If you hadn’t noticed already we live for all things weddings! That’s why we love to share real wedding submissions with our readers.
Whether it’s a wedding guest reading one of our articles to find the perfect outfit. Or maybe a bride looking for the perfect centerpiece, real weddings are a great source of inspiration for everyone.
They show the reality of what a wedding will actually look like through stunning photography and exquisite details. At the same time they give a couple the chance to share unique moments from their day that future couples can learn from. What worked? What wasn’t as successful as they’d hoped?
Here at Story Amour our search never stops for inspirational real weddings. We love to publish a diverse range of couples on our blog from all cultures throughout the world. So whether you had an outdoor extravaganza in the Colorado mountains or you got married in an abandoned shoe shop in New York, we want to hear from you!
We don’t just want wedding days either. Engagement shoots, rehearsal dinners and proposals all have a place on our blog but more on that later.
Covered in this article:
- What are you looking for in wedding submissions?
- What type of submissions do you accept?
- How to get your wedding featured
- FAQs about our wedding blog submissions process
Real Wedding Submissions
What do you look for in a wedding at Story Amour?
Our ethos at Story Amour is to share wedding submissions across a broad spectrum that reflects modern couples. That sounds a bit formal doesn’t it!?
Ultimately we want to show kick ass couples from all diverse backgrounds with photos that really pop and show off their awesome personalities to the max. That’s better isn’t it?!?
Equally, like most wedding blogs we love details. The more the merrier.
It’s the details that our readers love to hear about to inspire their own wedding plans. If your wedding was creative, alternative or had bespoke elements we’ll be all over it.
Amazing locations, whether abroad or on home soil are what we love to share with our readers. Our readership is based throughout the world so the more diverse we can be the better to provide inspiration for everyone.
As you’ll see from the real weddings already featured on our blog we’re not snobbish. We share DIY, low budget in the same volume that we share lavish and eye wateringly expensive weddings.
Ultimately it comes down to three simple things for us:
- A couple clearly having the time of their lives
- Gorgeous and professional photography
- Details (invites, style, table decor, flowers, dresses, suits, venue)
If you tick those boxes you’ll 100% catch our attention with your wedding submission.
Accepted Submissions
What we will share on Story Amour
- Real Weddings
- Elopements
- Engagement shoots
- Bridal showers
What don’t we share on our blog?
- Traditional studio photography
- Features that lack suppliers or inspiration
- Boudoir sessions
Does Story Amour only post exclusive weddings?
Here at Story Amour we are constantly on the search for engaging and new content to share with our visitors. For that reason we will very rarely post weddings that have already featured on other wedding blogs.
Like many of the websites out there we want to provide our readers with unique real weddings that will inspire them and keep them coming back for more. If we posted the same weddings as Brides.com or Style Me Pretty we’d lose that audience.
In our submission form you’ll have the opportunity to let us know if your wedding submission has been featured elsewhere. Please let us know as it’s really important to us and our brand to have that exclusivity.
If your wedding submission is accepted onto our blog we ask for a two month window after publication that it isn’t shared anywhere else.
Increasing your odds of being accepted
There are lots of things you can do to make sure your wedding submission is accepted by our editors.
The same will apply for any wedding blog but the three biggest for us are:
- Follow the submission guidelines to the letter
- Provide 50 – 100 of the best photos from the celebration
- Meet the required word count for each section on our submission form
All about the details
As we’ve already mentioned we’re all about the details. For that reason your submission’s success could rely on your wedding photographer’s ability to have captured your day to the fullest.
Look through our real weddings on our blog and you’ll see the type of images we typically share in our features.
Here are some ideas for you of the types of photos we look for to put together a cohesive collection of images from a wedding day. Typically it will be your wedding photographer who is submitting the images to us.
Below is a rough guide to the type of images we look for:
- Flatlay of stationary and wedding invites
- Wedding shoes
- Bridesmaids in their kimonos
- Cake on its own, close up of details and being cut by the couple
- Close up of bouquet, some people add sentimental lockets etc these are great for the overall story of the day
- Bride with wedding gown shown full length as well as close ups of embroidery
- Hair shot from the back that show the style and any flowers
- Bridesmaids together with bouquets and or corsages
- Ceremony set up without & with guests, closeup as well as environmental shots
- Florals the more the merrier
- Groomsmen looking dapper
- Sweet moments from the ceremony including the first kiss and aisle walk
- Couple together clearly enjoying themselves, romantic photos and varied locations
- Centerpieces, menus, place settings and favors
- Seating plan
- Close up shots of the wedding bands
- Reception set up without & with guests
- Night time shots such as sparklers or fireworks
For more information on getting featured, our ‘how to get your wedding published‘ article is a great place to start.
FAQs for Wedding Submissions
Will I have to pay any fees to submit a wedding to the Story Amour blog?
No. Whilst we do offer paid slots on our wedding blog it is not a requirement. We want to share the very best real weddings with our readers and inspire them for their own nuptials. If the wedding, details and photographs are good enough and match our style it will make the cut.
