What It’s Like to Get Your Wedding Covered by a Magazine

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Although being surrounded by your friends and family in a spectacular setting while saying "I do" to the love of your life is magical in itself, wouldn't it be cool to also have your wedding covered by a major publication?

Over the past few months, two Los Angeles influencers have been featured in Martha Stewart Weddings. Fashion blogger Jenny Cipoletti of Margo and Me scored the cover of the bridal bible's Winter 2016 issue back in December, and designer BreeLayne Ring of Gigi Hadid-approved luxury line BreeLayne was featured in the Summer 2016 issue, which came out just this past week. If you're wedding is shaping up to be Martha-worthy and you're curious about the whole feature process, we've tapped BreeLayne — who wore Galia Lahav for the ceremony and Inbal Dro for the reception — to share her experience.

Who Approaches Who

"Sometimes brides will reach out to the publications themselves, but it just so happened that they were looking for a wedding like ours," BreeLayne explains. "It was very serendipitous how it all worked out; our photographer has worked with Martha before, so they reached out to her asking if she had shot any weddings they would be interested in. She was like, 'Yes! You're going to flip when you see the wedding I just photographed.' From the moment they saw the first picture, they were so excited about it."

Who Pays

Unless you're filming a TV special, chances are that you'll have to pay for your wedding, even if it will be featured in a major magazine. When asked if Martha Stewart Weddings paid for any portion of her big day, BreeLayne reveals, "No, but that would have been amazing! My wonderful family was kind enough to pay for the wedding, and really understood my vision and how important it was to me. Of course, we couldn't do it all, but what we were able to do was pretty incredible and so special. The love truly emanated throughout the entire weekend, and was felt by everyone in attendance. All my friends tell me they want me to plan their weddings now — it's so funny!"

What They're Looking For

Once a feature has been established, the last thing a bride should do is veer away from her original vision. When BreeLayne received the good news that the magazine wanted her photos, there were no frantic do-over shoots or costume changes, as the designer knew that authenticity was key. "I did a couple of interviews walking the magazine through everything, from how my husband and I met to the planning — I designed the entire weekend myself — to the actual big day to our honeymoon, and everything in between," she adds. "I think with these features, especially in Martha Stewart Weddings, they want it to be true to what it actually was — the real wedding. After seeing the imagery, they picked what suited the story best for their issue."

What Gets Published

Although we'd totally read an entire Martha Stewart Weddings issue dedicated to BreeLayne's nuptials alone, alas the issue features multiple weddings, so tight photo editing is inevitable. Because of this, there's a high chance that at least one photo you wanted included may not make the cut. "I think the only thing I would have done differently was ask to have a say in the photos picked, because there were only so many featured, and a few of my favorites were left out, like the one in the woods where I'm barefoot and bareback on a white horse in my wedding gown," the designer notes. True story, this really happened exactly as it was portrayed in the photo! It's pretty badass!"

Publishing Timeline

BreeLayne's beautiful wedding took place on July 18, 2015, which means that it's been nearly a year since it all went down IRL. She notes that, "the turnaround time is usually about six months to a year for publications because they want to be consistent in terms of what season the wedding was in and what issue of the magazine it is." In this case, BreeLayne's outdoor celebration on a pristine, private reserve called Santa Lucia Preserve in Carmel, California was a perfect fit for Martha's summer-focused June issue.

The Sharing Rules

One major thing to keep in mind when you agree to have your wedding covered in a magazine is that you can't tell anyone the good news for a very, very long time. "We had to keep the feature top secret, which, for me was not easy!" BreeLayne explains. "I love to share my joy with others and so what we did was let people know that the wedding would be in a top publication and that's why we had asked for them to hold off on posting photos on social media. I've had to withhold from posting really anything about it until it was released, but everyone seemed to understand, thankfully."

Once your issue (finally) hits newsstands, expect to become a mini celebrity. "When the feature came out this past week, I've had probably a billion notifications on my social media accounts of people reposting and commenting, so it's been really exciting to get to see everyone's reactions, especially people who weren't able to make it because the video and pictures really encapsulated the beauty of the love shared."

The Afterglow

After all is said and done, your wedding feature really is the gift that keeps on giving. "My family has been totally on a high from this whole experience," BreeLayne shares. "Once the issue came out, it was like getting to relive that day all over again. Our family and friends were so eager to share their photos, so since the release, it's been so amazing to see everyone's videos and photos from the event — I feel like we're all getting to go back in time to that magical weekend."

My friends and family who were either in attendance or not able to come to the wedding have all bought the magazines and have been sending me videos of their reaction, so it's been so special. I've been saving all of them as a little digital scrapbook. Trust me when I say, a lot of tears have been shed! Happy tears, of course."

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