MEET THE FOUNDERS OF MNT
From Nightclub to New Traditions
We’re Melissa + Ben - husband and wife, mum and dad, party starters, business partners, and best mates since 1999. We met in a nightclub in Sheffield and that kind of set the tone for everything that followed. We went on to live a pretty wild life in London together before settling down to get married and have kids.
Our Colourful Life
These days, we live in Shropshire with our two amazing kids, Ezra and Nico. Music is a huge part of our lives - Ben’s a DJ, and over the years it’s taken us on some wild and wonderful adventures. Life looks more like early mornings than late nights now, but one thing hasn’t changed: we believe every celebration should be unforgettable, and every couple deserves to do things their way.
Why We Created MNT
When we got married in 2012, we really struggled to plan a wedding that felt like us. Everything felt dated, traditional, and out of sync with our personalities. We spent hours scrolling for fresh wedding ideas and suppliers, but everything felt the same. No one was saying, “Hey, you can do this differently.”
After having our son in 2013, I… Melissa… retrained as a wedding makeup artist. And what I saw from behind the scenes only confirmed what we’d already experienced - couples were still following outdated traditions that didn’t mean anything to them. And creative wedding suppliers weren’t being celebrated the way they deserved.
I realised what was missing: a platform that connected modern couples with like-minded wedding suppliers. So I built the platform with love and support from Ben.
From The Un-Wedding to Make New Traditions
In 2015, we launched The Un-Wedding - a blog and wedding directory for people who wanted to ditch the rulebook. It quickly grew into a space that celebrated alternative weddings, inclusive values, and brilliant indie suppliers.
The Un-Wedding Show and the Book of Love Directory brought together a community of modern couples who wanted more from their wedding day.
Fast forward to 2025 - we launched MNT Magazine, a bi-annual print edition that champions fresh ideas, real love stories, and expert advice from our amazing network of creatives.
Now, we’ve evolved again - and The Un-Wedding is now MNT, which stands for Make New Traditions - our message since day 1.
