GARY: Next on Start Up, we head to Dallas, Texas, to meet up with Jennifer Allen, the founder of Just Elope, a business that specializes in micro-weddings for couples seeking a luxurious wedding- day experience on an intimate scale.

All of this and more is next on Start Up.

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RICHARD: I've had a sneaker problem all my life, right?

It's really surreal to be doing something that I'm really passionate about.

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♪ My name is Gary Bredow.

I'm a documentary filmmaker and an entrepreneur.

As the country faces uncertainty, small business owners continue to persevere, pushing the economy forward with their unrelenting drive and determination.

We've set out for our 12th consecutive season, talking with a wide range of diverse business owners to better understand how they learn to adapt, innovate, and even completely reinvent themselves.

♪ This is Start Up.

♪ The wedding industry in the US is a thriving multi-billion dollar industry that encompasses a wide range of services and products.

From wedding planners and photographers to caterers and florists.

There are countless businesses that cater to couples looking to tie the knot.

The average cost of a wedding in the US is around $28,000, with couples typically spending the most on venues, catering, and photography.

The wedding industry is constantly evolving and adapting to changing trends and preferences.

And couples are increasingly looking for unique and personalized touches to make their wedding day truly special.

Today, I'm heading to Dallas, Texas, to meet up with Jennifer Allen, the founder of Just Elope, a company focused on micro-weddings for couples seeking a luxurious wedding-day experience on an intimate scale.

♪ Explain to me what a micro-wedding is.

JENNIFER: So, we specialize in weddings from zero to 50 guests.

So anything over... GARY: Ok. JENNIFER: 50 guests typically is considered a traditional wedding.

GARY: Who is it that is a good candidate for a micro-wedding?

What are the circumstances in their life?

JENNIFER: You know, we have married couples who are doctors, lawyers, professional athletes, teachers.

It's anybody that wants to focus on more important things in their lives at- at that time.

It could be buying a home.

It could be having children.

It also can be because of their time restraints.

We have married people who literally are like, "Look, I don't have time to plan a wedding.

"I don't want anything long and drawn out.

"I just simply want to show up, "you tell me where to stand, how to smile.

"We want some great pictures, and we're going to Bora Bora for a month."

And we make that happen for them.

GARY: Tell me your story a little bit about you and kinda what led to starting this business.

JENNIFER: So in July 2010, my then-boyfriend proposed GARY: Ok. JENNIFER: And he was leaving for deployment in five days.

Three days before he left, it was like, "Hey, maybe we should get married before I leave, "because, you know, if something was to "happen to me while I'm deployed, "you're just- you're nothing on paper, basically."

GARY: Yep.

JENNIFER: "And you would have no type of benefits since what's happened to me."

So, our only options were, hey, either go to City Hall or go to Vegas, because of course, we all know Vegas is a- is a one stop shop.

GARY: Drive through weddings, whatever.

JENNIFER: Right.

We couldn't afford to go to Vegas.

We were young, literally.

So, it was City Hall, it was.

Went to Walmart, bought a little linen dress from Walmart.

He wore the same clothes that he proposed in, and we got- we got married.

And literally five hours later, he left for deployment.

GARY: Oh, my gosh!

JENNIFER: Yeah and so, while he was gone, I started like, "Oh, I'm going to plan this beautiful wedding."

GARY: Yeah.

JENNIFER: "We're going to have our moment."

I put a deposit down on the venue.

I was committed.

GARY: Got it.

JENNIFER: And then once he got home, and we just started adjusting to life- GARY: Settling into life.

JENNIFER: The next year, I was pregnant.

GARY: Another delay.

JENNIFER: Had a baby.

Start trying to plan again.

When he was 10 months, was pregnant again.

Seven years of my life, there had not been a year that passed that in some way, shape, or form I'm like, "We can have a wedding.

We can do this and that."

GARY: Yeah.

JENNIFER: And it just never came together.

And in 2017, finally, I said, you know what?

I'm done trying to plan something for myself.

I don't want another bride to feel the way that I felt or feel like the only option that she had was City Hall or Vegas.

So we created Just Elope.

GARY: Tell me about that initial thought of what you were gonna do.

