Tommy Casha has made himself the right guy in the right place at the right time.
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Casha has made a big impression in Newcastle and the Hunter Region since launching his company, Wedding Chats, in the beginning of 2022.
Find Wedding Chats on Instagram and you will instantly feel the vibe for what Casha does. As his best-mate, constant humour, well-natured self, he interviews guests at weddings and produces a one-hour video for the bride and groom that oozes warmth and humour, with close friends and families telling stories about their best friends as emotions and no-holds-barred comments fly out of their mouths.
Casha also packages soundbites of the best bits and posts them on his Wedding Chats Instagram account, which is nearing 10,000 followers.
In short, the business is a hit, about as on-trend as you could be.
"The bite-sized social media content is how I've got that following online," Casha says. "Social media is everything these days. So those 15- to 30-second little bite-size pieces that people want to see and consume on socials as they're sitting on the couch, is what I guess I've managed to master.
"The couple get a 60-minute video. I use clips from that to then put on my social media to get more bookings. So yes, I'm riding the wave, absolutely."
Casha is unforgettable. He always wears a hat, has a flowing moustache, contagious laugh and the gift of the gab. He asks funny questions and serious ones, drawing laughter and tears.
Asked what kind of drink he'd be at a wedding, he quickly replies "pornstar martini".
Casha moved to the Newcastle area in 2020 and was looking to make an impact on radio or television.
But breaking into media wasn't going to be easy, so he created an avenue to build a social media following.
"I started taking my phone, literally my phone and a tripod, to Newcastle Knights games," he says.
"And I would set up my tripod outside the ground before the game and people were walking in. I would egg them on to come and talk to me, say 'how are the boys going to go today?', and ask silly questions, like, 'if one of the Knights' boys was gonna date your sister, who would it be?' and 'who do you reckon would have the tidiest bedroom of all the Knights players?'.
"I would then go home - wouldn't even watch the game - edit it up into a video and put it on my Instagram. Then all the NRL pages would share it so I got a bit of a following from that."
Outside of Wedding Chats, Casha works as marketing manager for the Tony White Group of automotive companies, hosts trivia on Wednesday night at the Greenroof Hotel and is an emcee in the Newcastle Knights members' 88 Lounge on game days.
But Wedding Chats is well on the way to becoming his main game.
In 2022 he did about 30 weddings. In 2023 he will do about 50 weddings, but has expanded to parties, 21st birthdays, 40th birthdays, retirement parties, hens parties.
He recently did social media for the opening of Harrigan's at Cameron Park, and next week he is doing three days of social media at the Australian Information Security Association conference in Melbourne.
The wedding packages are a hot property.
He charges $3000 for a 60-minute video he creates from talking to wedding guests for a couple of hours after the wedding, or $4000 if he spends more time at the location, particularly with the bridal party.
He hates to say no, so he has five other hosts for weddings, including his wife Maddy (who is known as Madeline Lewis, an ABC Radio journalist in Newcastle).
Even funeral social media packages may be on Casha's radar.
"Everyone wants the new thing that nobody has done before," Casha says of the sudden popularity of Wedding Chats.
"Wedding Chats is not something they really budget for, because they don't know it exists until they find it on Instagram or TikTok.
"I explain to people, imagine you hear in 10, 20, 30 years, you hear your grandparents talk about how proud they are of you, or why your parents love you so much, what you mean to your best mate.
"That's the stuff that makes it so special."
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Jim Kellar
Jim Kellar writes about culture, art, food, drinks and music. He's been a journalist at the Newcastle Herald since 1997. jkellar@newcastleherald.com.au
Jim Kellar writes about culture, art, food, drinks and music. He's been a journalist at the Newcastle Herald since 1997. jkellar@newcastleherald.com.au
