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!

Joann & Dawn met in Chicago and got engaged at the very cool Ironhorse Hotel in Milwaukee, WI where we shot their engagement session. It was important to them to have an intimate, joyful destination wedding that included all of their closest fiends and family. They spent a long weekend with their guests enjoying an all-inclusive resort in Mexico, playing games and hanging out in the pool. It's nice when the guests from all over the world get to know each other before the wedding day — it makes the party even more fun! They were walked down the aisle by a best friend and brother and had male friends and family as part of their wedding party. Dawn handmade their beautiful and unique wedding bouquets, and she surprised Joann with a song during the reception. They had a non traditional guest book and a Cards Against Humanity make-your-own-card set which was I'm sure will provide many years of entertainment. But it wasn't all rainbows and butterflies: Joann had a foot injury and wore one heel and one flip flop the whole day! Still, they were super relaxed and had such a great time — they even jumped in the pool in their dresses at the end of the night!

Photos and words by Leah Moyers Photography.

LEAH MOYERS

Leah Moyers believes in authentic wedding photography, enjoys capturing true personalities, the spirit of the day and what’s important to her clients. She shows a sense of humor in her work and enjoys documenting all of the sweet, hilarious, emotional, quirky, sometimes messy, behind the scenes moments. She works primarily in the style of a wedding photojournalist and strives to create playful joyful work, considering her profession an art form and an honor. She earned a BFA from MICA in Baltimore and an MFA from SAIC in Chicago.

Leah has worked with wedding professionals all over the U.S. and Mexico with recognition and support from the wedding community. She is listed under The World’s Best Wedding Photographers on Junebug Weddings, is a member of the Wedding Photojournalist Association as well as the Artistic Guild of the WPJA, recognizing photographers who have a fine art photojournalistic approach to wedding photography, a Green Wedding Shoes preferred artist and a member of Fearless Photographers. Find her on Instagram here!