JENNIFER: I became an ordained officiant.

And so in my mind, I'm thinking, because I'm also a photographer.

So in my mind, I'm thinking, "Okay, how can I marry them "and take their pictures at the same time?

Do I memorize it and move around?"

And so, in my mind- GARY: GoPros, like, something.

JENNIFER: Right!

I couldn't figure out how to make it work.

And I said, okay, I can't do this by myself.

So, my husband got ordained, my mom got ordained, and my sister got ordained.

GARY: Nice.

JENNIFER: And so, I'm like, okay, we need a website.

So, my parents' anniversary was coming up, and I'm like, can we do a vow renewal?

So, my mom went and bought a wedding dress.

My dad got a new suit.

GARY: Nice.

JENNIFER: My sister was the officiant, and I took the pictures, and those were all the pictures that we had on our website when we first launched.

Because I didn't want to use any stock photography.

I wanted people to really see what they were gonna get.

GARY: Was it Just Elope at this point?

JENNIFER: Yeah, February 2017, we had our very first wedding on Valentine's Day.

We got our first client kind of by accident because the lady knew I did photography.

A friend of hers referred her to me, and she said, "Hey, we're going to the "courthouse to go get married "because the venue that was going to marry us, "once they found out that we were a same-sex couple they said that we couldn't get married there."

GARY: Oh, wow!

JENNIFER: And so I was like, okay, I'll take your pictures at the courthouse.

And my husband was in the background mouthing, he's like, "Tell them about Just Elope!

Tell them about Just Elope."

And I'm like, no, no, no, I'm not ready yet.

And then he's like, "Do it, do it."

And I was like, well, you know, I'm launching this business called Just Elope.

And I'm like, I have these beautiful parks I've scouted out, and we would love to marry you there if you all want to go and do that, and we can provide an officiant and a photographer.

And she just started crying.

GARY: Oh, my gosh.

JENNIFER: And she's like, "Thank you so much.

I did not want to get married at City Hall."

She's like, "I did not want that.

Thank you, thank you, thank you."

And literally from that moment on, it just took off.

As we continued to grow, two couples wanted to get married on the same day at the same time.

And I was the only photographer, and I'm like, well, what do I do?

And so, my husband's like, "You're going to have to get a team."

And I'm like, trust outside people to show up and do what they're supposed...

There's no way.

Because for two years, I had been doing it all myself, the photography piece.

So, I was like, okay.

We brought our first photographer, Stephanie, on.

And then we got Day of Coordinators.

So, now you got Monique and Natasha.

And it just started growing to the point where I am rarely at weddings anymore.

GARY: Mmm.

JENNIFER: Because I realized that my role is best served at home on the back end, on the client relations side, making sure that they have everything they need, and then literally the day before handing them off to say, this is your team.

This is who you can expect to be there.

And you can call them the day of if you're running behind or anything.

But up until that point, I'm their sole point of contact.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ GARY: Talk about the difference between other traditional big weddings that you've done versus Just Elope.

What's the big difference in your opinion?

CHRIS: Stress-free.

GARY: Stress-free?

That is not something you hear.

That's like jumbo shrimp.

It's a total oxymoron.

Stress-free wedding?

CHRIS: Yeah, so basically, hers is just pretty much like an hour.

So you're getting in and getting those vows in, and then you're going with the couple.

And you think an hour is pretty short, but with Jennifer's schedule, sometimes you have more time at the end, and they're like, "Hey, we're done."

But it's amazing.

You get in and you get out, and you get beautiful content.

GARY: What do you hear from the people, the people that are getting married?

The bride and groom, family?

CHRIS: First, they said it was stress-free.

It was easy communicating with Jennifer, and usually her team, they're just...

I like to say they love us.

(laughs) They love Jennifer's team, Just Elope team.

GARY: If somebody comes to you, walk me through the process.

JENNIFER: They go to our website and they see this tons and tons and tons of past weddings that we have done.

We've booked over 450 weddings.

And from there, they send over an email.

They say, "Hey, we want to get married on this day at this venue."

GARY: Yeah.

JENNIFER: Great!

We check with the venue, see if they have the date.

