We’re about to introduce you to one of our favorite people we’ve met this year. If you are a Midwestern couple planning a wedding for 2017, we envy you. Quick! Hire Emily Alt of Watassa Wedding Photography before she’s booked up!

Ben 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!

We could not be more thrilled to share this idea with you for an alternative bridal shower, bachelorette party, or a wedding gift. League of Kitchens offers small cooking workshops for you and your friends hosted by immigrant women in their New York City homes.

I 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. 

We had a cocktail style dance party first and foremost: guests will come have a snack and a drink and mingle, we'll then have an "impromptu" Jewish-Southern-Gay Wedding (figuring out whatever that is!) before they drink too much, and that'll just lead to a full on cocktail style affair with...lots and lots of dancing.

Shirelle and Brian met at the University of Texas in Austin and they were friends for a few years before Brian asked Shirelle out for their first date. “I had had a crush on him since my freshman year when he used to wear goofy hipster glasses. My friends thought it was funny that I went on a date with Brian — he was pretty eccentric in college, but I knew that we had a connection.”

Well, this is quite a story (and it’s mostly true), so if you are easily offended, you might just take a look at our photos and be done with it. One Saturday evening in November, many, many years ago, two boys met in a bar on the dance floor of Roscoe’s in Chicago. This is all pre JDate, Match, eHarmony, OkCupid, and all of that nonsense, as the internet had barely even been invented. 

As a feminist wedding professional, I have a responsibility to challenge and critique the wedding industry. I work with brides each week, and in the intimate space of a fitting room I'm told about their greatest joys and anxieties. I owe it to them to make sure they're equally represented in an industry that continually discriminates against them. 

It was when she didn’t show up for hair and makeup that morning that I realized something. And the clarity of this realization quickly defused the anger that was starting to build inside. Laura and I weren’t growing apart. We’d actually never really been friends. 

I wore a yellow dress because that's my fav color and it makes me happy. My mom wanted me to wear a more traditional dress. But I'm not a traditional girl. We also didn't have a traditional bridal party; instead we asked our closest friends to be in our "entourage" and kinda had them make a commitment to help us throughout our marriage (not just the wedding) and be our support system, advisors and stewards through this journey (not just the day of). 

I remember our wedding ceremony so completely — the light breezy air coming through the wide open windows of the Quaker meeting house, the bright sky showing through a skylight over our heads, and the smiles of loved ones all around us. I remember the absolute joy and the palpable energy that my husband and I shared as we sat together in what will surely be counted as one of the best moments of our lives. 

Valdora and Isabel put their love and their desires for the day first. Which meant an early morning intimate wedding ceremony under the Bethesda Terrace in Central Park with only their closest friends in attendance. Later in the afternoon they invited a larger group of friends and family to celebrate a small ceremony, dinner and dancing a few hours north of New York City. It reflected their goals to create a day that invited their loved ones to be a part of their love, all while sticking to their guns in regards to having a small and beautiful wedding where they felt comfortable sharing vows and tears and promises.

Chelo Keys is a woke wedding photographer in New Jersey. In this interview with editor Liz Susong, she talks about growing up in New York, bringing her whole self to her creative work, and growing in her social justice values.

In their words, "We met in fourth grade and became best friends while hunting grasshoppers together; our old elementary school is where we exchanged our rings. Though it was forecast to mega-rain on our special day, it ended up only being a sprinkle...just enough to make a gorgeous rainbow! It was absolutely perfect."

For this shoot, we sought a unique and unexplored space. The interior of the recently opened Cambria Gallery in the SoMa neighborhood just south of City Hall was an inspiring discovery. We fell in love with the combination of colors and textures and the urban, modern décor. Marble, quartz, and exposed brick give the showroom a very dramatic and industrial look, particularly when paired with a bold, graphic print. The space inspired an urban, yet feminine vibe and a chic, modern, yet approachable look for our shoot.

Both my husband and I are jazz musicians; he was born in England and I in Serbia, but the path of jazz led us both to New York where we met for the first time at a jazz club. From the moment we started talking to each other we started falling in love. He is the most courageous and kind person I know. After the second time we actually saw each other, I was flying him out to Europe while I was on tour to have our first date. Everything after that moved quickly like a fairy tale. 

Emma Bedor and Catalyst Editor Liz Susong Debate the Concept of the Feminist Wedding

What if you and your spouse-to-be decided together how to measure the success of your marriage, even if it didn’t last “until death”? What if you decided to individualize your marriage so it was as unique as your wedding, as unique as the two of you are? After all, you don’t want to just create a life with him or her; you want to create a specific kind of life. Your kind of life. 

Zack and I don't remember when we met for the first time, but it was probably sometime in the third grade. As freshmen, we were on a youth football/cheer team, and we won king and queen at the homecoming game. But it wasn't until our junior year of high school when we actually started dating. We grew up together, graduated together, had a two-year long distance relationship, and have been experiencing life's highs and lows together. One day before the two-year anniversary of my mom's passing, Zack proposed to me at AT&T park after a Giants game. The date and the place were both extremely close to my heart. We also chose to get married on my mom's birthday, May 7. We are best friends and are so happy we get to live life loving each other.