Wedding planning can be stressful as it is, but factoring in lower guest counts, social distancing, and general uncertainty regarding gatherings in 2021 requires even more thoughtful consideration. The Pop-Up Chapel Co. has successfully taken the ever-changing health and safety guidelines in stride, allowing couples to share their nuptials with their 20 closest friends and family members, and live-stream their ceremony so they can celebrate virtually with guests around the world.

“Couples deserve to celebrate their vows this year, and many have different reasons why getting married sooner rather than postponing is important to them. This pandemic has affected a lot of people’s financial situations, some couples are eager to start a family, and others have elderly family members who want to see the nuptials—we are eager to provide a solution,” shares Kent. “The Pop-Up Chapel Co. gives couples an affordable option to continue their wedding plans in a slightly altered version, surrounded by close family and friends, many of whom they have not seen in months, as well as giving couples the option to live-stream their ceremony, making it easier for them to celebrate virtually with friends and family from around the world.”

With strict health and safety procedures that adhere to all legal requirements, The Pop-Up Chapel Co. offers ample support through the couple’s wedding planning journey, ensuring it is safe, simple, and stress-free.

For an affordable rate, couples and up to 20 guests can enjoy an all-inclusive package in some of Canada’s most desirable wedding venues across the country, like Vancouver, Toronto, Hamilton, Ottawa, or Winnipeg. In addition, couples support their community through their booking, with $300 from every spot sold going to local charities.

“Since our first Chapel in August of 2017, we’ve married over 170 couples, hosted 21 Chapels, and raised over $57k for charity. We’re an ambitious bunch, so our dream is that by the end of 2021, we’ll have married 300 couples, raised over $80k collectively for local charities, and are completely single-use plastic-free,” shares Kent.

The inaugural Chapel in Vancouver is taking place on October 1, 2021, at Hycroft Manor and will be supporting Covenant House Vancouver, a local organization providing love, support, and hope to Vancouver’s homeless and at-risk street youth.

LOVE LIVES ON: RACHEL AND ANGELA’S WEDDING STORY

Angela and I were married with The Pop-Up Chapel Co. on October 9, 2020, at Evergreen Brickworks. For a while, we struggled with the planning process of our wedding, trying to decide between the beautiful intimate ceremony that we wanted, and the large, traditional ceremony that we thought was expected of us. We ultimately decided to book a time slot with PUC, and looking back on it, we couldn’t be happier with our decision!

The day of our wedding was nothing short of perfect, and even with our 30 guests being socially distant and wearing masks, it still felt like the day that we had imagined for nearly two years. The Love By Lynzie (LBL) Team who oversaw our ceremony’s design and execution was incredible. Even though ten other couples were getting married the same day, we still felt like the ceremony space had been set up just for us.

Perhaps the most special moment was that PUC made it possible for my 87-yearold Grandma to be in attendance for the ceremony via FaceTime when COVID-19 restrictions made it impossible for her to make the trip to Toronto to be at the ceremony in person. The LBL team made sure that our friend was able to FaceTime my grandma in and ensure that she was able to be a part of this incredibly special moment for Angela and I.

CAN YOU HEAR THE WEDDING BELLS?LEARN MORE AND GET INVOLVED ATPOPUPCHAPEL.CA