They pay their deposit.

From there, we send over a questionnaire to see if they want to add on any floral, any decor.

We take care of all of that so that all they have to do is literally on their wedding day, show up.

And we assign a Just Elope team to them.

So, every wedding gets a photographer, an officiant, and a day of planner.

And you also get an Elopement Specialist, which is me.

So, I guide you through all the things that you need to do to make sure you have a successful day.

"Where can I get a dress?

"Who can do my makeup?

My hair?"

I give them all that information.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ GARY: First, congratulations.

That was a really, really awesome ceremony.

So, what was your full experience with from start to finish working with Jennifer all the way up to the day?

ALLISON: It was very quick.

It wasn't drawn out, ya know?

And so, we didn't have much time to make decisions, but that's okay because you don't need much time.

You decide and that's it.

And so, I feel that I was able to make decisions better just because I chose it and that was it.

EARL: A lot of the anxiety around the execution the day of, it was off of our shoulders, right?

And we didn't have to experience that and deal with, is this right?

Is this right?

Well, we knew it was going to be right because of what she's done and her past results, right?

ALLISON: Exactly.

GARY: There's a lot of other people out there that maybe want to resort to a courthouse wedding or something that's small or something quick because there's nothing like this.

What would you say to them, people in a predicament where they want a beautiful wedding, but they don't want a massive $100,000 wedding?

ALLISON: Book Just Elope!

(both laughing) GARY: Right, yeah.

We need more Jennifers around the country.

ALLISON: We need more Jennifers around the country, right?

What would you say, babe?

EARL: No, I mean, when you think about it, what are your priorities?

Or what is most important to you?

Is it that one day?

Is it the next six months?

Next 10 years with your family?

Is it your children that you may have?

Or whatever the case is, you just base your priorities on that.

ALLISON: Yeah.

EARL: And I think with Jennifer, she helps us make that decision a little bit easier.

ALLISON: Yeah.

GARY: When you first say it's all-inclusive, that still comes off to me as expensive.

JENNIFER: Yeah.

GARY: Because now I'm paying for everything to be included.

JENNIFER: But the beauty of things being bundled, like Flo, "When you bundle, you save."

So, because it's a situation where we're in some places multiple times a month.

So, because of that, the rate that we pay is nowhere near what a traditional bride would pay.

Because my team is only shooting for an hour versus an eight-hour ceremony, GARY: Right, right.

JENNIFER: The amount that I've worked out to pay them is completely different than what they would charge for a traditional wedding.

However, the quality that they provide is the exact same.

And that's the beauty of the venues that we partner with.

We're filling in their scheduling gaps, and so that allows couples to come in and get married in these luxurious spaces that had they got married on a Saturday night, the cost for the venue alone would have been triple... GARY: Ten times.

what they paid us for their entire wedding.

GARY: That's crazy.

JENNIFER: Yeah.

GARY: So, a 20- person wedding.

We want to do it on, say, a weekday morning.

What's the rough average for that?

JENNIFER: Let's say you want to get married here.

This particular package holds up to 30 guests.

GARY: Ok. JENNIFER: So, that means that whether you have zero or whether you have the max of 30, the package point is the same.

GARY: Okay, cool.

JENNIFER: That price doesn't change because what we pay the venue and everyone involved stays the same.

So, currently at this time, this package is $3,100.

GARY: That's it?

JENNIFER: Yes.

And that includes the venue rental for 30 minutes for you to get dressed beforehand.

It takes us that long to set up any type of decor that you want to get.

Then you have an hour worth of the ceremony, all the photography, champagne toasts... GARY: Wow.

JENNIFER: All those things.

Then you have 15 minutes to gather all your stuff on the back-end.

And then we take the last 15 minutes to make sure the venue is put back together the way that it was when we arrived.

So, we do two-hour slots when we book with venues, and we're in and out.

GARY: That is affordable for a lot of people.

JENNIFER: Definitely.

GARY: For a really high end beautiful wedding.

JENNIFER: Yeah.

GARY: It's wow!

JENNIFER: $1,000 deposit- GARY: It's incredible.

JENNIFER: Final payment due 30 days before your wedding.

