Since COVID-19 began, everyone has experienced the negatives like canceled events, less business, minimal social interaction and the disappointment that comes from missing something you were really looking forward to doing. For engaged couples all around the world, months of planning suddenly went out the window if their wedding date landed any time in the past four months. Add disappointment to downpayment, and having to postpone their wedding because of COVID-19 has hurt these couples emotionally as well as financially.
In Akron, OH, one craft brewery decided to do something about that. For one day, R. Shea Brewery will partner with Haus of Cool to bring some magic back to Ohioan couples by throwing them a wedding day so they can experience all that joy despite the global pandemic affecting them both personally and professionally.
Who is R. Shea Brewery?
Ron Shea owns and operates this Akron-based brewery, with a management style that focuses heavily on variety and choice. He creates many different types of beer from malt to hops, because he cares about giving people exactly what they’re craving. It’s also good for profits: The more people you can cater to, the wider your prospective audience. On top of that, every beer is made from pressurized fermentation, meaning they don’t carbonate like other brewing companies. It gives R. Shea its unique flavor that customers can’t get anywhere else.
They’re not just helping out engaged couples; R. Shea is also mitigating the damage that the virus has done to their own business operations. They recently announced on Facebook that they’re selling “COVID 6-packs” and a new summer cocktail menu, specialized for the unique situation that they find themselves in this year. The brewery also sells merchandise with their company logo, including apparel, drinkware and more. Locals who want to support the small business can help them out by buying from their online store.
Recently, R. Shea Brewing partnered with Haus of Cool to plan a unique experience for some engaged couples whose special days had to be postponed or canceled because of COVID-19.
A special day to remember
On September 19, 2020 four lucky couples will experience a beautiful pop-up wedding at the brewery’s taproom at Canal Place, located in downtown Akron.
Haus of Cool is the first pop-up wedding venue in Ohio. What does that mean? They take away all of the stress of planning a wedding by ornately decorating a temporary space that multiple couples will use throughout the day. Their ceremonies don’t overlap and the couples effectively split the cost between them without sacrificing quality. The owner, Kattie Cool, said that their wedding and reception pop-ups are “very intimate, beautiful, stress-free and a fraction of the price.”
Inspired by their vision, R. Shea decided to help bring pop-up weddings to Akron by opening one of their taprooms for some ceremonies. They’re using their new location as the venue, inside a historic building that will bring even more richness to these couples’ special day. They’ll have four slots available, each two hours long including both ceremony and reception. Packages begin at $4,999.
Even better: All couples have to do is show up. Haus of Cool takes care of all the planning including invitations for up to forty people, the bouquet, the cake, decorations, a photographer and even the officiant so all couples have to do is get ready to have a low-stress wedding and enjoy their special day.
Still, it’s not the dream wedding many had planned. To mitigate some of the disappointment, R. Shea raises each ceremony to a new level by providing an open bar as well as free hors d’oeuvres. R. Shea and Haus of Cool are working hard together so that each ceremony is a wedding to remember, and all these couples have to do is celebrate.
Rebecca Dolar, R. Shea’s director of marketing and events, said of the collaboration: “R. Shea Brewing Canal Place opened with the dream of being a large-scale event venue as well as a production brewery. There is such a rich history within this building we want those equally passionate about Akron to be able to share this history with us and others around them. When the idea of pop-up/micro wedding came across my desk, I was 100% in. A unique concept for our unique venue, it just clicked.”
Having a pop-up wedding in the middle of a pandemic is an interesting way to bend social distancing measures without sacrificing the importance of such a big day. Teams are both R. Shea Brewing and Haus of Cool are putting their all into these ceremonies to make sure they’re as safe as possibleand still a day to remember for four couples and their closest friends.
Even though Akron, OH is still battling COVID-19 like every other city, these two teams are collaborating to give four couples the magical wedding they always dreamed about while still prioritizing safety, sanitation, and most importantly, love.
