Ten days ago, I was quoted in a weekend BBC News article that assessed 'The rise of the bloggable wedding'. The feature was written by my lovely friend and colleague Caroline Briggs, one half of the rather talented photography and design duo otherwise known as The Twins. Caroline's article suggested that brides are under more and more pressure to make their wedding 'bloggable'.
I suppose I was quite taken a back when I read the article – and I hope Caroline won't mind me saying so. The feature suggested that thanks to the rise of wedding blogs like Love My Dress, brides are 'now consumed by competitiveness' to make their wedding 'bloggable'. The feature went on to state that for me (as in me, Annabel), 'a bloggable wedding is big on detail, but is more than just simply about the styling'. It went on to quote me as saying "A wedding has to make some kind of connection with me and I have to know it will inspire our readers. Detail is important. Brides-to-be want to see that wrist
corsage close up, they want to see how those shoes looked with that
dress, they want to see that hair style from all angles, they want to
see the table decor, stationery, the groom's outfit – they want to be
inspired so they can plan their own weddings."
The above wedding featured on Love My Dress in January 2011. The couple eloped, so there was no wedding reception full of fancy detail. Their guests were their wedding photographers who also acted as witness
Image credit: Dominique Bader
It's funny, when Caroline first approached me for an interview, I was quite caught off guard by her line of questioning; What makes a wedding bloggable? It's a question that will yield a sense of discomfort in many, no doubt. I mean, why should it even matter that a wedding is bloggable, right? And who has the right to say what is bloggable or not? Surely a wedding is ultimately all about people, and love?! But it is a question that forced me to consider how I assess the weddings that are submitted to Love My Dress and to think about why I might choose one wedding to feature over another. And I have to say, having this opportunity to reflect on why we do what we do and to reconnect with the whole ethos of Love My Dress left me somewhat niggled with the BBC feature.
I'll be completely and utterly honest with you. When I first starting featuring real weddings on Love My Dress back in 2009, detail led the way. No doubt about it. But you could say the wedding blog equivalent of a bit of a seismic shift in attitude has occurred since then.
Having immersed myself entirely in a world of weddings for five and a half years now (coming on four years of those as a blogger, and two years as a full time, professional blogger), I have a completely different approach to my role as editor of a popular online wedding/bridal resource now. Yes of course, I love being able to share fabulous styling ideas and inspiration boards full of detail and I squeal with delight when I receive a wedding that *is* full of gorgeous decorative suggestions. But I feel just as thrilled when I receive a wedding that lacks much, if any, detail at all – but where the photographer might have captured the most utterly exquisite portrait shots of a couple completely in love on one of the most important days of their lives. This is precisely what I meant when I said 'the wedding has to make some kind of connection with me'. I was talking about in emotional terms. The role of 'good photography' when it comes to a wedding submission is critical for me – good photography has the ability to evoke emotions within complete strangers. A great set of wedding photographs will move me even when I have never met the couple before – and that has a whole lot more to do with whether we decide to publish a wedding or not, than pretty detail does.
There was lots of lovely detail in this 1950s retro Americana style wedding.
Image Credit: Natalie J Watts
Here's what I said to Caroline…
"For a wedding to be 'bloggable' on Love My Dress, it has, from
the very first instance, to make some kind of connection or leave some
kind of impact on me as the blogger. In most cases, this is all about
the photography.
Of course the wedding matters too! It has to make some kind of
connection with me, probably best described by saying the overall
aesthetic has to speak to me somehow. Every now and then, I can be sold
on a wedding feature based on one amazing image alone. But more often
than not, I am scanning wedding submissions that include anything
between 30-50 images and making a decision within seconds if the images
will make a good story for my readers. I don't exclusively home in on
'detail' but detail is important. Try to think of it from the brides
point of view (70% of my readers are brides planning a wedding) – they
want to see that wrist corsage close up, they want to see how those
shoes looked with that dress, they want to see that hair style from all
angles, they want to see the table decor, stationery, the way the groom
was dressed – they want to be inspired as much as possible so that they
can go on to plan and style their own weddings. The images we choose to
work with therefore are of huge importance for the purposes of fulfilling
the reason brides come to visit Love My Dress."
Of course the overall aesthetic has to make a connection with me – after all, people come to visit Love My Dress because they appreciate the content we feature. Franky and I only ever feature content that resonates with us and that appeals to our personal tastes and preferences – it's really important that we maintain authenticity and integrity this way. We just happen to be lucky that lots of other brides out there share our particular personal tastes and preferences.