♪ GARY: Tell me a little bit about meeting Jennifer and the business just a little bit.

VIVIAN: I just love Jennifer.

She came in, she contacted me for one of our other venues, and she came in to meet with me, and it seemed like a natural fit for us to work with Jennifer.

Let her handle the details, bring up my people, and then we could facilitate and have these wonderful, beautiful weddings for these people.

GARY: How is it working?

Are you doing a lot of business with her?

VIVIAN: We do!

GARY: What is the feedback from people?

VIVIAN: We definitely love it.

People that are looking for those micro-weddings, we send them right her way, and she's able to help them out.

It fills those gaps in our calendar for weekdays and mornings and things like that.

It works both ways for us as well.

GARY: Tell me what you've heard from the folks getting married.

VIVIAN: They all love it.

And she's just amazing and so easy to work with and vivacious.

And just makes it easy for everyone.

♪ GARY: Did you start with any upfront capital?

Did you have to get any loans or take anything out like that?

What did it take for you to actually start this business?

JENNIFER: Yeah, so we started out with a pre-made logo, $38.

Then we paid $5 to connect our GoDaddy domain to our website, and literally, that was it.

GARY: Yeah.

JENNIFER: We had no other expenses that we had to take care of because I already owned a camera.

I was the photographer.

GARY: Wow.

JENNIFER: My mom was the officiant when we first started, her and my husband.

GARY: Yep.

JENNIFER: And even now, the team that we have, everybody is contract.

So, once we book a wedding, we assign our team, we pay them, we pay the venue.

So, our overhead is extremely low.

GARY: Let's talk about the progression from when you started up to where you were.

Tell me some of the highlights and things that have happened.

JENNIFER: I had the opportunity to be an officiant on Netflix Love is Blind.

So that was an amazing opportunity.

I literally found out the day prior.

Like, "Hey, you want to film for Netflix tomorrow?"

Yes, yes, yes, yes.

And I also had the opportunity to marry hip hop artist Da Brat, and her wife, Da Real BB Judy, on WeTV.

So, we've married couples live on the news, at the State Fair, professional basketball games, Whataburger.

Because part of what makes our company unique is that we believe that love happens anywhere.

GARY: Yep.

JENNIFER: Your dream wedding may not be at a traditional wedding venue.

The two of you may want to get married at a tattoo parlor and get matching tattoos.

GARY: Yeah.

JENNIFER: And ride off on your Harley.

That may be what you want.

GARY: But you have that flexibility to make it happen where they want... JENNIFER: Correct.

GARY: But not have to deal with all the wedding stuff.

JENNIFER: Correct because our team is going to come to you.

The same services that we provide here, we just pick them up, come to where you are, you get that same quality.

GARY: How long from the initial inception to that first customer did you kind of go back and forth figuring it out?

JENNIFER: Two years.

GARY: Two full years.

JENNIFER: Two full years.

GARY: Why?

JENNIFER: Imposter syndrome... GARY: Ahh.

JENNIFER: Self-doubt.

You have to remember, at this point, I've done over 450 weddings, right?

However, I have zero formal wedding training.

It's hard when you don't have any training on doing something... GARY: Yep.

JENNIFER: And other people do, you feel like, well, if I don't do it the traditional way, then maybe a client is going to feel like it's not the right way.

GARY: You're going to get found.

JENNIFER: Right, I'm like, oh, my God.

They're going to figure it out.

They're going to be like, "Who's this soccer mom trying to give a wedding to me?"

And it's been difficult.

Even now, with the successes that I have received, being on Netflix, being on WeTV, doing all these things.

When people make mention of it, I'm just like, don't talk about it, because I feel like, who am I to be in these rooms or be considered an expert in this field?

But then my husband has to constantly remind me.

He's like, "You've earned this space."

♪ GARY: What is your role at Just Elope?

TAVAROUS: Whatever she needs me to do that day or that week.

So, that could be anything from officiating a wedding, to picking up the kids from school because she has to officiate the wedding.

Or it could be I'm the Day of Coordinator or I'm handling something on the back-end, dealing with the accounting, anything she needs, honestly.

