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!
Starting your business is scary, and half the time even the most experience entrepreneurs feel like they have no idea what they're doing (**cough** me **cough**), but there are a few important things that I learned from my time in the corporate world that all entrepreneurs should consider when they first start out.
Read MoreKseniya Thomas is the founder of Thomas-Printers in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and she makes gorgeous letterpress papergoods for weddings and businesses all over the country. We were so intrigued that she is using presses from as far back as 1898 to create modern, playful designs that we wanted to understand her whole process. What is a day in the life of a printer like in the digital age?
Read MoreFrom Facebook groups for creatives, to one-on-ones and networking events, I’ve heard again and again, “I really want to break into ‘that‘ market.” Or my personal favorite, “Well how do I find ‘them’?”
Y’ALL. Honey. Baby. Sweet Lord.
I promise I will try not to be condescending, but it’s a little obtuse, don’t you think? If you’re a photographer that wants to do more black weddings, do a shoot with black people in it. I promise y’all it’s that easy. Do you know why? People just want to see themselves represented. People want to see themselves.
Read MoreAs the designers of their own businesses, wedding professionals have the choice to design gender neutral spaces to better accommodate folks who do not identify with the gender binary. I hope they embrace this approach because creating more inclusive businesses benefits us all.
The boundaries are blurring and evolving into a new normal. To put it simply, wedding industry professionals who claim to care about inclusive feminism need to put in the work it takes to create gender sensitive businesses.
Read MoreI was definitely sipping the Kool-Aid growing up, thinking somehow I was an exception to the rule. That changed a few years ago after a horrible experience with some police officers. It was the October before the Mike Brown shooting. I thought a middle class upbringing, pearls, and dresses were going to save me. But I learned that to some people, all I ever will be is black and a problem. I hated it. I hated the microaggressions I denied were problems. It was really an unlearning of a bunch of different things. It was being honest about how I felt as a black woman in a world that hates black women. It grew into advocating for everyone else who gets sidelined into the margins. I learned to listen and I learned to speak up and out.
Read MoreIf you find yourself questioning something that feels inappropriate or abusive, then it probably is. Do not "use" an interracial couple in a shoot just to make your portfolio more diverse so you can start seeming more inclusive to the industry. Start first with yourself. Take a step back, and look at the inner circle of people you see every month. Who are they? What do you all talk about? Are you discussing issues related to populations you have no experience with? Do you participate in tokenizing? Overall, if you share these values and want to start out in the industry, double and then triple-check yourself and your own life. Because if you're still participating in social practices that are damaging or harmful toward marginalized groups in this country, whether it be consciously or subconsciously, then frankly you haven't done the work.
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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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