Throughout this week – we have listened to the voices that needed to be heard, created our 6 initiatives to champion a true change in our industry, shared countless incredibly talented BIPOC wedding professionals and their work, but now it’s time to go even deeper – it’s time to share some of their personal stories. We couldn’t be honored to have been able to interview some of the most influential BIPOC vendors in the wedding community for this special editorial. We hope this shines a bit of light on their experiences in our flawed industry, and how we can be doing more to inspire and encourage inclusivity in our everyday lives.
Tell us a little bit about yourself! Where are you from? How did you get your start in the wedding industry?
“I’m Elizabeth (Also known as “Liz”), a film and digital travel photographer and educator. I got my start in the wedding industry by second shooting with a friend of mine who is also a photographer that was shooting a friends wedding and I fell in love with weddings and have been shooting them since then.” – Elizabeth Austin of Elizabeth Austin Photography
“My name is Andrew Roby and I was born in party central – Miami Florida. I come from a family of 6 and was raised by a single mom. I had to grow up fast to help support as much as I could and that has honestly taught me a lot. Despite not having a great deal, my mom taught me what value, integrity, and respect meant living as a Black man. I used those lessons to work hard to graduate top of my class and almost decided to pursue being a politician. However, I looked at the U.S. Army as my way of supporting my country.When the Army took its toll, I decided to leave after 9 years. Towards the end of serving, I was asked to help support single service members by helping to plan events for them. We planned events with Coca Cola, fashion shows and other events to help occupy Soldier’s time when not at work. As I transitioned out of the military, I went back to school to get my masters. I was almost homeless as the transition phase for many Veterans is not as easy. Eventually I started working with event and wedding firms in DC. That all started in 2007. I used all that I learned to start Andrew Roby Events almost 5 years ago.” – Andrew Roby of Andrew Roby Events
“I grew up in a very diverse community in Brazil, my heritage is African and Native Brazilian. I knew since I was 8 years old or so that I wanted to make weddings beautiful. I always loved attending weddings, I felt they were a magical experience! I have a clear memory of spending time after school decorating a wooden staircase with blooms that would fall off of a nearby jasmine tree. When asked what I was doing, I was decorating for a wedding ceremony! I started working in the wedding industry at 18, as the assistant to a local wedding designer back home, and I never looked back.” – Eliana Nunes of Eliana Nunes Events
“My name is DJ Will Gill. I’m a professional wedding DJ and Emcee based in Los Angeles. I’m originally from Detroit, Michigan. My father was a DJ in the 90s, so there was always a pair of turntables in our home. I started playing live events in college at Michigan State. Because I was more on the shy side in high school, I found DJing to be a great way to be more social while making money. My sophomore year, I started utilizing the microphone, especially at parties that were slow to start. That was the moment I started getting referred to private events like birthdays, mitzvahs, and weddings. I trained at a few entertainment companies in hopes of moving to Los Angeles for more opportunities. Just before I moved to Los Angeles, I got cast on MTV’s The Real World Hollywood and was documented as a DJ. This opened a new world of DJ opportunities for me including high-end weddings and major corporate events. One of those weddings landed me my job as a DJ on NBC’s The Voice. That is when I finally went into business for myself. Now, I continue to bring a brand of DJing and Emceeing to the industry that is unrivaled. I have fun helping others have fun, and I strive to keep the weight of the world off the dance floor.” – DJ Will Gill
“I’m Nicole-Natassha. Lover of weddings, interior decor, fashion and all things pretty. I was born and raised in Toronto and moved to Montreal to pursue law school (long story but fair to say that didn’t work out). My parents immigrated to Canada from Jamaica before I was born so I’m an honorary “yardie”. My journey into wedding planning & design as a career started by planning my own wedding. I am an organizer at heart and while I was looking for my own month of coordinator I decided to skip paying the fee and take it all on my plate (do not recommend, lol).” – Nicole-Natassha of CHIC BY NICOLE
