Just Elope
Jennifer Allen's Just Elope has planned weddings all across Fort Worth and Dallas, including this one at the Marty Leonard Community Chapel.
Jennifer Allen didn’t intend to become a wedding planner. She certainly didn’t anticipate founding a micro wedding planning business of her own. But when Allen’s own wedding, a courthouse affair done on extremely short notice, failed to live up to her storybook dreams, she was inspired to keep other newlyweds from feeling the same disappointment.
When Allen’s boyfriend proposed only five days before he was scheduled to leave for deployment — and they decided to get married immediately — she scrambled to find a quick and affordable wedding option. But besides an impromptu trip to Vegas, the only option she could find was the county courthouse.
Via LinkedIn
Jennifer Allen
On her wedding day, Allen describes feeling “rushed and like just another number.”
“It was definitely not a fairytale day,” she says.
The disappointment, however, was the inspiration for a business that plans magical small weddings for hundreds of couples.
Allen created Just Elope in 2017 at just 30 years old. She is the company’s CEO. She’s lived in Texas for most of her life, making it a natural choice for her business’ location.
Just Elope specializes in intimate micro weddings — those weddings with no more than 50 guests — and elopements. The goal of the company is to “help other brides have an intentional day, locally,” says Allen.
Just Elope was recently one of six female-led companies selected to participate in TechFW’s ThinkLab startup accelerator. ThinkLab is a non-seed startup accelerator designed to help entrepreneurs evaluate the quality of a product or service idea, identify potential markets and target audiences, create a path to market strategy, and learn to effectively convey the value of the idea to early stakeholders.
Other companies were selected for TechFW’s SmartStart program, a business incubator that assists leaders in developing a formalized business framework that enables them to work with coaches to take their company to market.
In addition, the Center for Women Entrepreneurs (CWE) at Texas Woman’s University also awarded the company an education award of up to $2,000 for the program.
When asked which aspects of the program she is most looking forward to, Allen said that she is “most excited to learn things that [she doesn’t] know and connect with people who know more.” She is also eager “to learn how to deliver the perfect pitch and connect with people who can help me elevate [the business] and I, in turn, can help in some way.”
To be eligible required a female founder who is a major shareholder and decision-maker; the company must be located in Texas; the business is a for-profit company; and the founder must own, have licensed, or be working on proprietary technology, a trade secret, or an innovative way of doing business.
“We are excited to continue this incredible female founder’s award program with Texas Woman’s University,” says Hayden Blackburn, TechFW’s executive director. “During the past year, as many as 48% of our clients have been women-led, and this partnership has expanded the opportunities, nurturing their tech-driven aspirations and pathway to success.
Just Elope certainly does business in an innovative way. While there are plenty of wedding planning services out there, Just Elope stands out for its all-inclusive packages, speedy turn-around time, and luxurious wedding day celebrations.
“Because we run our business as an all-inclusive package, meaning you choose your location from the menu and we handle the rest, it makes everything else turnkey for our business," Allen says. "We provide a photographer, officiant, and on-site host. The process of actually getting someone married is very simple. We follow our secret to success formula to be able to pull off weddings the exact same day a couple reaches out.”
While small weddings and elopements have existed for decades, the micro wedding in its current form is a relatively new trend. It was made increasingly popular by necessity in 2020, when the pandemic demanded small, intimate weddings — or no weddings at all.
Post-pandemic, micro weddings are more socially acceptable and widespread, according to research conducted by Brides.com.
There are quite a few benefits to a micro wedding. One of the most notable is cost. Unlike a traditional wedding, which on average cost about $30,000 in 2022, Just Elope’s wedding packages range from $500-6,500.
Smaller weddings also create a more intimate and relaxed feel, allowing the couple to spend more time with guests and feel more in control of the day. Micro weddings also allow the couple to spend more of their budget on the wedding elements that are most important to them, such as splurging on a dream dress, rather than dinner for 200 people.
Small guest counts also allow for more creative venue locations. Just Elope has married couples in coffee shops, newsrooms, and even their living rooms.
“When you have a smaller guest count, or even no guests, your location options open up tremendously,” says Allen.
Just Elope can plan a stunning wedding in just 24 hours. Pre-planned packages include all the necessities: an officiant, photographer, venue, day-of planner, and more. This allows the wedding couple to focus on the fun stuff, like tasting cakes and selecting wedding outfits. The company’s packages cap at 50 people.
Venue options for Just Elope’s packages include stunning Dallas locations such as Reflections Venue and Garden, the Lumen Hotel rooftop, the Dallas Arboretum, and Paradise Cove. However, with inclusion at TechFW, Just Elope will soon be expanding into Fort Worth.
Allen took it as a sign that she was on to something when Covid-19 arrived in 2020.
Social distancing prompted a sudden uptick in the popularity of micro weddings, and Allen was just the person to meet the demand head-on. She also was in the same boat as many of her brides. Instead of renewing her vows in Mexico as planned, she was stuck inside as lockdowns hit. This shared experience allowed her to empathize with other “nearlyweds” whose weddings had been abruptly canceled or delayed.
Today, Just Elope has booked more than 300 weddings, Allen says. She prefers micro weddings because “with fewer guests, you can say more than ‘hi’ and a quick hug. For a few minutes, you can catch up and enjoy their company.”