This is an unusual post for me to write, but we live in unusual times, and some things are too big to sit by and watch. This post is not about jumping on a bandwagon, but One Fab Day is a media company and we do have an explicit editorial position on this issue so today we want to clarify position and more importantly - to make a call out to readers and the wedding industry to help us move further forward.

Recent events in the US have brought into sharp relief something that we’ve become more aware of over the years since Sue and I started One Fab Day: systemic racism in the media. Specifically for our publication, a lack of inclusivity and visibility of people of colour, different ethnicities and backgrounds in wedding media.

Every type of person of every background gets married, but more often than not, only certain types of people are reflected in the content we produce and the weddings we share. Certain people find our content more useful and helpful because it reflects exactly their wedding desires and plans. Others find it harder to find the right information and inspiration. This is how a system of privilege works. This is not how we want One Fab Day to be.

We haven’t spoken about this publicly before, we have been quietly working to our own agenda of change, but today we want to tell our story and ask for your help. We want to share our journey and own the fact that we all have a role to play in making change happen.

We thought we were inclusive...

From the very beginning we wanted One Fab Day to be a place of inclusion. Our choice of coral and mint as our company name and the main look and feel of the website was not an accident. We didn’t want to create an exclusively female space, we wanted grooms to read our articles too. So we decided on a look that deliberately wasn’t too pink and “girly”. A huge part of this was our explicit wish that same sex couples of all genders felt welcome.

During the Marriage Equality referendum we launched our own support campaign for a Yes vote: Every Love Story is Equal, aimed at showcasing real life love stories of all kinds of couples showing that love is love and no matter who you are you should be able to commit publicly and officially to the one you love and celebrate in the way you want. Before and after the Yes vote we have been delighted to share same sex weddings and stories.

Seeing the world through someone else’s eyes...

They say life is a journey, and this is true of our awakening to what being inclusive really means. True inclusivity doesn’t just mean including specific groups of people, it means including everyone. Especially those we may have not realised felt excluded. It’s easy to include those whose experience you’re aware of. It’s more important to look beyond your own life and experiences and consider everyone’s experiences, which may be different to yours in ways you just don’t realise.

So over the last couple of years, under the editorial leadership of Claire, Celina and Karen, we’ve been working explicitly on a broader range of content at One Fab Day. It has always been our mission to showcase all kinds of couples, all kinds of weddings and help every kind of bride and groom regardless of age, shape, size, gender, ability, income or ethnicity, but we’ve worked harder to actively seek out these couples and create tailored content for them.

The range of different experiences is wide, and we’re only starting to address some of the issues facing couples. Among them are highlighting the questions around accessibility at weddings for those with disabilities who are planning a wedding, or if you have guests whose needs require special attention. Addressing the homogeneity of body shape and size with wedding media by incorporating plus-sizes in all our fashion content and showcasing plus-size collections where we can. And of course, including a more diverse range of ethnicities and backgrounds as much as we can across style features, beauty content and real weddings.

We’re delighted when we have Black, Asian, and minority ethnic brides and grooms featured in real weddings, and this is something we need to share more of. We’ve been working on creating make-up and hair content that’s tailored specifically for black brides. And on every style round-up, it’s our mission to include a diverse selection of models. These are all small efforts, but we’re so aware of the issues of inclusion and visibility in the media for ethnic minority women and men, and in our area of the media, we’re working on it. Recent events are a reminder that we need to try harder. Much harder.

We have a long way to go...

As members of a majority, it's incumbent on us to remember everyone is not the same, everyone’s experience is not the same, everyone’s opportunities are not the same. As the majority, we need to hear voices other than ours, we need to listen to stories different to ours, we need to learn to accept perspectives different to ours.

We need to make room for everyone.

We need to include everyone.

That’s what we’re aiming to do at One Fab Day. Our world is weddings. Some might say it’s not the most important element of society, it’s not the biggest sector of the economy, it’s not the be-all and end-all. But it’s the world we work in, the industry we love, the celebrations we love to share. We want our part of the world to be inclusive to all. We want to help everyone have the wedding they want and deserve. If our website is all about helping couples celebrate their love, that should mean every kind of couple and every kind of celebration.

We’re determined to try harder over the coming months and years, and need the help of the wedding community to make more strides. We’d love your help to make more change...

How to Help

• If you or your other half feel that couples like you aren’t represented enough in the wedding media and you would like us to share your wedding, please fill in the submission form here*

• If you’re a writer, photographer, videographer or other creative and you have ideas or content you would like to contribute please get in touch with us at hello@onefabday.com

• If you’re a reader, and you have suggestions or ideas for content you would like to see on One Fab Day, please drop us a line at hello@onefabday.com or send us a DM

• If you’re a Black, Asian, and minority ethnic-owned wedding business based in Ireland - drop us a line on editorial@onefabday.com or join@onefabday.com so we can learn about your business

For the Wedding Industry: 

If you're interested in learning more about diversity in the wedding industry and how to help, a great person to follow is Nova Reid, the founder of Nu Bride, and an anti-racism campaigner and champion of diversity in the wedding industry.

Check out her TED talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8iNGeVyvUs

Also full of great people to follow: http://www.unconventionconf.com/ resources for wedding pros

Feature image: Desiree Fawn via Unsplash

*Please note to share a wedding we will need the permission of the photographer/videographer