Australia is now heading into the marriage equality window of opportunity with the Federal Election less than four weeks away, the result will provide clarity and a decision one way or the other on same-sex marriage.
One entrepreneurial guy from Melbourne has taken the impending law change to the next level by creating Australia and New Zealand’s very first gay wedding magazine.
Groom and Guy magazine is the brainchild of Matty Bulger who was inspired dip his toe in the publishing game after noticing a lack of wedding magazines specifically for gay couples.
“Groom + Guy came about after being in a magazine shop and thinking that there is no gay wedding magazine on sale yet I see people on social media having amazing celebrations all over the world,” Bulger explained to eikon.
“After looking into it, I saw that there wasn’t one so with no experience in publishing I decided to give it a go with the mentality of “how hard can it be, right?”.”
Well, exactly how hard? The gay wedding industry is expected to reach more than $2 billion in its first few years and with the New Zealand market is already mature after many years of legal marriages so you would say this was more like a very sensible business decision.
“The initial goal was to produce a 160ish page magazine featuring a couple of real weddings.
“Obviously we smashed that with eight real weddings, five amazing editorials and 210 pages of content.
“Getting the first volume to print was a huge moment and something I’ll never forget in this lifetime.”
Bulger has been joined on this exciting ride by his partner Tony Smith and Administrative Manager Rachel Matters as well as a number of high-profile contributors such as former Real Housewives of Melbourne star Chyka Keebaugh and The Block’s Dea Jolly.
The magazine is, quite rightly targeted at the high-end reader, pitching to grooms who are earning $100,000+ and who are looking at spending big on their big day.
“There will be couples ready to say ‘I Do’ in the most fabulous ways,” Bulger proclaims.
“From rings to suits to styling to out of this world food gastronomy, everyone will celebrate in the way that symbolises their love and dedication.”
The first edition was released to more than 1900 stockists across both countries last week and now the pressure is on to lift the bar even higher for the second edition due out in November.
“The future plan right now is to work hard on Volume two and make it even better than Volume one.”
Already, the support for volume one has been overwhelming.
“We knew that what we were doing was exciting, fresh and innovating but we didn’t think it would go viral and it has.
“Social media is buzzing, we are doing media left right and centre and it’s lovely to see complete strangers take the time to go out, buy a copy and send us heartfelt messages and call to say congratulations and tell us how beautiful they think it really is.”
Even though the law makers haven’t yet taken that final step in Australia, Groom and Guy will push ahead with or without their approval.
And as the Groom and Guy team eloquently put it, “We realise that same-sex marriage rights are not yet acknowledged in Australia, however couples continue to make the decision to create something truly special to mark their love and respect for one another, even if it isn’t binding in the eyes of the law, and we are here to showcase and support that decision.”
Find your local stockists here or visit the website groomandguy.com
Last Updated on Jun 8, 2016
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