Catalyst Wedding Company highlights weddings by and for game-changers. We seek to amplify and empower voices and viewpoints that are usually missing from the Wedding Industrial Complex. We're a community of badass wedding professionals who love all things funky, fresh, diverse, unique, and personality-driven; we convene twice yearly for (un)convention, a collaborative workshop, styled shoot, and dinner party. We're also the publishers of Catalyst Wedding Mag, a resource for couples looking for inspiration and affirmation that doing things differently in wedding-world is not only ok, it's wonderful!
Over the course of three days, Marni Wishart Photographer and a team of dozens of Houston contributing vendors came together to create a series of themed pop-up weddings in a Texas Hill Country glamping venue. Despite rain, cold, and heavy fog, this team of creatives and a group of diverse models and real couples created some really stunning inspiration.
Read MoreThese two handmade gowns are handmade by an Indian street vendor who knows the model's mom, and all of the jewelry is authentic Indian decorative wear and collected by the model's family.
Read MoreTaylor and I planned to surprise Lexa about half way through their session so we could have time to photograph them together after Taylor popped the question. Our plan was this: Taylor would put the ring in my camera bag when Lexa was not looking at the beginning of our session, and we would shoot their first outfit as if nothing was out of the ordinary — just a casual couples session, or so Lexa thought! I told Taylor I would get Lexa alone in front of my camera down by the river, give Taylor the signal, and let her walk up behind Lexa and pop the question! Thankfully, everything went off without a hitch!
Read MoreNorth Carolina photographer Latoya Dixon and her husband, Lee, are just as gorgeous on the inside as they are on the outside. When I started planning this shoot, I knew they would be perfect for the spot! They had a courthouse elopement and didn't have a big wedding. So, we treated her like a bride. She went dress shopping for the first time with her mom! We had her makeup done on site by my amazing makeup artist friend. It was amazing!
Read MoreHow long have you known about yourself?
A- I knew when I was 12 years old. I knew immediately when I laid my eyes on Laura, this perfect girl who wore hoop earrings with her bikini, that I wasn’t straight. I didn’t know what I was, but I knew I wasn’t what the church told me to be.
K- Jeez I don't know...kindergarten or first grade. I didn't know what to call it. I didn't have words—I just knew that I liked girls better than boys. I remember having my first crush on a girl when I was in first grade. I just liked her so much more than a regular friend.
Jasmine speaks with wedding planner Erica Greenwold, owner of Folie à Deux Events in North Carolina about humanitarian efforts in the wedding industry, creating a ceremony and reception that reflect your personal beliefs, and creating a totally rad wedding in 5 months on a five thousand dollar budget. Cover Photo by Ashley Posthuma
Read MoreWe met in January of 2014 while attending Tuskegee University. I was apart of the Golden Voices Choir, and Darius was apart of the ROTC program. I was asked to sing the national anthem at their battalion by one of the members in the choir who also happened to be in the ROTC program. When I arrived to the program, out of everyone in uniform Darius stood out the most. He was standing up tall and had a huge grin on his face. I then asked my friend who he was, and she was clueless, especially on his relationship status. So then the investigation began. As she returned with answers she said, “He is single and will be talking to you after the program.” My body flooded with nerves, excitement, and acute nausea.
Read MoreOur goal for this shoot was to have fun and highlight color and love! Our theme was Girls! Girls! Girls!, and we were able to put together an amazing team of women, The Richmond Association of Boss Babes. We thought, what would a real life couple do when they woke up together on the day of their wedding? Morning sex, obviously! Boudoir images are usually just of one woman, and even less often do you see images of lesbian boudoir featuring an actual couple. We wanted to capture our girls in their element, being themselves together, whether that was dressed or undressed.
Read MoreRoxann and Trey have traveled in the same orbit since they were 18 years old, their lives circling around each other and convening at certain points. When tragedy struck they got closer, but it just was not the right time yet. Through relationship after relationship, they stayed in each other's orbit being that shoulder for each other but declaring nothing because the orbit was just not perfect. After a decade of love, support, and caring it all finally clicked, and they knew the other was their person. Seeing them together, it's obvious that even though it took a while to get to this point, it was the exact perfect point for them both. They are already a family, and their wedding in June of this year will just solidify what was known by all.
Read MoreThese ladies are a beautiful couple madly in love. They were just friends for years, both dating other people. When they both found themselves single, a love blossomed. Both are simply divine people...and both are hilarious. The shoot was a blast. Cammie is a coach and is back in school. Marie is an area food safety and nutrition agent. They live together in a cute lil' house in Greenville, South Carolina.
