Why three couples picked Havelock North for a day of 'pop-up' weddings

Kelly and James Neo, from Napier getting married at Duart House on Saturday. Photo / Paul Taylor

For one Napier couple, a pop-up wedding gave them the opportunity for a beautiful, but stress-free day.

James and Kelly Neo have been engaged for half a dozen years, and got married on Saturday at a pop-up wedding at Duart House.

It meant that everything from the florist to photographer, cakes to canapes, were organised for them.

"We just came across it through social media I think, and we were keen on the idea how the package was all arranged for you," James Neo said.

He said the stress of organising a wedding was what had put them off getting married for so long.

"It was everything we hoped for, it was just perfect."

The couple had only heard of the pop-up wedding option about a week before tying the knot, but Neo said his new wife Kelly still managed to find her perfect wedding dress.

They were joined by their immediate family, including seven and five-year-old daughters, for the ceremony and reception, spending 90 minutes at the venue.

The family then went out for dinner to celebrate, and Neo said while it was back to normal life for now, the couple are planning to take a honeymoon sometime next year.

The couple was one of three who took advantage of the pop-up wedding, organised by event manager and marriage celebrant Tryphena Cracknell .

"I set up everything, so archway and florals and the aisle and the venue, and all of that kind of stuff, and the bride and groom basically turn up with their paperwork and get married, paperwork and rings."

The ceremony day is run in much the same way a traditional wedding is, with the ceremony followed by canapes and bubbly, with a professional photographer recording the proceedings.

She said it was cheaper for people, as three couples were covering the cost of the venue and other hire fees, but it still allows people to have a beautiful wedding.

"It's got the gorgeous-ness of a full wedding without having to organise any of it."

An added bonus is there is less waste, for example the flowers in the archway were used for three weddings as opposed to one, and she uses organic eatery Hapī for the catering, as well as trying to reduce plastic waste.

She said the idea is not new, happening elsewhere in the world and New Zealand, but no one was doing it in Hawke's Bay.

"So I jumped in."

She said while it is fine if people want to spend a lot of money and energy on their wedding, she wanted to make sure people had an option which was cheaper but still beautiful.

"You can spend $300,000 on a wedding, but you can also spend $3000 and it still be nice."

She plans to run the pop-up weddings once or twice a year, unless there is a increase in demand, with each wedding costing just under $3600.