How to Help Your Photographer Get You Published (From a Wedding Photographer)

In a world where we’re all constantly connected, the biggest compliment to a job well done after a beautiful wedding can be to see it featured either online or in print. With the invention of the “real wedding” section on nearly every wedding-inspired form of media, a whole new challenge has been brought to the bride: HOW DO I GET MY PHOTOS PUBLISHED?

Although it may be true that each publication has a niche wedding style they’re hoping to highlight, there are seemingly endless avenues through which a wedding can get such an honor. The trick may be to plan ahead instead of simply hope for the best. Here’s five tips on how to get an editor to notice your big day.

Know what they want. Most wedding publications want between 70–80 percent detail photos from the big day and the rest split between beautiful photos of the couple and guest photos. No matter how gorgeous you and your fiancé may be, sending in 100 shots of the two of you together is unlikely to get anybody to press the print button. The trick then is making sure your photographer not only knows way ahead of time that you want to see your wedding in lights, but that they have lots of time for the details — everything from the candles to the food. If you’re putting a lot of time and effort into your décor, getting great shots of it is a nice thing anyway!

Be interesting. A lot of publications want to hear from the bride and the photographer. Your photographer might actually handle the submission but having a cute story about what makes the two of you and your wedding day special adds interest. Keep it cute and simple and make sure you call out all of the vendors and locations that helped pull the day together. Knowing that you had a team of people pull this off validates all the hard work.

Be consistent. This is as much for the photographer as it is for the bride. If you submit some photos that are vintage and soft along with some that are bright and bold with a few crazy album-cover type shots sprinkled in, there’s no story. Look at your wedding from a bird’s eye view and allow the photos to tie the story together, not invent a bunch of extra clutter and confusion as to what the style of the wedding really was.

Be polite. Wedding editors have hundreds of brides approach them every week for the spotlight. The truth of the matter is, the ball is really in their court and though their job is to pick the BEST candidate for the job, they’re human too. If they like you, and they like the way you’ve handled not only your wedding but your submission you’ll have a head up on your competition.

Be unique. We live in a world where it seems like there’s only a slight difference between every bride’s “perfect wedding” pin board. Mason jars and burlap with eggplant bridesmaid dresses all holding wildflowers has been done before. It’s not bad to style your wedding with some inspiration, but what gets readers to pick up a magazine or log into a wedding blog is inspiration. Communicate with your photographer all of your ideas and give them time to develop the photos into something special. Often, those first few pictures of your flowers may look fine to you but a great photographer often needs a little time to really get their creativity rolling.

There’s no such thing as the perfect wedding but there are plenty of perfect pictures of perfect details. Pay attention to what is being published, what the editors like and what your style is. Make sure you or your photographer submit to the right places — if you’re having a rockstar wedding you shouldn’t send your pictures to a barn wedding magazine!

Good luck!

– Miles

Miles Witt Boyer has seven years of wedding experience, so he’s got lots of great advice to share. Look for his guest posts in the coming months, right here on ArkansasBride.com. Oh, and be sure to visit his Facebook page or go to ArkansasBride.com to see some of his photos, including ones we’ve featured on our blog and in our magazine. You can also shoot him an email at Miles@MilesWittBoyer.com.