“My name is Beth and I am the owner, lead planner and Creative Director of Beth Jacobs Weddings & Events! I’m originally from Winnipeg and moved to Edmonton for 15 years before relocating to the GTHA approximately 4 years ago. My launch into the events industry stemmed from my post partum journey. It was during that time that I realized that my buried passions needed to be nurtured, knowing that I could only be the best mom I could be, by giving myself the freedom and courage I needed to pursue my dreams, and feel fulfilled doing something that was so important to me! To create a legacy for my daughter, and to let her see that she too could aspire to do and be anything she dreams of, as long as she’s willing to put in the grit and sweat to get there!” – Beth Olatunji of Beth Jacobs Weddings & Events
“I am from Maryland by way of California. I have a professional degree of Architecture from Cornell University. I spent almost 10 years in the luxury retail store design space before launching Erganic Design. My start in the wedding industry was by happenstance. Assisting several Cornell Alum with their weddings sparked a love for wedding design and planning. In fact, it was a close friend whose wedding I was planning, who said to me: you should do this for a living!” I hadn’t considered it as a full time career until she said that.” – Sojourner Auguste of Erganic Design
“My name is Jessica and I’m the owner of Ellamah, a Los Angeles based wedding and event floral design studio that specializes in romantic and refined flowers. I’m originally from Northern California where I spent much of my childhood at my grandparents’ home in San Jose. Both of my grandparents were talented craftspeople who also had green thumbs. I moved to Los Angeles to attend college which is where I met my husband and ultimately settled down. I got my start in the wedding industry by working as a helper for a floral designer, doing grunt work at a wedding: moving buckets of flowers, unboxing votives, etc. It was at this wedding that I saw the designer transform a barn using flowers, and I was hooked. From that point on I began to learn and practice as much as I could.” – Jessica De Corse of Ellamah Floral
What is the most important thing wedding publications should be doing to support BIPOC wedding professionals now and always?
“For me, I think the most important thing that can be done is showcasing their work and giving them opportunities to work with the publication. Diversity is not just in the images that you were showing but the people that are taking the images or working on the team to produce these weddings.” – Elizabeth Austin of Elizabeth Austin Photography
“The best thing is to show that BIPOC vendors are capable of high level weddings and events. To do this, actively seek out BIPOC vendors. Be specific in the type of outreach you do to attract us and make us feel that you want our submissions. By no means lower your standards when it comes to aesthetics and quality. Simply include us. When these things happen, audiences who follow publications will grow to see that BIPOC vendors are just as good. It’s the enlightenment that is missing. People will only hire and support what they see their favorite publications displaying. While I don’t particularly care for Best of Lists or Directories, I do see their purpose. When done the right way, publications can showcase talent from white people and BIPOC. Our industry must represent us all. What I believe Publications fail to realize is how much influence they really have. That influence can determine if a BIPOC vendor gets hired for a six figure wedding or not.” – Andrew Roby of Andrew Roby Events
“I believe that intentionally working to make sure that BIPOC wedding professionals who are out there doing an amazing job have their work recognized, and not overlooked, is very important. I have never felt my work was overlooked by SMP, to make it clear. I think it’s also important that more BIPOC weddings be featured and celebrated regularly. I feel that social media feeds should be filled with all kinds of beautiful, to include not only BIPOC, but any other marginalized group of people. Simply because all people are beautiful, and deserving of love and celebration.” – Eliana Nunes of Eliana Nunes Events
