‘Technology is an equaliser’ – how regional Aussie businesses are going global, quickly

The very first thing Tara Baker and Arlia Hassell did after they got engaged in 2016 was dart to a Melbourne magazine store in search of wedding inspiration. The two girls had the same questions all straight couples have: should they hire a planner? How can they stretch their budget? Who should they invite? And, actually, is it OK to uninvite people after the cards go out? But they were at a loss – there was nothing on the shelves like that aimed at gay couples. And the sites online seemed more concerned with talking about sexuality than the giddy details of the big day.

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“We wanted our love to be celebrated like everyone else’s,” Tara says. “We thought surely others felt the same?” Two months later, after much chat, Tara and Arlia decided to fill the void themselves. They set up an Instagram feed at 2 am one night and, two weeks later, a basic website. “It was a learning curve,” she admits. “But after we started reaching out to people, girls came to us. Facebook was great for building a community.” So quickly was the spread, that more than 15,000 users downloaded a subsequent digital publication released in February 2017. And more significantly, those early downloads came from all around the world.