Lordy, lordy! In just two weeks’ time, Southern Weddings V4, our biggest and best issue yet, will be hitting shelves across the land! Here at the Southern Weddings office, we are BURSTING with anticipation. Not a day goes by when we don’t ooh and ahh over the gloriousness of V4, and we can’t wait till each and every one of you gets to see the goodness for yourself!

I’m especially excited for all of our fabulous V4 advertisers to see their gorgeous ads in print. I consider myself so lucky to know all of these amazing vendors, and I can’t wait for y’all to get to know them, too!

We don’t want to leave you vendors and business owners with nothing to do while you await the release of V4, so we are happy to offer you 10% off any online or V5 ad for the next two weeks! We would just love to have you join our advertising family!

Want in on this limited-time discount? Just email me at whitney at iloveswmag.com and I’ll give you all the details!

P.S. Be sure to come back on Thursday for some BIG V4 news!! Really, y’all! It’s going to be amazing!

Well I’ll be, y’all just continue to blow me away. I have been so impressed with all of the lovely details that you future members of the Southern Weddings advertising family have been including in your advertising inquiries. I love to hear about your favorite Southern foods, your favorite things about weddings in the South and, of course, all of the amazing things that you do. There are some pretty fabulous vendors out there!

Speaking of fabulous vendors, we are still accepting applications for our new Blue Ribbon Vendors directory and I would be happy as a dog with two tails to learn more about your business. We are excited to introduce Southern brides to the best vendors that the South has to offer. Wedding planners, photographers and bakers alike, we want to hear about your talents! Just fill out an advertising inquiry here and make sure to mention that you would like an application to join the Blue Ribbon Vendor directory. The deadline to send in your application is September 15th, so don’t delay!

We have been busy as bees preparing for Southern Weddings V4 and I am just tickled that we will be able to share it with you in just a few short weeks. Want just a little hint of what’s in store? We are planning a spectacular shoot with photographers Jose Villa and Lisa Vorce next week. Jose has been with us since the very, very beginning. Remember this amazing photo from the V1 cover? Oh yes, Jose shot that. Check out the rest of that amazing wedding here. We are simply thrilled to have him contribute to V4!


We’ve got more V4 news coming your way. We are still on the hunt for two more real weddings and we aren’t going to stop until we find the most perfectly wonderful real weddings the South has ever seen. Do you think a wedding you shot has what it takes? Send your submission in to howdy@iloveswmag.com. We are also accepting submissions for quintessentially Southern wedding images. We love details, so send them our way!

Lastly, with Southern Weddings V4 right around the corner, I want to share my excitement with you by personally invite you to shoot me an email by Monday, August 15th to receive a special advertising discount. This is only for the first 10 vendors that contact me, so email me post-haste!

I just can’t wait to hear from y’all!

Well, clutch my pearls! Y’all may not have known, but we upgraded to a mega server three weeks ago to handle all the new traffic around these parts. We are just thrilled to upgrade to this new, roomier bit of the web!

In the process of changing over to our new server, it seems that some advertising inquiries went to cyberspace heaven.

Now, I just can’t stand the thought of all those lovely inquiries going unanswered. A Southern woman always sends a reply! If you haven’t heard back from me after your inquiry, I’d like to invite you to send me a quick email. With V4 right around the corner, we’ve got a ton of advertising goodies up our sleeves!

We would never, ever want you to miss out on getting your ad space in our biggest and best print edition yet! Send me an email in the next 48 hours and I promise that we can fit your pretty ad into V4.

Also, Brides and vendors alike, did you hear the great news? Southern Weddings V1, V2 and V3 will soon be available for you to view online! We are so, so thrilled to bring you the Southern Weddings Digital Trilogy! Want a sneak peak of all of the goodness? V3 is already online for your viewing pleasure. Come take a gander!

Last, but most certainly not least, email me and let me know if you would like an application for our new Blue Ribbon Vendors directory! We want Southern brides to have access to all of the best stylists, planners, photographers, caterers and more!

I just can’t wait to hear from y’all!

Hello, ladies + gents! Now that we have our super-fab team photos back from the amazing Millie Holloman, we thought we’d do some proper introductions! Some of us you’ve already met, some of us you may be meeting for the first time — but after this little Sit a Spell series, we hope you’ll feel like you know us even better! You’ve already met Nicole, Sierra, and Marissa, and now it’s Whitney’s turn! Whitney is poised, funny, kind, and quite fashionable — you’re all in for a treat! — Emily

Hey y’all! I’m just delighted that you’ve stopped by, and I’d love to tell you a bit more about me, myself and I! I’m the go-to gal for anything and everything ad related. See those gorgeous banners along the right side of your screen? I’m lucky enough to work with each and every one of those vendors. The print advertisers are fabulous, too! Pull up a chair, sit on down and grab some lemonade. Let’s begin!

