I don't usually post things like this, but I wanted to spread awareness - please share this with any future brides you may know.
Unfortunately, our wedding planner / decorator (Kayla Averitt, Anthony Averitt) blocked myself, my husband, and our family on social media, not allowing us to leave reviews, in efforts to save her business' reputation... so here I am. Below is my review I attempted to post on Google, that got deleted minutes later as she removed her business off of Google.
Avoid POP UP Event Planning LLC AT ALL COSTS. I don't typically leave reviews, but I feel obligated to warn other couples. If I could give 0 stars, I would & I encourage all brides interested in these services to read this review in full. POP UP's complete LACK OF professionalism, transparency, and accountability deeply impacted our wedding day-- a day we spent over a year and a half planning.
We hired POP UP in November for our June wedding to handle planning, design, & day of coordination. Kayla, the owner, assured us she'd personally lead a "stress-free day" with her husband, Anthony, assisting. This was a huge reason we booked. (At no point did she advise they even had other leads, or that other staff leading could be a potential) But at our rehearsal, she was a NO SHOW WITH NO WARNING. Two unfamiliar staff showed up instead, assuring us she'd be there the next day. The morning of our wedding, we got a text she could not make it, CLAIMING her 3yr old was having emergency surgery. That turned out to be a LIE -- she had DOUBLE BOOKED OUR WEDDING DAY and chose to attend/lead that wedding- one she booked a month before ours. We CONFIRMED this directly with the other bride.
This means, she knew since the day she took us on, that she wouldn't be at our wedding & never told us, never looped in her other "leads" to any of our calls, & led us on for 7 months. Her "leads" that came as her back up were UNPREPARED, completely UNFAMILIAR with our plans, & it showed in every way.
As for decor, one of the main reasons we hired them, everything fell short, was COMPLETELY MISLEADING, & FALSE ADVERTISEMENT (please see all images):
-Bars & Shelving: We were promised 2 arched shelving units, and 2 bars, so we hired an extra bartender. We got 1UNFINISHED, unpainted, plain plywood bar top & 1 un-arched poor quality shelving unit. The setup was so poor we deemed it UNUSABLE. Claimed day of, 1 shelf broke on the way & they didn't even have 2 bars.
-Seating Chart: Was to be a replica of the one she advertised. There were spelling errors, missing tables, missing names and NOTHING LIKE we agreed on & ultimately collapsed hours before guests arrived, shattering glass and ruining every single thing on it. After it collapsed it was deemed UNUSABLE. Our groomsmen had to leave in suits to head to the store to rebuild one. The other bride received what was promised to us.
-Flower Arbor: Advertised as lush & full. We got a flimsy, sparse arch. Deemed UNUSABLE. Our florist had to rearrange other ceremony flowers to compensate.
-Gold Silverware: Lied about quantity they had & arrived unopened & unwashed. Full place setting was advertised & promised, only 1 fork & knife were received. Over promised BOTH BRIDES gold silverware & had to divvy up the inventory. Extra forks for dessert we were promised weren't delivered. We had to send a guest to buy more the day of.
-Charger Plates: Received wrong plates than what was promised. Dirty, dusty, cracked, w tags still attached. My mom, MIL & bridesmaids had to clean &remove price tags while we were supposed to be getting ready.
-Chandeliers: Poor quality with pieces falling off & dangling.
The emotional toll was worse. Our family, wedding party& even other vendors spent ALL day scrambling to fix mistakes. Important photos weren't taken, scheduled moments were missed& we LOST HOURS of irreplaceable time we'd planned to spend with loved ones.
At the end of the night we discovered POP UP had BLOCKED both of us on all social platforms. No apology, no accountability, just silence.... Showing they knew exactly what they had done. Later, they even used footage from our wedding to promote their business online, despite knowing how deeply they FAILED us.
We tried multiple times to resolve things privately, requesting even just a partial refund. Their only response was 1 call from Anthony full of more lies, denials & empty promises to follow up, which they never did.
This day was supposed to be one of the best of our lives. Instead, we were left HEARTBROKEN and DISAPOINTED. Please don't make the same mistake we did. POP UP Event Planning failed us on every level & never took responsibility for the DAMAGE they caused. read more