Magazine Submissions:
Each issue we run 12 to 14 real weddings from all around the world in print. We love all types of weddings from all locations and cultures. But we especially love weddings that show emotion and authentic moments. Other things that appeal are weddings that are a little different to the norm and have some kind of element which we may not have been seen before, this could be a new location, a small detail or something larger scale. We never accept weddings in advance to them happening or prior to seeing imagery. We also need exclusivity for the weddings we feature. Please do let us know if weddings you are submitting have been submitted elsewhere or if they have been featured elsewhere (other magazines, blogs, websites etc.) in the past – this is very important.
We also accept travel features for print. All destinations world-wide considered. It could be a country or a city feature.
And we are now taking styled shoot submissions for our new Together Journal style edit.
How to submitt:
Images must be submitted via a web gallery like Pixieset or similar. Or a blog post link if you really have to and don’t have a gallery system. Images should be low res and no more than 2000 pixels width and 72 dpi. Please do not send high res images or submissions via DropBox, google docs, WeTransfer or anything we need to download to view. submissions that need to be downloaded to view will not be accepted. And please do not send us over 120 images in your gallery when submitting (a highlights gallery containing 50 to 70 images is ideal). It is to your advantage to be able to curate a strong highlights gallery, have a look at the weddings we feature on line and send highlight galleries similar to this. We don’t need to see lots of photos of each side of the bridal party getting ready, large collections of family photos or a bunch of images that are similar to each other – please just select the best images and send them to us. This will make for a really strong submission and will allow us to envisage how your feature could look online or in print and it will increase your chances of being accepted.
Styled Shoots
Less is more! We love pared back shoots that ideally rely on organic or natural elements. Shoots that let the location shine through. We also love natural light, flora, foliage and nature. We don’t feature shoots that show unnecessary waste, too many single-use items or plastic; we like to promote sustainable, achievable ideas. Please also make sure your styled shoots revolve around styling ideas like gathering decor, flora, table settings, stationery etc. We receive a lot of shoots that revolve around fashion, and we produce our own fashion shoots so we can support our advertisers. It’s fine to have a small element of fashion in your styled shoot, but please make styling the key feature. And remember, we love non-traditional styling and settings that work for all types of gatherings, not just weddings. So nothing to traditional wedding, or too overdone. Keep it simple, authentic and fresh.
Film/Moving Image submissions:
We also accept submissions for moving image/wedding films. Initially, to submit a film, please email a link to a highlights film. If accepted to be featured, we will need a Vimeo link for a highlights film no longer than three or four minutes that we can embed into our web post. We also like to have an MP4 Instagram teaser clip, ideally no longer than 50 seconds, no larger than 30 MB, and our preference is for it to be landscape or square for our static feed. We also love receiving 15 to 60-second IG story and reel orientation clips of your accepted film, which we can use across the TJ Instagram to drive traffic to your film feature on our website.
Honeymoon Submissions:
We take honeymoon submissions for print and online. You can see past successful submissions in our Honeymoon section online. For these, we need to cover: Eat + Play + Stay, so ideally; we want to see imagery that represents all of these elements. And we love seeing candid, natural shots of locals living life, small details and tips and tricks that are off the beaten track. We love natural landscapes, beaches, cityscapes and all the little and big things that make each city or country unique (we can focus on an entire country or just a city).
Guidelines for all submissions:
Please always respect the privacy of each couple and the photographer’s contracts. Submissions should only come from those who own the content (the couple or the photographer). When you are submitting a wedding, make sure that you have permission from the couple and/or the photographer first before contacting us. This is extremely important and is a prerequisite for all submissions. Please do not send us any content without prior approval from the couple and the photographer. We assume permission has been granted from both sides if we receive a submission.
As mentioned above, our favourite way to receive a submission is via a Highlights only (as in 50 to 70 images) Pixieset gallery or some other similar type of online viewing platform; we can’t tell you how much easier this makes life for us. It also makes your work look more fabulous too! Please don’t send us huge galleries with hundreds (or thousands – yes, it happens!) of images that we have to spend hours scrolling through or downloading to even view, we receive hundreds of submissions, and we will let you know if we want more images or high res versions after we have seen your initial on-line gallery. Your work will be reviewed more quickly if submitted correctly, and your work always looks better if you send us a curated collection of the very best of the best – not every shot that was taken…
If your wedding gets accepted, you MUST provide web addresses and Instagram handles (if applicable) for vendors on your question sheet, or we cannot run the wedding.
Thank you so much for supporting Together Journal; we look forward to seeing your work. Please note our Editor Greta personally looks over every single submission we receive. At times (especially around deadline), it can take 4 to 6 weeks to get an answer back to you. But reassured we are constantly working to get back to you just as soon as we can.
Specs for Print:
High Res jpegs at 300dpi and large enough to go full A4 page size
Specs for Web
1200 pixels wide at 72dpi
We are constantly asked about what we look for when selecting real weddings for print…
The truth is we don’t really know until we see it; there is no set formula. It’s really just a little bit of magic that speaks to us when we see the right wedding. And it has to be something that compliments what we already have confirmed in the issue we are working on. Things we have not seen before do appeal; this could be something in the tiniest of details, something big, something cultural or a new location. We always look for emotive weddings that are full of love, we look for diverse weddings, we look for modern weddings, and we look for the very, very best photography in the world. We get hundreds of submissions and can only take 12 to 13 weddings for print each quarter; that’s only about 50 weddings every year for print out of the thousands of submissions we receive. We feature low budget, high budget, simply paired back weddings and elaborate, colourful, over-the-top weddings too – so long as they all have a TJ vibe and speak to us in some way. We open our pages to any location and every kind of couple. Please don’t be disheartened if your wedding is not selected for print, competition is tough, and we wish we could include more print weddings, but space is limited. Often a submission will be turned down because we have a similar wedding, the same wedding dress or the same location already confirmed for print around the same time. And remember, our website is also a lovely place to be featured too.
TJ x
