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!

We met on an online dating app in Hong Kong and had our first date after about two months of chatting online. Four hours of conversation over drinks made us realize we had quite a bit in common, and we exchanged numbers and met up soon again for date number two.

We chose the Bethanie Chapel and Holiday Inn Golden Mile. The wedding was summery with bright colours, elegant, intimate, full of love, and with a lovely representation of our two cultures.

I had two wedding gowns for our wedding: a white one for the church ceremony, and a red and gold one for the Indian ceremony.

For the western gown, I had appointments at many stores to find the perfect dress with my maid of honour. We had an emotional and girly two days where I tried on dresses in front of her. Funnily enough, the last store appointment on my list was the only one she couldn’t make it to, and that was the store with the dress that felt the most right. I sent her some photos on my phone and after hearing her response, we knew it was the right one!

For the Indian bridal wear, the decision was a little easier. James and I made a quick trip to Mumbai in May to shop for our entire wedding attire. We went to the first and second store on my list together, and James fell in love with the third dress I tried on. It was a happy and quick purchase.

In some Indian weddings, brides walk down the aisle with their close family and friends under a “bed of flowers,” essentially a frame covered with a pattern of flowers. This is something I envisioned for my own wedding, however, it was hard to find such a frame in Hong Kong. Therefore, James did a bit of research on how it looks, picked up blocks of wood, hard string, and an array of flowers, and constructed the frame from scratch.

Words by Mita. Photos by Ali Ghorbani

mita in a western wedding dress and james in a scottish kilt walking down the aisle at their western wedding ceremony

Mita in her western wedding dress and veil holding a bouquet

Mita and James sharing a kiss at their western wedding ceremony in hong kong

Mita giving her mom a kiss on the forehead at her western wedding ceremony in hong kong

Mita’s gold and red necklace for the Indian wedding ceremony in Hong Kong

Mita’s lace open toe pumps on top of her sari for their Indian wedding ceremony in Hong Kong

Mita showing off her henna that includes images of her and James at both their ceremonies

Mita dressed for the Indian wedding ceremony in her gold and red necklace, earrings and sari

Mita walking down the aisle into the Indian wedding ceremony under a DIY bed of flowers

Mita and James seated and holding hands as part of their Indian wedding ceremony in Hong Kong

Mita and James surrounded by their family during their Indian wedding ceremony in Hong Kong

Mita smiling wide during their Indian wedding ceremony in Hong Kong

Mita and James holding hands as part of their Indian wedding ceremony in hong kong

The family of Mita and James participating in the wedding ceremony in Hong Kong

Mita and James smiling and reading aloud something they’ve written to each other at the end of their Indian ceremony in Hong Kond

Mita and Jame cutting their large 8-tier wedding cake at their wedding reception in Hong Kong

Vendors

Photographer | Ali Ghorbani

Western Gown | David’s Bridal, Toronto

Indian Gown and Accessories | Roopkala, Mumbai

Hair and Makeup | Megumi Sekine

Ceremony Venue | Bethanie Chapel, Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong

Reception Venue | Holiday Inn Golden Mile, Hong Kong

ALI GHORBANI

Ali G is a professional wedding, celebrity and VIP photographer in Hong Kong. His romance with photography began in 1989 when his uncle gave him a 35mm camera as a birthday present. At the age of 16, Ali began documenting one of the modern world’s most important events: The fall of the Berlin Wall. Witnessing this unique event filled with emotions, colors and cultural diversity shaped Ali’s photographic style. Since then, Ali has traveled the world in 30 countries and be homed in 6 of them, with the privilege of working in the United States, Hong Kong, India, Mexico, Brasil, France, and the Philippines.