How recent does the wedding need to be?
We want the weddings we share to be as recent as possible. This way what we share with our couples will be relevant to them when they’re planning their big day. We want the photos to reflect the trends and style as close to the current time as possible.
However, we understand that this is not always achievable and the queue we have for real wedding submissions would also make it impossible.
For that reason we simply ask that you don’t submit any weddings that are over a year old from the date of the wedding.
Do you accept engagement sessions or styled shoots?
Absolutely we do! We will occasionally include styled shoots and engagement sessions in our schedule but obviously favor real wedding submissions.
Engagement shoot photos need to be of the highest quality and in amazing locations or have a particularly quirky theme. The same goes for styled shoots in that they need to be aspirational with quality suppliers.
Inspire us or catch our eye with your submission and it’ll definitely be considered.
How many weddings can I submit at a time?
There’s no limit to the amount of weddings you can submit at Story Amour.
Please don’t submit the same wedding twice though if it originally gets rejected. This is a sure fire way to annoy our editors.
If you have lots of different weddings to submit with varied styles and themes it will go down well with our team.
Do you accept weddings from anywhere in the world?
Yes! Our aim at Story Amour is to share weddings of all cultures from all over the world. So whether you’re getting married on a beach in Miami or on a farm in the U.K. we would love to hear from you.
Do I need my photographer’s permission before submitting to Story Amour?
This is really important, don’t submit your wedding photos without the photographer’s permission.
We usually deal directly with photographers and it’s unlikely that they’ll be unwilling to publish your wedding. However, photographers are always busy submitting weddings so there’s a chance they may have submitted it elsewhere.
If you’re another wedding supplier who was at the wedding please get the permission of the photographer. We will need their authorisation before going ahead with the publication.
Do you accept video submissions at Story Amour?
We do! This is a great way to enhance a real wedding submission and provide even more inspiration for our readers.
If you’re a photographer we always suggest working collaboratively with the videographers on the feature. Our readers love seeing both the photos and videos from the big day. If you’re the couple submitting, make sure you ask permission from both parties.
Are there opportunities for guest posts at Story Amour?
We frequently post wedding blog guest posts on our site. These give our readers a unique insight about particular topics from industry professionals.
Should I list every vendor?
Whether you’re the couple, wedding photographer or florist we suggest working collaboratively on submitting the wedding. A wedding photographer will more than likely have experience with being featured on wedding blogs so they know how it works.
It’s useful for promotional purposes for all the businesses involved as well as couples planning their weddings that you list all the suppliers.
Lots of wedding businesses have similar names and themes so it’s important that this is well researched. Make sure you provide us with the correct business name, website and instagram handle etc of everyone involved. Even if the vendor doesn’t have a website you should include their business name.
What is the review process?
Our editors are former wedding photographers with over 15 years experience in the industry. They first of all look at the quality of the photography and consistency of editing. If this doesn’t meet their exacting standards your submission will likely be ruled out at this point.
Once you pass this stage they next look at the wedding submission in terms of details and judge how inspirational it will be for our readers.
They next consider the season, location, vendors, venue and the current publishing schedule. If they have a similar wedding in a similar venue for example it could be a reason for a rejection.
After considering all these aspects of the submission carefully they then get in touch to let the submitter know their decision.
Will I hear back and how long should I wait?
You should allow us 6 weeks to review your wedding submission. If you haven’t heard back it might be worth chasing us for an update. Use our contact form to get in touch and provide us with some details about your submission so we can easily identify it.
How long after being accepted will the publication go live?
We will be unable to provide you with an exact date until 1-2 weeks before your post goes live. Our queue for real weddings is quite large so unless your submission is more seasonally relevant or of particular significance it will likely join the back of that queue.
This is the only way we’ve found to keep it fair to all our real wedding submitters.
Will you tell all the vendors about the submission going live?
No, this will be the submitter’s responsibility. You should let them know when the post will go live so that they can share it across their social media channels. This will increase the overall visibility of the post resulting in more eyes on your wedding and the amazing suppliers.
Is it possible to make changes to the post once it is live?
If you’ve made a mistake with some of the information you’ve provided it’s definitely possible to make an alteration. Simply let us know via the contact form on our website and include a link to the original post.
Depending on the nature of your request this can either be dealt with in an hour or so or may be scheduled in and take longer. It will generally take no longer than a week to make the changes to the blog post.
Any advice on getting published? We keep getting rejected
We know that it can be disheartening to have your wedding submissions rejected. However, you shouldn’t take it personally as a submission can be rejected for many reasons.
Read our blog post on How To Get Your Wedding Published to find out more. We cover everything from the very basics to the steps to take after getting your submission accepted.
What are you waiting for?
Now that you’ve read all the details and found out what we’re looking for it’s time to start submitting your weddings.
Let’s get you featured on our blog! Rave about what a great day you had and at the same time inspire our readers and future married couples.
Please send all submissions to contact[@]storyamour.com.
