5 Tips for Submitting Your Photos to Wedding Blogs

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.⁠⠀
⁠⠀
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.⁠
⁠⠀
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

Want more Tea? One-on-One Coaching is now available! Find out more here!

Visit Our Shop - Get our latest Online Course and E-Guides

Stay in the know! Subscribe to our newsletter, podcast, join our facebook group, and be sure to follow @jainekershner on Instagram.

Greetabl Discount - Save 20% Greetabl and Greetabl Insider Pro. Use code JKERSHNER at check out.

Interested in collaborating? Please fill out our contact page and say hello!

Podcast Interview with Brittny Drye of Love Inc.

Are you struggling with getting your wedding photography picked up for publication? Ever wonder how to submit your work to be featured online? I’m so excited to chat with Brittny Drye of Love Inc. all about the in's and out's of Publishing. Brittny shares her do's, don't, and must-haves when submitting your wedding to an online or print publication.

Learn how to curate, export, and submit your wedding photography to online and print publications with An Insider’s Guide to Wedding Submissions e-guide which is available at our store. Visit the shop here.


You can listen to Tea with Jainé on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and all other major podcasting platforms. We’d love for you to leave us a review to help other listeners find out about us. Want to support Tea with Jainé? You can make a monthly contribution by using the Support this Podcast button in our profile. Thank you so much for all of your kind support!! xo

Brittny Drye of Love Inc.

Want more Tea? One-on-One Coaching is now available! Find out more here!

Stay in the know! Subscribe to our newsletter, podcast, join our facebook group and be sure to follow @jainekershner on Instagram for the latest Tea with Jainé IG TV episode.

Greetabl Discount - Save 20% Greetabl and Greetabl Insider Pro. Use code JKERSHNER at check out.

Interested in collaborating? Please fill out our contact page and say hello!

Weddings For Real Podcast - 5 Tips for Wedding Submissions

OMG! I’m SOOOOOOO excited to share that I’m featured on one of my FAVORITE podcasts Weddings For Real with Megan Gillikin from A Southern Soiree. I chat with Megan about my 5 tips how to submit your wedding photography to be published online or in print. Megan is a wedding planner in North Carolina and started her podcast Weddings For Real earlier this year. It was a blast and we laughed a lot!!

If you don’t subscribe, you should! I’ve picked up so many great tips from so many of her podcasts already. Tyler J. McCall and Allen Berg are my favorites so far! Also, Mikkel Paige was also a guest and that’s how I was introduced to Megan. Small world, right?? I’m SO honored and thrilled to be included in her stellar line up of guests. Thank you so much for having me!

You can listen on major platforms including Apple Podcasts, Google Music and Spotify. I hope you enjoy and can’t wait to hear your thoughts and comments. Please leave me a note below after you’ve listened to the show!! xo

Weddings For Real Podcast Interview

Want more Tea? One-on-One Coaching is now available! Find out more here!

Stay in the know! Subscribe to our newsletter, podcast, join our facebook group and be sure to follow @jainekershner on Instagram for the latest Tea with Jainé IG TV episode.

Greetabl Discount - Save 20% Greetabl and Greetabl Insider Pro. Use code JKERSHNER at check out.

Interested in collaborating? Please fill out our contact page and say hello!

How to Submit Your Wedding Photography to a Blog or Magazine

One of the most frequently asked questions I receive is about how to submit your work to a magazine or blog. How do you do? Which one do you submit too? What if no one ever replies to you? I've been very fortunate and grateful that my wedding photography has been published in several print magazines, online magazines, and numerous blogs. My work has also been featured on magazine covers, published in books, and I photographed an entire wedding book (Weddings In Color) as well. With my years of submission experience, I thought I'd take some of the guesswork out of submissions and share some of my best practices to help you create the best submission so you can to potentially get featured.

If you want to know how I curate, export, and submit my own wedding submissions, I’ve created an e-guide to help you streamline the entire process. An Insider’s Guide to Wedding Submissions is a 7-page downloadable PDF guide that will help you put together your wedding submission. Find out more about the guide here.

Why should you submit your wedding to a Blog or Magazine? One of the best benefits of having your work featured in print or online is to showcase your work, your vendor’s work, and your client’s vision. Most of my couples love when their wedding is featured and all of the vendors appreciate the recognition. It's sort of a "job well done" moment for everyone involved once the feature is live online or printed. Second, SEO is an incredible marketing tool for you, your vendors, and venues. The more links back to your site mean the more opportunities for new people will find you. The venue and vendors also get a great return for their work and when they show their services to new potential clients, they will be using your images to do so. Last, Social Proof that you are a good photographer and editors/publishers think so as well. Your couples will see your work in more places other than your own website, blog, and Instagram account. What's the old saying? You have to see something 7 times before you remember it, so the more times you are featured online or in print, they will remember your name when looking for a wedding photographer.