“There is untapped artistry in my community that I believe, if given the right exposure and opportunity, will make some wedding couple’s day an unforgettable experience. There are many couples out there that just want something different for their wedding. From music format, to venues, to décor, I often hear about couples who are trying to give their guests a new experience. Unfortunately, most engaged couples aren’t wedding professionals and don’t know where to start. Publications continue to promote the same style, the same wedding, and the same skin color blog-after-blog. Perhaps it is out of fear of showing something different or simply not wanting to reinvent the wheel, but this does nothing to inspire the reader to create their perfect and unique wedding day. Wedding vendors are artists in the business of crafting great memories. For many of us, our art and creativity comes from our rich culture and experiences. This could prove to be invaluable for not only wedding couples, but wedding publications as well.” – DJ Will Gill
“I believe publications need to make a concerted effort to highlight vendors of colour and ensure they have a seat at the table so their voices can be heard.” – Nicole-Natassha of CHIC BY NICOLE
“I believe that publications have an obligation to base their submission acceptance on merit only, and not on cliques or what society has deemed as beautiful. There is beauty in all shapes, sizes, colour and culture. Many people are not represented and have been deemed “not pretty”. It’s an awful narrative and needs to be changed.” – Beth Olatunji of Beth Jacobs Weddings & Events
“Wedding publications should invest time to learn about the unique celebrations that people of color are having. There is so much cultural richness, filled with so many visually stunning moments; they’ll be overflowing with inspirational content for their readers. But instead of just showing these celebrations, invest time in learning about the cultures that make up BIPOC… do some features that are about those cultures and the traditions that are in those wedding celebrations. Some are over the course of several days.” – Sojourner Auguste of Erganic Design
“The most important thing a wedding publication can do for Black wedding professionals is to be mindful of the content you are sharing. Seek out Black wedding professionals on social media and invite them to submit their work or encourage them to do so in the future. Publish work featuring Black people, whether it’s real weddings or photoshoots. Taking these steps will actively encourage non-Black wedding professionals to seek or submit weddings or photo shoots featuring Black people. Remove the novelty from it.” – Jessica De Corse of Ellamah Floral
Can you talk to us a little bit about your experience thus far as a BIPOC professional in the wedding community?
“My experience has been interesting, especially being a film photographer of color. I always wanted my work to stand for itself but unfortunately I have felt that because my work shows an array of people that there’s a hesitation for planners to work with me. It’s hard enough to establish rapport and to find an amazing team and to add people’s biases on top of that I felt it made it harder to be seen. Now I have had a lot of success despite this and it has not stopped me from producing amazing work or helping other photographers advance in their careers. I am always grateful for my community for supporting me and my business.” – Elizabeth Austin of Elizabeth Austin Photography
“Since starting in this industry, it has given me some incredible moments, but has taken far more from me to make it worthwhile. I remember first starting out and asking wedding pros what I could be doing to get started. Who should I know? What rooms should I be in? The silence was deadly. I wasn’t familiar with this because when I was in the Army I was so accustomed to teamwork and helping others out. It was impossible for me to do my job with just one race. Our focus was staying alive. Sadly, that did not travel into the wedding industry so I ended up going to where I felt most comfortable and that was the Black Community. But the problem with that was, in some cases the black community lacks the ability to see growth because of the systemic issues that hold us back. Imagine a body of people creating a beautiful race car. The next morning they wake up and that car has been stolen. All their hard work left unnoticed and we have to start over. That’s how I felt and feel. Even as I gain traction planning six figure weddings and corporate events and increasing annual sales each year, it still left me on the outside. I wasn’t invited to industry events where predominately white people attended. When a publication needed a Planner or Designer, I was never called even though they knew me by name and published my work multiple times. There have been times where I would come into a venue and the Sales Manager or Coordinator didn’t believe I was the Planner. I have enough challenges being a black man, but being a black man in an industry primarily controlled by women, white women is worse than the military in many cases. I’ve adapted. Even placed my photo in my signature block just to help remove the uncertainty of who I am.” – Andrew Roby of Andrew Roby Events
