You submitted a wedding to a blog you love.
You lovingly curated your images.
You’ve been waiting for a response for days (or weeks)
Then you get the dreaded rejection.
The reason? “Details aren’t a fit stylistically.”
You just don’t understand! What does that even mean?
You really researched blogs. You spent time looking at other weddings that blog had previously published and truly, in your heart of hearts, felt like your submission wasn’t just a good fit, it was the PERFECT one!
So what went wrong?
Well, I can only speak from my experience as one blogger, but here are the top reasons why I reject weddings submitted to the Mountainside Bride:
1. The Pool Was Highly Competitive.
I don’t just get one submission at a time to look at. I review submissions once a week, which means you are competing with dozens of other submitters within the block time I’m setting aside to review.
When I’m selecting submissions for publication for the next couple of months, I’m looking for the best of what I have at the time. Sometimes the pool of submissions in front of me is simply highly competitive. And while your wedding is pretty and lovely and darling, I only have so many slots in my editorial calendar.
2. I just don’t like some details.
It is a rare occasion when I’ll publish certain types of details. You may be the most amazing photographer in the world, but if I see a Gerber daisy, its working against you. This is for two reasons: 1) I personally don’t like them. 2) My ideal reader personally doesn’t like them. As the Mountainside Bride continues to move toward a “laidback luxe” brand statement, certain details won’t fit in, including:
- Sunflowers
- Gerber Daisies
- Artificially colors blue daisies
- Loud colors that clash
- Dollar-store details
3. You need to work on your photography skills.
I’m the first to admit, I’m no photographer. But I think we both know when you need to work on your photography skills. Sometimes the details are amazing, just amazing. You know it, I know it. But the way they were captured isn’t. Please don’t get upset with me if you need to hone your craft, just use it as inspiration to practice.
Here are a few things that get rejected:
- Flash photography, especially on food when it makes it look greasy and sweating. I know you work under difficult and changing lighting conditions. I could never do what you do. But there are plenty of photographers out there making it work. Look to them for inspiration and guidance. And maybe even consider taking a class or a workshop from them.
- Slanting horizon lines. Do not think for a moment that I think the cake sliding toward the bottom corner of the frame is artistic. Not even for a moment. Not even a little bit.
- Harsh and unflattering afternoon light, especially with details. I get that sometimes the ceremony will be harsh or blown out, but if the outdoor details are going to be blown out, invest in something to shade them to soften the light. Maybe it’s a French flag for your lens. Look, I really don’t know. Ask a colleague and fix it 🙂
- Zero effort to compose the image. When I look at an image, I want to be drawn into the mood and the story. Take the time to compose the image for your audience.
- Sweating water glasses, wires running up walls and sticking out of tables and any other distracting details that should have been removed.
4. The details are outdated.
I know you hate to hear this one, but please look at it from an editor’s perspective. I serve two masters, you the photographer who wants to get her work out there in front of qualified clients and my readers who are looking for fresh mountain wedding ideas and advice. If I show readers dated weddings, I’ll lose them as readers. Then my traffic goes down. Then you don’t get your eyeballs and qualified leads. Then we’re both just wasting each other’s time.
5. You were a jerk to me.
This has only happened once because, for the most part, mountain wedding vendors are awesome.
But sometimes I either mess up or don’t have all the information, especially when it comes to vendor credits. You may see a wedding you painstakingly and lovingly worked on only to find that you’re not given credit! At that point, you may be thinking WTF! If this happens to you, please give me the benefit of the doubt and allow me to correct the situation. I truly love the mountain wedding vendor community and want to support you. Send me a nasty email calling me names and I will likely never publish you again. Why? Because I don’t like working with mean girls.
6. I can tell when you think my blog is the garbage dump for your engagement sessions.
When you submit an engagement session, I’ll go over to your blog and see if there are any nice weddings I can publish too. Now it may be that you have already submitted to “bigger” blogs and all you have left are engagement shoots. I get that. I want you to get exposure too, that’s why I’m not exclusive. But being non-exclusive also makes me picky. I’d rather you resubmit an amazing wedding to me that try to shill a mediocre engagement shoot. But if you really don’t want to submit any weddings to me, I respect your business decision. But remember that there are only so many engagement shoots I’ll accept before saying, thanks but no thanks.
Final Thoughts
OK, those are the reasons why I reject weddings, but you may still be thinking to yourself, “but I don’t fall into any of those categories; now what?” Just email me and ask what I’m looking for.
Lastly, you may know that I am a founding member of Aisle Society and we have been working on a new submissions tool called Matchology that will match you to the perfect blog for each submission. All the bloggers in Aisle Society are vetted for traffic, reach and professionalism, so you know you’re submitting to quality blogs. I encourage you to check it out.
