Photo of Laura Cassidy, Courtesy of Lindsay Borden

This week is all about getting attention for  your business.  Yesterday, Julianne Smith gave us her 10 tips for Public Relations.  Today, we are going to get you into some magazines!  I love what Beth Helmstetter, Event Planner, shared with us a few months ago about getting into the magazines: “Don’t be afraid of the word “no.” I send my work into editors, bloggers, publicists and even television producers on a regular basis. Often I am ignored or even get a “we’re not interested” response, but just as often I find someone who does like my work.”

Today, Laura Cassidy is here to help you get into Real Weddings features.  Whether the magazine is local or national, getting featured in this section allows you to showcase your skills in action.

Laura Cassidy exudes style.  As style editor for Seattle Metropolitan and editor of Seattle Metropolitan Bride & Groom she *has* to shop for a living – and dress the part.  (I seriously think I mismanaged my career.)  She also is writer of the blog Wear What When where she shares all the goods on how to cultivate a life of style.  Today, she’ll give us the skinny on how to get editorial in wedding magazines.

Ten Tips of “Real Weddings” Advice ~ How to Get Into Bridal Magazines
Laura Cassidy, Wear What When

1. Anyone Can Submit: At Seattle Met Bride & Groom, anyone can submit images from the event; cake bakers, floral designers, grandmothers, nosy neighbors, especially mature flower girls. Anyone. The majority of submissions come from photographers and newly-weds, but so long as you have permission from the starring players, we’re not picky about who takes charge of nominating the big day. We do not set a limit on how many submissions each vendor can send in, though we do have a limit on how many weddings each couple can send in. I mean, it wouldn’t be right if some groom nominated himself in two different ceremonies, would it??

2.  Send 10-20 images: We ask that folks submit between 10 and 20 (not five and certainly not 45) low-res images; when we like what we see, we follow up and ask for a full set of high-res images. Yes we really can make great judgments about whether an event is a good fit for us based on a handful of images. What we can’t do is click through one hundred images for each of the two-hundred and sixty-one submissions we get each issue.

3. Know the Magazine: To that end, do make sure that you’ve selected the types of shots that the mag you’re submitting to tends to print. I suggest that potential candidates cruise through our online galleries and note the prevalence of detail shots over formal portraits. But perhaps the publication you’re submitting to publishes a lot of posed, formal shots. Chances are good they’d like to see what you have in that realm. Photographers always tell me they’re “terrible” at editing their photos. Here’s a chance to grow and get better at it!

4. Know the Magazine’s Mission: I ask that folks in Seattle keep the mission of SMB&G’s Real Weddings in mind: It’s there to inspire readers to create their own totally amazing days. While many think of it as a brag book or photo gallery – and certainly, it’s a place to scout out great photographers and yes, the bragging rights are pretty sweet – the section is all about sharing ideas and enticing couples to be true to their vision and take the day wherever they want it to go.

5. Share the Wealth: We also want to share vendor referrals (a list accompanies each wedding) — or, on the other hand, show off weddings by especially enterprising couples who were good at enlisting talented friends and family. We are open to DIY weddings as well as those that offer a nice long list of the area’s best talent.

6. Be an Original: We look for the best and the brightest; the most romantically elegant and smashingly fun. Novel but not necessarily kooky. Personal but not so specific that others wouldn’t relate. Commitment ceremonies are every bit as welcome as weddings. A union is a union.

7. Know Your Market: We are game to print weddings that took place in the Seattle-area, even if the couple is from out of town, and we are happy to print the destination weddings of those who call this area home. We like city weddings, country weddings, and everything in between.

8. Know Editorial Deadlines: We print weddings that took place in the year prior to the issue date. So, for the issue due out in July ‘10, we’ll consider weddings from July ’09 forward. We accept submissions at any time. Don’t put off til tomorrow what you can do today; editors get busier and busier as their deadlines loom, and you’re better off catching us when our brains are fresh rather than inundated.

9. Give ALL the Details: Don’t forget contact information for the bride and groom (you’d be surprised how often that happens) and the photographer (ditto), and please keep in mind that we cannot confirm receipt or reply to individual submissions. There just aren’t enough hours in the day.

10. Don’t Take it Personally: Have fun with it and don’t be discouraged if nothing from your first round of submissions gets printed. Keep in mind editors are weighing a lot of elements. My art director and I aim to get different colors, different settings, different seasons, and different styles into each set of five to seven weddings in the section, so it’s a crazy balancing act and we always find weddings we love but just can’t include because of this careful mix.