“I can’t say I’ve ever had someone in the wedding community be openly racist towards me thus far, but I know racism is often silent. I will stand up for myself or for anyone if I can see or hear open racism or injustice of any kind, but when you can’t see it or prove it, it’s a lot harder to fight it.” – Eliana Nunes of Eliana Nunes Events
“I honestly can’t say I have experienced prejudice in booking my own weddings. I’m sure it has happened, but reasons based on race have yet to be disclosed to me. However, I have heard of instances where the Father of The Bride, who’s paying for the wedding, is “unsure” of me. Despite the wedding couple loving our 1st meeting, my online mixes and videos, when the father is involved, there can sometimes be unwarranted hesitation. On the other hand, in 2019, I had 3 Santa Barbara weddings that were country-heavy DJ sets. I owe those weddings to an inclusive wedding coordinator (AmandaLaurenCo.com) who shows that when it comes to her clients’ dance floor, she looks at turntable skills, not the color of skin.” – DJ Will Gill
“I shared on my Instagram recently that when I first started my business I refused to show my face. I wanted Chic by Nicole to be colourless for the fear that I would lose clientele if they knew I was black before meeting me. Crazy, right!? I’ve had couples warn me that their family members may be prejudiced, I’ve had times where I wasn’t taken seriously – where my white counterparts were and I’ve had to work in uncomfortable racially charged situations, while maintaining the utmost professionalism.”– Nicole-Natassha of CHIC BY NICOLE
“In this industry I have been treated as less than desirable in many situations and in many forms. From ignored emails to rude ones, and as far as blatant rudeness and disrespect, both discrete and openly in front of clients and guests. It is a demoralizing thing to experience in an industry where we are called to celebrate love.” – Beth Olatunji of Beth Jacobs Weddings & Events
I’ve been in the industry for 10 years, and although I have had great success (winning awards, features in a multitude of publications, provided expert advice to major outlets like NY Times, Brides, etc), I still have experienced microaggressions (and in some cases, blatant racism). I have had moments when visiting a venue and the venue manager or owner walks up to my assistant and assumes she’s the owner (my assistant is caucasian). Another example: I have approached venues (these are venues where we’ve produced a minimum of 2-3 successful weddings already), to ask “how can we earn a spot on your preferred vendor list?” I have been given the run-around and ultimately not placed on their list. I am all about earning respect in the industry, so I let it go. But in one case, I learned that a new wedding planner was added to a particular venue list (one that did not add me and could not provide a reason). This wedding planner happened to be someone who worked for me in the past, and they just started their own company; with less than 1 year in business how can a venue justify adding this planner to the list of recommendations, but won’t provide me with a straight answer about why I was not added? The planner told me about it, so I learned about the situation first hand.” – Sojourner Auguste of Erganic Design
“Unfortunately I have had a few difficult experiences working as a Black wedding florist. The one that stands out the most is the time I was working with an assistant unloading flowers when I noticed the wedding planner’s assistant heading towards us, seemingly to introduce herself. I put my stuff down and moved to greet her when she walked right past me and asked my assistant if she was the florist. My assistant promptly informed her I was the florist, and that she was assisting me. The wedding planner’s assistant was clearly embarrassed, and avoided eye contact. Being mistaken as an assistant or just out of place altogether is not a rare occurrence. It started on my very first wedding, where I was followed around a church nearly the entire time I was setting up for the ceremony. At another event when I returned to strike I was profiled and followed around by a wedding guest, clearly eying me like I didn’t belong there. Although it’s been five years since that happened, the fact that situations like that still recur keeps these memories alive and fresh.” – Jessica De Corse of Ellamah Floral
What are your hopes and dreams for the wedding world moving forward? What would you like to see change?
