Powered by Dapper & Bride: Craig & Karl
“Far beyond what we thought and it was just great.”
GOOD INTENTIONS
I spent ages trying to come up with the name for my little business. It was in the wedding industry, so I knew almost immediately that the word bride would be in title. And then I had it. ‘Dapper & Bride’.
My intention was to be able to include the grooms in a world dominated by brides. Something that could be appreciated by all. Great, right?! The grooms do love it and I was so happy they were responding to it they was I intended it to be… Until a same sex couple who (speaking to my colleague) challenged my brand name. They absolutely loved the product, but there was no bride in the duo. 👀
Less than a year later and I had my first gay couple -the wonderful Craig & Karl sign up, initially not even thinking about the name. It wasn’t until I brought it up, that they asked, ‘oh yes, what do we do about this?’ I was prepared. The idea was to use the couple’s name as the masthead and a ‘powered by’ Dapper & Bride logo underneath. I had something in place that was inclusive, with examples and links to show them; an option that is also available to every couple.
First things first… I am a sucker for a black and white photo. Front and back photos -I fell in love instantly. They were just the perfect fit. Nothing like a good confetti shot. 😎
So here I am - my first same sex couple (goal ✅ - something I wanted to achieve since starting this business). And it’s a wedding issue! There’s only a few of these in the bunch AND because of this I get to see all the wedding photos. AND THERE WERE A LOT OF PHOTOS. The most I’d ever been sent, thus far. Every so often clients give me access to their entire wedding library.
“They (our guests) are amazed with it and think it’s a great keep sake from the day.”
The editorial page was also a first for Dapper & Bride.
The boys wanted their message space left blank. They wanted the room to hand write a personalised message for each of their guests. At first I was like - are you sure? 😁 I remember telling Craig - it may be fun in the beginning, but after the 20th personalised note, you may regret it lol! He was like, nope! I got this… And away we went.
What an amazing touch though? Such a brilliant idea. As I read their story and got to really understand the lower levels of their relationship, their support system, their family and friends - the expressions on faces throughout, a handwritten, personalised message only made perfect sense…
Gotta Ask Questions…
At the last wedding show at the National Wedding Show Excel, London, (as we do) had a same sex couple approach the stand. I stood back and watched as they leaned in and peeked at the rainbow signage (first image in this blog) and then looked for Craig and Karl’s magazine - that the sign had pointed to. I approached, told them about the magazine, which they loved the idea.
I took the opportunity to start a conversation and really ask questions about their experience in planning their big day in an industry generally geared to heterosexual couples. We talked about the ‘rainbow’; I asked if it really was the ‘bat signal’ to the LGBTQ community lol!
I’ve always been a little nervous -unsure of whether using it was sort of jumping on a band wagon, but they were like - USE IT! Totally! Make it bigger. They told me seeing it just made them so much more comfortable in approaching a stand, expressing that sometimes they weren’t sure if certain businesses were for them…
We talked about the Dapper & Bride name and what they thought of it - learning that it actually pricked their curiosity; they had to come over to see and find out what exactly it was. 😎 Fortunately, I had something for them.
Couples’ names as the magazine title is a lovely touch regardless of relationship type. I met a bride-to-be who’s last name is actually Dapper lol, so we talked about changing it and I shared these options for her.
Interested in changing the logo for your names as the title of your personalised wedding magazine? Check the packages for more info or get in touch here.
Kysha x