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!

What a pair! Manny and Neiba met one night at an ugly sweater party. His first impression was not the greatest, but Neiba gave him the benefit of the doubt and eventually the two began dating. Shortly after, Manny deployed to Afghanistan, and it was during their time spent apart that their relationship blossomed. He told me, “It was hard to think about life without her.” Soon after returning from deployment Manny decided to propose. He wanted to ask her to marry him in front of the one who brought them together, so after a Wednesday night service at River of Life Church, Manny got down on one knee and proposed. Neiba was completely surprised, and with tears running down her face she said "DUH!"

Words and photos by Stephanie Axtell

Manny and Neiba military homecoming wedding engagement session by Stephanie Axtell

STEPHANIE AXTELL

Stephanie Axtell is the wedding photographer and videographer behind Stephanie Axtell Photography, based in Eastern North Carolina. Her goal is and always will be to tell a captivating story of a couple's big day. Each moment captured is a precious memory to her couples, and she tries her best to give each memory the very best care. Her specific style is emotive, natural light photography.