But I had more to say to Caroline, and it went like this…
"However,
I will say that over the past year or so, my focus has shifted a little
to not quite so heavily focus on the detail. These days, I will
include shots in a feature that I wouldn't' have done as little as a
year ago, shots of family members etc that before now I might have
considered had no relevance in the feature. I do this because I think
it's important not to lose sight of what weddings are all about – a day
full of love and those special moments with loved ones. I try to look
out for those special moment photographs now too – they may have no
detail in them at all, but they might illustrate a beautiful tender
moment between two relatives who haven't seen each other in a while, or
the Father of the bride watching his daughter proudly from afar, as she
dances with her new husband….a fond gaze
in the direction of the bride – those moments captured whilst the
subject is unaware the photographer is doing their job can hold lots of
emotional value and really help to contextualise what was happening at
the time.
We assess each submission on a completely
individual basis but bottom line is, good photography and ideally, a
collection of images that reflect a certain aesthetic (in our case,
elegant, vintage inspired, glamorous) and the love between the
couple/those special moments and that we know will inspire our readers.
Wedding blogs are an inspirational resource after all."
You can see now why she didn't include my entire, rather lengthy quote!
This wedding was simple and elegant and the couple chose not to go 'detail heavy'. I featured it because I adored the shots of the couple taken after the ceremony. And I loved her dress! Such an elegant, chic design by Jesús Peiró.
Image Credit: Rik Pennington
We have a smart and intelligent community of readers who we have a great deal of respect for, and work hard to keep inspired. I have no doubt at all that they are capable of taking what they want to from these wedding blog pages – and that includes as much or as little inspiration as they wish from our extensive collection of real wedding features, life & love and discussion posts, DIY articles and films. But our most popular posts are without any shadow of doubt always those that focus on the emotional aspect of the day – the real weddings where the bride and groom take time to share their love story, their vows and readings. That says a lot for our readers, I think.
I'm not dissing the detail. Have as detail a heavy wedding as you want! As Abby Larson in her inspirational new book Style Me Pretty Weddings puts it, 'Someone once told me that the weddings published on Style Me Pretty need to focus more on the love and less on the details of the day. To that I say…cheers. The ceremony, the words, the love, the romance, the passion, the first kiss…these are what make the foundation for a memorable wedding. The details – from the glitter adorned vases to the handmade cake toppers and ombre napkins – are part of the greater story…the journey to building a day that is personal and wildly unique, a celebration of two individuals and all of their quirks in one beautiful moment'.
But don't let the detail aspect become all consuming to the point you simply have to have the same wedding you saw on that wedding blog last week. I think the following extract from this Huffington Post feature by wedding photographer Laura Babb sums up pretty neatly what I'm trying to say…
"In the end, though, those details fade into the background and it's the
shots of the people, especially those who are no longer with us, that
become important."
Laura Babb, via the Huffington Post
Indeed, and I've said it before, like, right here.
Your wedding day ought be an occasion that fills you with excitement and
joy from the moment you start planning it to the second you close your eyes
in a dreamy state of newlywed bliss on the day of your nuptials. Do whatever you want! Plan the day you have dreamed about! Detail or no detail, there will undoubtedly be
stressful moments in between, but absolutely none of them ought be
related to how bloggable your wedding could or should be – and I say that as someone who makes their living from blogging all things wedding!
This
wedding featured lots of gorgeous detail but was also a day that the
couple carefully crafted to reflect their love for one another and their
personalities. Bride Lucy says "My advice would be to make the most of
the inspiration out there, from blogs, Pinterest and magazines, but then
use that inspiration to make your day as personal as possible. Make your day a representation of you, not anyone else!"
Image Credit: Mark Tattersall
What are your thoughts on the BBC article and subsequent Huffington post feature? Do you subscribe to the idea that wedding blogs put brides under too much pressure? What do you use wedding blogs for and how have they helped you in planning your wedding? I'd love to read through the thoughts of some of our bride to be readers and industry colleagues.
You might also wish to read this feature by our very own Franky too; How to use a blog to plan your wedding.
I'd like to thank Caroline Briggs for featuring my quote in her article and for encouraging me to reassess what's important for Love My Dress. You can view some of Caroline's own wedding photography on Love My Dress here.
Have a lovely afternoon all,
Annabel