Read MoreOur ceremony was, and is, the most meaningful aspect of our wedding for the both of us. Lauren wrote the whole thing. (Amanda: I would love to take even partial credit for it, but I can't. I contributed maybe ten words total. The rest of the time she just read me what she wrote while I cried. Good tears, obviously.) We loved that our vows were written to reflect our lives together—our joys, our struggles, our shared experiences—but it was also important that we each repeated those same vows to one another
Read MorePlay. The idea of play is a form of connection, to each other and to their surroundings. We kept saying that in their world it would rain confetti. The wedding bouquet was edible. Hot pink and bold shapes. Swings, bubbles, ribbons, a hot pink bamboo altar, laughs, confetti frozen into ice, play. Anywhere you go in the world the happiest people you see are often the ones that know how to play, whatever that looks like to each person. It was fun. It was also fun to gather a group of dynamic, female, artists in the area to create together for the first time.
Read MoreRussell and Dave describe themselves as opposites who bonded over their shared love of music. Russell is outgoing and free-spirited and Dave is the more reserved and introspective. They met early in 2015 and were engaged by the end of the year. Russell proposed to Dave during a visit to NYC in late December. They are enjoying a long engagement as Dave finishes his doctorate in clinical psychology. Russell works in the pharmacy at a children's hospital. These two share everything together and have established a tiny family with their dog baby Suzie Q.
Read MoreGood afternoon! And welcome to a cookie chronicle that will go down in history as the best thing to happen in 2017, due to lack of competition. Just kidding. I'm hoping we see lots of beauty, love, resilience, and badassery in the days ahead — things much more important than cookies. But for the days we don't/can't see those things, I'm here for you. Who am I, you ask? (You didn't, but since I'm the one writing this, it really doesn't matter what you are and are not saying.) I'm a little baker based in Virginia who loves butter, Beyoncé, Michelle Obama’s arms, Michelle Obama’s everything, Drake’s feelings, superheroes, anti heroes, graphic novels, black excellence, spirituality, cheese, dranks, ice cream, “me time,” and these pants I got from Costco that look like real pants but are actually basically yoga pants. And I come with cookies.
Read MoreNathan and I met in Pensacola, Florida in April 2010. I had recently got out of an interesting relationship and was not looking to start another one. I even told God that I did not want to get married. All of that changed when I met this hilarious, handsome man who asked our friend for my number right in front of me. After that night we dated for two months, and he told me one night that he was not dating me just to date me. I responded, "So you want to marry me?" With a surprised look he said, "Well yeah!"
Read MoreVal proposed to Lawrencia on Valentine’s Day 2013. They were not considered officially engaged until July of 2015, when their families came together to pay and accept the dowries, and their ceremony traditions were performed. Val and Lawrencia met in April 2009 shortly after Val came to the U.S. Val’s sister had just given birth to her first child, and Lawrencia went with a friend to visit her. Val recalls exactly what Lawrencia wore that day and was immediately attracted to her, although he made no attempt to ask her out. Within moments of being introduced to each other, they had an in-depth conversation about their passions, goals, values and future endeavors, and they quickly discovered they had a lot in common.
Read MoreI am a co-owner of The ARTisan Cafe, an artisan cooperative in Richmond, Virginia so with my involvement in the arts and culture scene I really wanted to find a fresh and new muse for our special day. The wedding was inspired by classic charm, rustic elegance, and Black Renaissance.
Read MoreThis shoot was located in a brand new wedding venue, Highland Brewery, and features a phenomenal dessert bar by French Broad Chocolates, two favorite local establishments. Asheville is all about lifting our local community up, and all the vendors for this shoot are local to Asheville! The shoot has an industrial setting at the brewery but brings in the romance through styling.
Read MoreBen and Christina had moved from their hometown Richmond to San Francisco three years ago, but they wanted to celebrate the most intimate part of their wedding in their native city surrounded only by their closest family, and Teddy, of course. I am so happy they did; I just adore this couple and everything about this wedding day. It’s not the typical all-day wedding affair. It was simple, stress free, exactly how they wanted it, and oh so beautiful. A new favorite for sure!
Read MoreI don't really think that either of us believed that we would find love. We were and are hopeless romantics who had just not found the right person yet. We met in the most whimsical of ways, on a dating app for lesbians. But the first time we actually met, there was no denying the love that we felt for each other.
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Catalyst Wedding Company highlights weddings by and for game-changers. We seek to amplify and empower voices and viewpoints that are usually missing from the Wedding Industrial Complex. We're a community of badass wedding professionals who love all things funky, fresh, diverse, unique, and personality-driven; we convene twice yearly for (un)convention, a collaborative workshop, styled shoot, and dinner party. We're also the publishers of Catalyst Wedding Mag, a resource for couples looking for inspiration and affirmation that doing things differently in wedding-world is not only ok, it's wonderful!
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