November 04, 2015

Make Magazine, Will Travel: Houston Edition

November 04, 2015/ Catalyst Wedding Co

You'll hardly ever find the Catalyst team in one place. I can think of maybe three times when our Editor, Photographer, and Creative Director sat around one table, eating Indian food, and wildly brainstorming on an oversized piece of craft paper.

In just the past few months, Carly, our Photographer, has traveled to Sweden, Italy, Seattle, and New York for weddings, while our Creative Director, Jen, has spent the last three months hunkering down in Hong Kong, and Editor, Liz, has relocated from Washington, DC to Houston, Texas.

October 22, 2015

A Revolution that Begins with Cake

October 22, 2015/ Catalyst Wedding Co

At a coffee bar off Washington Square Park, the stranger seated next to me noticed my gift bag. “Going to a baby shower?” he asked. “No, I’m a wedding planner, actually. Headed to a rehearsal soon.” “Oh, god. That sounds intense. Does that gig make you never want to get married?” I paused, unable to give him a straight answer. The truth: the answer was far too complicated to get into over an iced tea. I’d need at least a shot (maybe several) of espresso.

October 06, 2015

Learning to (Sort of) Accept the Proposal

October 06, 2015/ Catalyst Wedding Co

In May of 2015, a girl I went to high school with got engaged, and the video went viral. That’s not really special; at this point, a lot of us know someone in at least one YouTube sensation. But for me, this proposal video—which involved two teachers, a school band, a principal, and a class full of teenagers—sparked a debate in my relationship and among my friends over the tradition of a proposal.

September 08, 2015

Does Obergerfell v Hodges discriminate against single people?

September 08, 2015/ Catalyst Wedding Co

In the form of organizations like Unmarried Equality, organized unmarried citizens made public statements like, “Unmarried Equality joins in the celebration of the Supreme Court’s long overdue decision that marriage will now be a CHOICE for all! We also call on the U.S. to remember that all of us are not married — single people and those in relationships who choose not to marry or cannot marry for a variety of reasons.” Amid all the celebration, unmarried people raised the point that choosing not to marry is also a valid personal choice, one which has material implications with regard to health care, taxation, parenting and more.

August 31, 2015

Labor of Love: How to Coordinate Your Wedding Crew

August 31, 2015/ Catalyst Wedding Co

This sense of communal engagement is especially important in DIY weddings, with their emphasis on personal connections, small scale production, and cost saving. But can you ask too much of your friends and family on your special day? Depending on the circumstances, there is a fine line between being a guest and feeling like staff.

February 11, 2015

A Letter from Liz: Catalyst is All of Ours

February 11, 2015/ Catalyst Wedding Co

Today we are reflecting on the roots of Catalyst. Catalyst is truly an example of putting an intention out into the world and watching it blossom due to the care and love of a community. Carly and I started with a simple idea. We wanted to build and engage an existing community of nontraditional wedding lovers. After we met so many awesome fempreneurs at {un}convention, we wondered: what's next? On a whim, Carly said to me "why don't you quit your job and start a magazine with me?" I said, "Okay." And I did. On Monday, I gave my two weeks' notice, and Carly and I got to work. I'm not usually so impulsive, but there was something about this project that tugged on me, and I needed to see it through. What better way to reach a national (even global) community of diverse, progressive creatives, who love weddings but can't get behind all the traditional trappings of the industry? We knew very little about print media, but we knew lots of talented people. Have you ever looked around you and thought, man I bet my friends could build something awesome. This was one of those times.