One of the best ways to get your name out to start attracting your ideal clients is to get your wedding photography featured online and in print publications. Even with the new landscape of publications, couples are still searching for inspiration when planning their wedding day.
One of the most frequently asked questions I receive is "How do I submit my photography to a wedding blog or magazine?”. I have been fortunate that my own wedding photography has been featured in over 50+ features with a mix of online and print and I even taught a full day about this during my Marketing Intensive Workshop.
There are a lot of factors that can make or break a wedding submission but I wanted to share my top 5 tips for submitting your photos to wedding blogs.
5 Tips for Submitting Your Photos to Wedding Blogs
No. 1 - A Color Story - Ask your client or wedding planner in advance what the color and theme of the wedding is going to be. You can then put in the work beforehand to make sure your backgrounds for the couple's details will work with the complete color story of the day. Editors LOVE this because they can tell a succinct story from start to finish.⠀
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No. 2 - Pre-Style the Invitations - By taking the time to ask for the full invitation suite before the actual wedding day will give you plenty of time to figure out the styling of the paper suite. You guys, PAPER TAKES TIME, and rushing on a wedding day is not the time to figure it out or just "wing it". By doing the homework beforehand, you can take the time to style the couple's wedding invitations, take a photo with your phone of the winning layouts, and then QUICKLY recreate it the day of the wedding for photos. You can always adjust the styling based on what styling elements you end up using, but remember, less is more. Don't overcrowd the paper with stuff that doesn't make sense or isn't even the couple.⠀
No. 3 - Ask for Flowers in Advance - Ask the florist if it's possible to get a few extra blooms or greenery for your detail styling photos but don't overcrowd the subject (ie. the paper) with tons of flowers. A few well-placed blooms can add to the beauty of invitations. Also, sometimes you might have to pay for extra flowers because flowers cost money, so to me, it's worth the investment in creating a stunning photo for my clients.
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No. 4- Tell A Story from Start to Finish - When you are selecting your photos to submit, here is a good rule of thumb - 25% of the couple, 75% of the details including flat lays, table settings, venues, and environmental shots. They want to see it from start to finish to tell their audience a complete story. And don't forget DANCING & RECEPTION photos too!
Bonus Tip: Cake cutting is a *must* include a photo for me (if your couple has a cake to cut!). ⠀
No. 5 - Find Your Match - Make sure to do your homework and research the wedding publications before you submit your photos for consideration. You want to make sure that your style of photography matches the style of photos that particular publication showcases. If you are a “light & airy” photographer, I would steer clear of submitting your work to a “dark & moody” outlet because it’s just not going to be a match.
I hope these tips were helpful and help you create your next wedding submission but if you’re feeling a little stuck and need a bit more help, I’ve created An Insiders Guide to Wedding Submissions to share with you what I've learned over the last 10 years as a wedding photographer.
My wedding photography has been published in over 50+ publications including Martha Stewart Weddings, Style Me Pretty, BRIDES, The Knot, and many, many more!
Inside this 7-page guide, I’m sharing my wedding submission checklist, my file prep cheat sheet, and the dos and donts of submission etiquette. Once you are doing reading this guide, it’s going to save you hours of putting your next submission together because you'll have an insider guide to how to create your next wedding submission!
An Insider’s Guide to Wedding Submissions
