Real Weddings, Advice, & Inspiration

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!

The couple: Ruth is a Registered Nurse, born and raised in Haiti. She met Marquis while she was getting her nursing degree at Keiser University; he was studying criminal justice. Marquis is an army veteran who was raised in Brooklyn, New York, and served eighteen months during a tour of Iraq.

The story: Our proposal was a big surprise to me. Marquis proposed on New Year's Eve at exactly midnight last year.

Our ceremony was beautiful, officiated by Pastor Evans Jean. Our processional song was "A Thousand Years” by The Piano Guys, and our recessional song was "Signed, Sealed, Delivered” by Stevie Wonder. We had a brunch reception for one hundred guests that started at 11:30 AM. The toasts were touching and beautiful. We had our first dance to “Amazed” by Lonestar, and we hired a DJ to get everyone dancing! The party ended by 3:00 PM, so our parents decided to throw us another party right after!

Words by Ruth, the bride, as told to Amber Marlow. Photos by Jen Scott of Flashy Mama.

Wedding shoe with wedding ring on the heel

Bride hugging and kissing dad after walking down the aisle

Couple coming back down the aisle at their garden wedding

Groom and groomsmen with a stretch hummer

black bride and groom dancing at their reception

bride and groom cutting their classic white wedding cake

beautiful post-wedding portraits of bride and groom

bride and groom together in a Flordia garden

VENDORS

Venue | Benvenuto
Hair | P31 Artistry
Florals | Floral Designs by Rene
Cake | Cake Creations by Jan

FLASHY MAMA

Jen Scott is the creator and lead photographer of Flashy Mama, "capturing the moments in between the poses" in South Florida. Jen is a native of Philadelphia and a graduate of West Chester University. She has lived in Palm Beach County with her husband and their two photo-fabulous children for seven years.

Jen describes herself as a chaos coordinator, family girl to the core, Earl Grey tea drinker, travel lover and is — if you can't tell by now — obsessively passionate about the art and creativity of photography! While delivering a comfortable and thrilling client experience, Jen and her team capture the fun, love, and personality that is unique to each of her wonderful couples and families.