1. I was the champion of the Idaho History Bee in 4th grade. Though I’m a Southerner at heart, when it comes down to it, I’m a transplant. I was raised in the good ol’ state of Idaho and I didn’t move to North Carolina until I was 16 years old. Ask me anything about the potato state and I’m sure that I could answer. State bird? The Mountain Blue Bird! Most famous Native American? Sacajawea! The best part of winning that bee was the trophy in the shape of Idaho. It’s still hanging on my wall.

2. I over-exaggerate. A lot. When it’s hot outside, it’s about a million degrees. If there’s a snow storm, we will never be able to go anywhere ever again. So, I’m a bit melodramatic and I have a flair for extremes, but it certainly makes life more interesting. By the way, the commute from my house to the office is about 20,000 hours.

3. In a previous life, I was a classical singer. Really. I took voice lessons for 12 years and competed in several voice competitions. I was obsessed with musical theater and took part in local productions of Les Miserables, The Wizard of Oz and Fame.

4. I drive a little white convertible and she has a very distinct personality. Her name is Shelby and we have had a long love-hate relationship. Some days, she is beautiful and agreeable and other days she just doesn’t want to do a thing. I honestly find myself talking to my car trying to coax her into behaving. I swear it works.

5. Last year, I got four Snuggies for Christmas (and Snuggies were not on my list). My family and friends all separately decided that I was in need of a Snuggie (or four). Maybe it is because I’m extremely cold-natured? Maybe I just look like I’d love a blanket with sleeves? Now, I am the proud owner of a pink Snuggie, a blue Snuggie, a Carolina-themed Snuggie and a leopard print Snuggie. I have a Snuggie for every mood!

6. Bees are attracted to my hair. I don’t know if it’s that bright red shade that lures them in or if it is the scent of my shampoo, but I cannot walk outside without a wasp bee-lining (get it?) straight for my head. It’s made for many uncomfortable outdoor experiences.

7. I’ve been to 48 states. Every summer when I was growing up, my dad would pack all of us into an RV and take us around the country. From east to west, north to south, I’ve seen it all. Which two states am I missing? Alaska and Hawaii, of course. They’re very hard to drive to.

8. I am terrified of trash. I will clean the bathroom and scrub the floors 10,000 times (there’s that exaggeration again) before I’ll touch the trash can. I’m a bit of a germaphobe and I will do just about anything to get out of taking the trash out.

9. I’ve been to Disney World more than 20 times. My grandfather and my uncle have both worked at the happiest place on earth since around the time I was born and my family takes a trip down to the sunshine state almost every year. I’ve met Mickey so many times that I bet he knows me by name.

10. In ten years, I hope to have a beautiful flat in a big city (maybe Atlanta?). The cars will bustle by stories below as I sit happily in front of a fireplace next to my future hubby. Maybe there will be a few rugrats and a cute puppy. For now, I’m just so happy to work with the women of Southern Weddings. Y’all, these girls are amazing!

Read more about me here!

Do we have something in common? Introduce yourself in the comments below!

The Southern Weddings girls have been as busy as bees and we are simply thrilled to share some of the fabulous projects we’ve been working on with you!

The first big project we’ve been working on? We are turning our editorial eye to our former Wedding Resource Directory, and will soon be launching an index of the absolute best vendors the South has to offer to our darling brides.

Introducing the Blue Ribbon Vendor directory! Vendors, if you’re devoted to the client experience, produce exemplary work, and have glowing peer and client reviews to back you up, you could be just the type of vendor we’re looking for. Just contact me for an application!

BUT we’ve got even more Southern goodness up our sleeve! As you know, we’ve SOLD OUT of all of our previous editions, but we don’t want to leave those of you that didn’t manage to get a copy of V1, V2 or V3 high and dry.

To that end, we will be releasing digital versions of V1, V2 and V3 for y’all! The Trilogy, as we’ve dubbed it, will be available to view any time right here on the blog.

Any vendor that purchases a full page ad (or larger) in V4 will also get a complimentary full page ad in all three digital issues in The Trilogy! If you are not a V4 advertiser but would still like to advertise in The Trilogy, just send me an email and I’ll get right back to you.

Yippee, y’all! What do you think of our good news?