As you know, I’ve always been a proponent of being yourself. Love who you love, wear what you like, do what makes you happy – it’s what I’m all about. So when I come across companies who help their customers do just that, I get Pumped!
This is the 21st century. Anyone can get married, girls can grow up to be anything they want to be, men can be stay at home dads, and women can propose marriage. Yet when it comes to wedding planning, the vast majority of the resources available are so traditional and gendered that it can feel stifling, to say the least.
Not Catalyst, one of my new favorite wedding websites and magazine. They are a wedding community that tries to pull the focus back onto the central player in any wedding – love. They feature alternative vendors that are blazing new trails, and real couples who danced to their own wedding drums. One of my own couples, Julie & Christina, was recently featured on their site.
When it comes to kicking gender norms, one of the first concerns of the untraditional bride, or the spouse-to-be who is transgender, genderqueer or intersex, is finding a suitable suit. Pieces from the rack in the men’s department may not fit well on a variety of body shapes. However, wonderful companies like Bindle & Keep (NYC) and Saint Harridan (Oakland) are offering an alternative in tailored suits, shirts and more for any and all genders and gender expressions.
If you need inspiration on ‘How To Work A Tuxedo Like You Mean It’, then take a look Summer & Meredith’s feature on A Practical Wedding and celebrate #WomenInPants.
Of course, you don’t have to be a same-sex couple to kick gender norms in your wedding! I love it when my grooms wear bowties in traditionally feminine colors or patterns, and I’ve definitely seen gorgeous straight brides rocking their pantsuits.
The bottom line is that you don’t need to fit in some preconceived mold, even (especially!) on your wedding day. Love who you love. Wear what you like. Do what makes you happy. And remember to celebrate the central players in your wedding – you, your sweetheart, and your love for each other.
It’s your story baby, tell it your way.
