News « Southern Weddings Magazine

UPDATED: NEW DEADLINE AUGUST 15TH!

Hi friends! As y’all know, preparations for our next print edition — a.k.a. V5 — are well underway (we’ve got another shoot tomorrow!), and we want you to be a part of it. Photographers, brides, planners, designers and anyone else interested in submitting content for us to consider: please follow these easy directions and make sure to read our helpful FAQ page for editorial guidelines. We’re so excited about V5 and can’t wait to see what y’all have up your sleeves!

REAL WEDDINGS We are looking for the best of the best in real Southern weddings for print. Y’all know we love what you love – great photography, inspiring love stories and lovely details. To be considered for a Real Weddings feature in print, the wedding must have taken place in the southeastern United States. Photographers, please email 20-25 good web-quality .jpg attachments to our Creative Director, Emily Ayer, along with the following information: couple’s name, wedding date, wedding location, and any vendor information you have (names and websites). We only accept digital submissions. Brides, please ask your photographer to do the above. Please note we do have a strict exclusivity policy and cannot share work that has been featured on another blog or in another publication, and we would prefer that print submissions not be seen anywhere online, even the photographer’s blog or Facebook. Please title your email V5 REAL WEDDING.

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EDITORIAL SHOOTS We loved the editorial shoots we featured in V4! Check them out in our gorgeous Editorial Galleries! If you have shot or created something wonderful that you think our readers would love, send preview images to Emily for review.

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BOUQUETS In every issue we assemble a gallery of stunning bouquets. Send low-res previews to howdy at iloveswmag.com for review. Please attach the images individually to the email, or embed them in the email. Please do not send zip files. Please include the photographer’s name in the file name. We do allow bouquet shots to have been previously published online. Please title your email V5 BOUQUETS.

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RINGS We love a little bling, and we know you do, too! In every issue, we highlight the most creative, Southern ring shots around. Check out a little taste from our last issue below. Please send low-res previews to howdy at iloveswmag.com for review. Please attach the images individually to the email, or embed them in the email. Please do not send zip files. Please include the photographer’s name in the file name. We do allow ring shots to have been previously published online. Send low-res previews to howdy at iloveswmag.com for review. Please title your email V5 RINGS.

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EPIC IMAGES Y’all know we love great photography in print! Have an image you think has that Southern wow factor? We take a good number of single shots – details and portraits and Southern environmental – from all over the world to fill our pages and story elements. Send low-res previews to howdy at iloveswmag.com for review. Please attach the images individually to the email, or embed them in the email. Please do not send zip files. Please include the photographer’s name in the file name. We do allow epic images to have been previously published online. Please send a max of five images and title your email V5 EPIC IMAGES.

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PRODUCT SUBMISSIONS Have a Fab Find, a product or paper good that you think our readers would adore? Please first send a digital submission – just a photo of the product plus a short description (why would our readers gobble it up!?) – to howdy at iloveswmag.com for review. If approved, we’ll request a physical sample. Please title your email V5 FAB FIND.

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PLEASE NOTE: Due to the high volume of submissions, we unfortunately cannot respond to all inquiries, though we will do our best! If your wedding or shoot is chosen, we will email you to request an interview from the couple and additional details. If you have not heard back from us on a Real Wedding submission within four weeks, we welcome you to submit your work to another publication. Other image submissions may take us longer to reply to as we have to fit them into stories, etc., as our publication date gets closer. Submissions deadline: AUGUST 15.

Have a question? First, read our submission guidelines. We take a lot of time to detail these out so you know exactly what to send. Next, read the Twitter series Lara wrote last year on how to get published for a few quick tips. Study our blog and print editions to know exactly what we’re looking for. Have other questions? Jumping out of your seat excited? Leave a comment here and help us spread the word! We can’t wait to see what you all cook up!

P.S. Want to get in on the V5 AD ACTION? You have till August 1 to confirm your space with Marissa!

Though our last “Ultimate Southern” Challenge wrapped up just last week, we’re already eager to introduce the next round! Once you hear the topic, I don’t think you’ll blame us, either: it’s sweets! Yes, this time we’re looking for your most creative, lovely, adorable, and SOUTHERN ideas concerning the most delicious part of any wedding.

Not a baker? Not a problem! This challenge is more about presentation than taste (although if you have a fabulous recipe to share, by all means, please do!). We’re thinking Southern sweet wrapping, packaging, and prettifying – anything that helps show off your sweetest Southern ideas! To get your wheels turning, here are a few favorites from our archives:

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Peach dessert photo by Steve Steinhardt via SW; mini pecan pie photo by Braedon Flynn via SW; mini key lime tart photo by Jodi Miller via SW; s’more pops photo by Kate Headley via SW; mini pecan pies photo by Caroline Joy via SW

Vendors, feel free to team up, though your submission doesn’t have to be anything elaborate — in fact, we want these ideas to be easily executable by brides everywhere!

A few details:

– Your submission can take any form (as long as it involves sweets!), but the most important piece is that it be SOUTHERN.

– Anyone can enter as an individual or a team — vendors, brides and grooms, and wedding or Southern enthusiasts alike. And you don’t have to be Southern to enter!

– To enter, please send 5-10 professional-quality photos at 600 pixels wide and a brief description of your submission to howdy at iloveswmag dot com. Subject line: “Ultimate Southern Challenge: Sweets.”

– Include the names and websites of all your team members, and a list of materials and links to sources used. Please include directions for any DIY projects you may have done.

– All submissions must be received by 11:59pm on April 20, 2012. Submissions received after the 20th will not be eligible.

– Our favorite submissions will be posted throughout the week of April 23, and the winner, who gets ultimate Southern bragging rights, will be announced the following week.

– Submissions cannot be posted or tweeted until published on Southern Weddings.

We can’t WAIT to see what y’all come up with! Questions? Leave them below, and we’ll do our best to answer them!

P.S. Want to check out the winners of our last three Challenges? Go here, here and here!