How to Submit your Wedding Photography to a Blog or Magazine

No. 1 - Curate Your Images - Most magazines or blogs want up to 100 images per submission ONLY. This means that you have to be super selective about which images you include in your submission. You can tailor each submission to the specific publication by focusing on which images they might like to see included. Speaking for myself, I only include up to 100 of my BEST images from each wedding, engagement or styled shoot. I look at each image individually and ask myself if I were to be judged on this one image alone, would I be ok with this photo to represent my entire portfolio. If I don't, then it doesn't make the submission. You have to be harsh with your choices because a smaller and stronger submission will have a better chance of being selected vs. 100 "just ok" images that don't represent your artist's ability. 

No. 2 - Get Your Specs Right! - In most cases, the online publication or magazine will have a FAQ or Submissions page where you can find out exactly what specifications they are looking for regarding image count, size and how to submit. Once you know what they will (or won't accept) you should start to curate your images. Be sure to include every single vendor you worked with inside your submission. You don't want to accidentally forget to mention someone who worked really hard on the event.

*PRO TIP* - I created Lightroom Export Presets for each publication I regularly submit to thus saving me time and energy per submission. I put in all their image specifications, save my preset, and export my images. Super easy and very fast!

No. 3 - Make Sure Your Style Matches the Publication - I cannot stress this enough but if your photography style isn't a match for the magazine you are submitting to, chances are you will not be accepted. I highly recommend that you do your research and figure out which publications you would like to be featured in and see if your style would fit their esthetic. Like minds think alike and like images will most likely get accepted on a blog that features similar style imagery. Once you've figured out your ideal publication and curated your submission, in time you will have more accepted features than rejections.

No. 4 - How to Submit Your Images - Again, this information is most likely clearly stated in the FAQ or Submissions section on their website or masthead of the magazine however you do have a few options:

  1. Submit directly to the publication via their website or blog.

  2. Contact the editors directly and send your images via an online gallery or Dropbox (or similar service).

    *PRO TIP* If you do this method, please make sure your galleries and Dropbox folders do NOT have a password on them. You want the editors to easily gain access to your images and quickly review the photos at a glance. You do not want to hinder their ability to view your work.

  3. Use a third-party software application such as Two Bright Lights or Matchology. This is a subscription bases service that allows you to upload your images and submit to multiple blogs and magazines from one central location. It can save you time in the long run because you will not have to fill out the vendor information or re-upload the images because all of that information is already online. The Knot owns Two Bright Lights so they want all their submissions to go through that system and Matchology is a great tool for more localized niche blogs which is perfect for targeting your audience.

No. 5 - Following Up and Being NICE! - After you have successfully submitted your wedding, engagement session, or styled shoot for consideration, it's a waiting game. Usually, on the FAQ page, the publication will tell you how long it will be until you hear from them. Most places are between 4-6 weeks but some outlets never reply. They receive so many submissions that it would be impossible to get back to everyone. I know, it's a bummer but it does happen. What I like to do is follow up in two-week intervals with the editors via email. I will send a polite email simply following up on my submission and asking if any decisions have been made. It's short and sweet and ALWAYS nice. I cannot stress this enough! DO NOT BE MEAN PEOPLE!! The editors are the gatekeepers to their online/print world and you do not want to piss them off. You will never get a reply if you are rude or following up to the point where they have moved your email into their SPAM folder the very moment it comes pops up. (just kidding!!) When you are nice, you can follow up and not be annoying and they will remember that. Even if you were rejected, maybe that editor will remember your work for another feature and reach out to use one of your images somewhere else. It happens ALL the time so if you start burning bridges now, it's not going to get any better along the road. 

No. 6 - Don't Take It Personally - Nobody likes rejection and it can truly sting when it's about your photography. Believe me, I would know! It happens all the time but that's ok because it might sting for a few hours (a day at the most!) but I do not take it personally. I just move on to the next publication and try again. It could be that the blog just featured a wedding very similar to yours, or your style didn't match, or it just wasn't a fit and hey, that's ok! If you want, you can ask the editor why they rejected your work and if they had any advice to share. This information and feedback is INVALUABLE if they reply to you. Not all will, but some do! Gaining access to an editor’s insight is going to help you with your next submission, your next shoot, and your next wedding to make it even better than before.

BONUS: I received a couple of questions about how I style my flat lay detailed photos for weddings and submissions. While I'm no expert, I do love taking the time to style these photos to tell a cohesive narrative of my couple’s wedding day. The bonus? Publications LOVE these types of photos that clearly and beautifully showcase the couple’s details of the day.

Need more help? An Insiders Guide to Wedding Submissions is going to be perfect for you to create a wedding submission that editor’s love and gets featured!

I hope this was helpful and encourages you to submit your work to be considered for publication. With a little effort and time, you'll be getting more Yes's than No's in no time! Have any questions you'd like me to answer? Please leave it in the comments below. I can't wait to hear from you! 

Want more Tea? One-on-One Coaching is now available! Find out more here!

Stay in the know! Subscribe to our newsletter, podcast, join our facebook group and be sure to follow @jainekershner on Instagram for the latest Tea with Jainé IG TV episode.

Greetabl Discount - Save 20% Greetabl and Greetabl Insider Pro. Use code JKERSHNER at check out.

Interested in collaborating? Please fill out our contact page and say hello!