“My hope is that the wedding industry opens up to different types of aesthetics in terms of photography and that diversity and inclusion is not something that is trendy but a real commitment to change. The commitment to diversity inclusion is also a commitment to searching for diverse staff at these publications and companies.” – Elizabeth Austin of Elizabeth Austin Photography
“I would like to see an industry where I can walk into an industry event and feel welcomed. Feel as if I have done enough work to bridge the gaps to be greeted by people who don’t even know me. A industry where my work is celebrated because it’s actually damn good. A industry where terms like BIPOC is an after thought because we have fully embraced the color of one’s skin with their tales. A industry that considers BIPOC vendors for planning events like the Grammys or Wedding MBA or a political convention, if in fact we are qualified to execute and they are looking for help.” – Andrew Roby of Andrew Roby Events
“I hope that good people will realize that just not being racist is not enough. That we have to actively be aware of racism, and stand up against it at any cost. I hope that the wedding world will become a more accurate reflection of the beautiful, culturally diverse world we live in.” – Eliana Nunes of Eliana Nunes Events
“I would like to see inclusion of BIPOC artists bringing new feel, themes, and culture to the industry. We are here, yes. However, the opportunity and referrals are not. I myself have played at a number of wedding venues successfully. Still, I can’t get a preferred vendor sit-down, or even a reply email. Many venues don’t have black owned business on their preferred vendor list, despite successfully creating beautiful weddings together. There, I would like to see change.” – DJ Will Gill
“I would love for diversity to be normalized. My dream would be to work with an array of vendors, venues and editors in the industry that would include people of colour. I would love for Instagram feeds to be filled with images of black love and diverse beauty.”– Nicole-Natassha of CHIC BY NICOLE
“I hope to see more respect and equality in the industry, and more forms of beauty celebrated above the current norm. Black is beautiful. It should not be something that we as a community should feel ashamed of, or made to feel like less than deserving of an opportunity when the work and design is up to par.” – Beth Olatunji of Beth Jacobs Weddings & Events
“For it to become “the norm” to see a plethora of couples across skin colors, religions and genders. Seeing the best of the best weddings, and then seeing the beauty of diversity, would change everything for the better. Also feature more expert vendors of color on panels, and to provide insight into the industry.” – Sojourner Auguste of Erganic Design
“My hope for the wedding world moving forward is just greater inclusivity of Black couples and Black wedding professionals. Black people obviously get married too and there are a ton of talented Black wedding professionals out there, and yet we don’t see that reflected a lot in the wedding world. It’s important to not lose focus on what spurred this discussion in the first place: the brutality against and marginalization of Black people. We are often not shown in a positive nor uplifting way, and in the wedding world we’re typically the exception or a novelty. I want us to come to a point where Black faces are common in the wedding world, where I’m characterized as a talented florist rather than having it qualified as a talented Black florist.” – Jessica De Corse of Ellamah Floral
Do you have a favorite organization that supports the BIPOC community? We’d love to spread the word!
“My dear friend Tomayia Colvin Has an amazing educational platform and conference called The Cookout and that has been one of my favorite sources of education and resources for the BIPOC community.” – Elizabeth Austin of Elizabeth Austin Photography
“The wedding organizations that have been a champion for the BIPOC community is Munaluchi Bride, The B Collective, Black Bride 1998, Association of Bridal Consultants, and Wedding International Professionals Association to name a few.” – Andrew Roby of Andrew Roby Events
“One of my favorite organizations is Equal Justice Initiative!” – Eliana Nunes of Eliana Nunes Events
“Yes, AmandaLaurenCo.com, as mentioned above. Also, Rising Tide Society has a monthly mixer called “Tuesdays Together LA”. It is one of the most open-minded, inclusive, and all around fun organizations.” – DJ Will Gill
“One of my favourite Black organizations is the Black Health Alliance. This organization is a community led registered charity that works to improve the health and well being of Black communities in Canada.”– Nicole-Natassha of CHIC BY NICOLE
“Black Lives Matter!“ – Beth Olatunji of Beth Jacobs Weddings & Events
“Yes! The BK Steppers! Their mission: To develop a commitment to personal excellence in young people through innovative, quality performance arts education and practical experience in arts-related careers. We brought them on for a wedding reception (it was an awesome surprise for the guests). The kids were so excited to perform and were even more excited because it was at Ellis Island. Let’s just say, they had all 375 guests on their feet! It was truly awesome.” – Sojourner Auguste of Erganic Design
“They’ve just started but I’m intrigued by the Ethos West Collective, which is a resource highlighting the work of Black wedding professionals in the refined style on the West Coast.” – Jessica De Corse of Ellamah Floral
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