Being with an entrepreneur is challenging, but also it gives you a first-hand look of what you can do.

And so, watching her do the things that she did kind of inspired me to look at myself and see what I wanted to do.

So, it motivated me to go back to school.

It's awesome to see someone who did something that I consider to be unconventional and becoming a successful entrepreneur.

And not just, you know, running a business, but running a business that I had never seen before.

GARY: Yeah.

TAVAROUS: So, that she literally thought of and manifested out of her brain.

GARY: Is it hard to work successfully with a spouse?

TAVAROUS: I honestly think it requires a lot of conversation and honesty about yourself.

She calls this thing, "What's glass and what's plastic."

She always says, "Today, this is glass," as in, "I can't drop the ball on this."

If it's the kids, today, I can't drop the ball on this.

But today, Just Elope might be plastic.

I might have to do something, that could be dropped.

GARY: I like that.

TAVAROUS: It's not going to break.

So she's big on that.

That's one of the things that we always use in our household.

GARY: If you drop it, will it break?

TAVAROUS: Right, exactly.

If you drop to ball on that today, will it break?

If it's not going to break, then, hey, it's okay.

We can keep going and moving forward.

♪ GARY: Are you happy?

JENNIFER: Extremely.

(laughs) GARY: You seem really, really happy.

JENNIFER: Extremely, I get to be with people on their best day.

GARY: Yeah, it's incredible.

JENNIFER: I could bottle that up!

GARY: How can other people out there find a way to live with meaning, find their intentionality?

JENNIFER: I always think of everything as, Just Elope is a tree.

And anything that I decide to do has to be a limb from that tree.

I'm not going to decide tomorrow that I want to be a used car salesman, because that is not a limb from the Just Elope tree.

But becoming a premarital coach, creating a relationship workbook, we're launching an officiant training course, those are all limbs from a tree.

Figure out what your tree is.

GARY: Yes.

JENNIFER: And you may have to pivot to make other limbs.

And you may realize, I really like this limb more so than I like everything else that's- GARY: But you're still on the tree.

You're just broadening your scope.

JENNIFER: Right.

GARY: Having the opportunity to attend one of Jennifer's weddings was probably the best possible way to fully understand what she does, how she does it, and how incredibly valuable her services really are to her clients.

Between the smiles on everyone's faces, the positive energy in the room, the beautiful flowers, the white glove service, and the palpable joy between the new bride and groom, you would have never imagined that it was a Tuesday morning at 10 AM, and that didn't matter at all.

Not in the least bit.

What mattered to the newlyweds was that they were able to celebrate their special day in a breathtaking venue surrounded by the people that they love.

And not only do they have the professional pictures and video to prove it, they didn't have to go in debt over it.

In fact, their entire experience was around $3,000.

Jennifer built something beautiful and necessary.

We all dream of having that perfect day with the person that we love, but things don't always go as planned.

And whether it's your first wedding or a redo, Jennifer is offering a chance to have it all without having to risk it all.

And remember that while Jennifer can make sure your wedding day is a success, the marriage part is entirely up to you.

For more information, visit our website and search episodes for Just Elope.

♪ Next time on Start Up we head to Fort Worth, Texas to meet up with Paige and Juan, the owners of Magdalena's Catering, one of the area's premiere catering companies with a food truck and permanent supper club.

Be sure to join us next time on Start Up.

Would you like to learn more about the show or maybe nominate a business?

Visit our website at startup-usa.com and connect with us on social media.

♪ ♪ We got a long road ahead of us♪ ♪ A long road ahead of us ♪ Got a long road ahead of us ♪ Before we pay our dues ♪ We got a long road ahead of us♪ ♪ A long road ahead of us Oh!

(indistinct) ♪ Before we pay our dues I'm sitting in a cave.

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NATI: The founders of Reed always put the employees first.

That's what the company is about.

We take care of our people and they take care us.

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ANNOUNCER: Colonial Penn offers guaranteed acceptance, a type of whole-life insurance that does not require answering health questions or taking a medical exam.

Learn more at colonialpenn.com or by calling 1-800-372-8383.

Colonial Penn is a proud supporter of Start Up.