Kat Williams

Diversity is most definitely a hot topic right now, we have our socio-political climate to thank for that. Rock n Roll Bride has always been about accepting everyone that feels marginalised - regardless of whether that's because you identify as LGBTQ, you're from a minority group, you're plus sized, disabled or just a little bit goth! Basically, if you don't see yourself being represented by the mainstream wedding media, at Rock n Roll Bride we want to say pull up a chair and join us. But we don't always get it right. There was a VERY heated discussion on cultural appropriation in regards to weddings in our private Facebook group recently. The reason I think it can cause such uproar is because often these things fall on a sliding scale - what offends one person may not offend another and the cultural history of something in America, for example, might not have the same significance to people that grew up in the UK. For me personally it is a very difficult thing to discuss publicly. I will be 100% transparent with you here and admit that it actually makes me extremely uncomfortable. I don't want to get it wrong and I don't want to cause even more offence. However, I do think it's something that needs to be addressed, least of all so we can all become better educated about it in a non-judgemental space. I don't know all the answers, no-one does, but I hope that by opening up this discussion we can learn something and become a more actively inclusive group. After a recent (very lengthy!) discussion with my friend Nova of @nu_bride, I've invited her to write an article for us. Nova is a diversity advocate and does incredible work on raising awareness around race and culture. She is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to this stuff and I'm honoured to publish this piece for her. Please head over to the blog and have a read. I’d love to have an open and respectful discussion about everything she addresses. Photo by @caroweissphoto (taken from a real wedding featured in issue 23 of the magazine).