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Mrs. Taffy, Ann Arbor Age and Occupation: 28, Color and Materials Designer Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Automotive Designer Engagement Date: May 9, 2008 Wedding Date: May 2009 Blogging Since: September 14, 2008 Venue: University of Michigan Union About Me: I’m a girl who is crazy about Mr. Taffy, sewing, dancing, almost all types of sweets, and our cute pet canaries. I dislike touching fuzzy fabric of any kind, eating somewhat squishy food, and Michigan winters. Mr. Taffy and I are having a blast planning our Ann Arbor wedding, and cannot wait to share our day with friends and family.
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The Bride’s Guide to the New York Times

December 1st, 2008 @ 12:40 pm by Mrs. Taffy

Wedding Announcements, that is! 


image source

Mr. Taffy and I usually pick up a Sunday paper every week, and have a great time reading it together. I have always seen the wedding announcements in the Sunday Styles section, and wondered what steps a couple would take in order to get published. A few weeks ago, Mr. Taffy randomly emailed me a link with all of the info, so I thought that I would share it with the hive! :)

(My apologies if this has come up before; I have not seen any posts on it since I became addicted to Weddingbee last summer!)

I’ll run by some of the basics in this post, but here’s the link to the Times that explains everything.

Here are the main points:

1. They accept wedding announcements and commitment ceremonies, but they no longer publish engagement notices.
2. They prefer that you apply for an announcement at least 6 weeks prior to your event; they do give priority to the earliest applicants.
3. Announcements are free of charge (yay!), but they have limited space and do not guarantee that your announcement will be published. (boo!)
4. You have to submit information about your education and occupation (and that of your families), along with your address and phone numbers. All information given will be “rewritten, fact checked and edited according to the standards of the Times”. Yikes!
5. The pictures… ah yes. Here are some photo examples from this week’s paper:


image source

The Times does seem quite strict about photo requirements! Here are some guidelines:

“While we continue to include formal portraits of couples and individual brides, we also include full-length images of brides in wedding dresses, as well as informal photographs of individuals or couples at home, outdoors or in other attractive settings. Those posing for pictures should be neatly dressed, and the images should be of professional quality. Five-by-seven or eight-by-ten prints are preferred. They may be either black-and-white or color.”

This next part is my favorite:

“Couples posing for pictures should arrange themselves with their eyebrows on exactly the same level and with their heads fairly close together. Couple pictures should be printed in a horizontal format.”

I don’t think that our eyebrows were parallel in any of our engagement photos! hmmmm…

“Please be sure to write the couple’s names and the date of the event on the back, and include the photographer’s name if credit is required. Photographs altered in any fashion are not accepted. And pictures cannot be returned.”

“If necessary, photographs can be submitted under separate cover, but they should be delivered to The Times, at the address given below, at least 10 days before the date of the event. Please note that while pictures may be sent by regular mail, recent events have dramatically slowed delivery. To ensure that your photo reaches us on time, we suggest sending it by overnight delivery or messenger service.”

Those are the basics. Parallel eyebrows, no funny photoshop tricks, info on you, your fiance and your parents (even if they are deceased). Definitely check this link to see all the guidelines and details.

We aren’t sure if we are going to submit for an announcement yet; it seems a little overwhelming!

Have any bees applied or made it into the Sunday Styles section? I wonder what the chances are.

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14 Responses to “The Bride’s Guide to the New York Times”

1.
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Erin

It’s strange to think that you have to “apply” to announce your wedding - but it IS the NYT and I suppose that otherwise they’d have to print an entire section each week! Did they say what percent of applicants get printed?

Well, at least it’s free. Our regional paper charges $300+ for an announcement. Boooo!

 
2.
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KLevi

I as in the NY Post this past Sunday if that counts. It was free AND in color. Yay!

 
3.
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Golden

Small world! I was just wondering the same thing myself this weekend. I am especially curious to see how a couple goes about being a part of the NYT Vows stories (online wedding announcements in video format) under the Style section.

Do you Miss Taffy, or anyone else in the hive, know how a couple goes about being a part of the Vows section of The Times?

 
4.
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Bee
Miss Taffy (message)  2,598 posts, Sugar bee

@Golden: The requirements for the vows section are all listed in the link in my entry. :) If I remember correctly, you have to include the same info for an announcement. Good Luck! :)

 
5.
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Golden

@Miss Taffy: Thanks! Well now I feel silly :) I’ll have to check out the link you provided and all the requirements after work!

 
6.
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Bee
Miss Hot Cocoa (message)  1,715 posts, Bumble bee

The eyebrows thing is hilarious. I’ve actually been drafting our NYT announcement, though it’s hard when you don’t fit the conventional “family” that they seem to expect. Since I’m not in touch with my father, I’ve been puzzled about what to do with that section. My friends L & M were in the NYT a few weeks ago. You can see there announcement here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/fashion/weddings/12sudeall.html?ref=weddings

 
7.
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jess03

Just be careful if you’re both lawyers! The commenters are so mean and totally tear people apart on abovethelaw.com. (That’s why I didn’t apply!)

 
8.
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Bee
Mrs. Lemon (message)  425 posts, Helper bee

A friend from high school had their announcement in the Times, but I don’t think they submitted it on their own, but rather had their “people” do it.
The groom was a well established venture capitalist with a well-connected family in NYC, so I think it was more just a routine notice than an application.

 
9.
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Mary

I read the NYT wedding announcements every week! If you go to their website (www.nytimes.com) and click on “Weddings and Celebrations” on the far left, they have videos of some couples! So Sweet!

 
10.
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amy

I love the NYT weddings section too but a word of caution. A family friend had their announcement published and was stalked by this guy. He got all of the pertinent info from the announcement (such as education, occupation, age, graduation year, where his parents live, etc) and it actually got very scary for the couple involved. The guy actually stalked a few couples from the same Sunday paper. It’s amazing what a few clicks of the internet and a few pieces of information about a couple will reveal!

 
11.
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Bee
Miss Taffy (message)  2,598 posts, Sugar bee

@Erin: I know, it’s weird. But i can imagine how many requests they get, and they only print a few each week. Crazy!

@Miss Hot Cocoa: I have wondered about that too! It’s odd that they would want to include so much, and most people have unique situations of some sort!

@jess03: That’s crazy! Did you see this comment, Miss HC?

@Mrs. Lemon: lol, Mr. Taffy and I don’t have any “people” to do that sort of thing. :)

@amy: Yikes! I will definitely keep that in mind. The chances of getting printed must be so slim anyway…

 
12.
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kathy

I love Sunday Styles and always skim the wedding announcements! I’ve been planning to apply since before I got engaged. But since I don’t have a prestigious or well-connected background, I’m not sure about my chances. I think that plays a big role. :(

 
13.
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Zoe

lol @ the eyebrow thing XD

 
14.
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Guest
How To Get into the Weddings & Celebrations Section « The Wedding Lens - Blog

[...] all seriousness, if you’re interested in submitting your wedding announcement, The Wedding Bee has a guide with what the Times accepts and how to submit your announcement. And HERE is another guide to how to submit your announcement. Have you been in The New York [...]

 


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Mrs. Taffy Mrs. Taffy, Ann Arbor Age and Occupation: 28, Color and Materials Designer Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Automotive Designer Engagement Date: May 9, 2008 Wedding Date: May 2009 Blogging Since: September 14, 2008 Venue: University of Michigan Union About Me: I’m a girl who is crazy about Mr. Taffy, sewing, dancing, almost all types of sweets, and our cute pet canaries. I dislike touching fuzzy fabric of any kind, eating somewhat squishy food, and Michigan winters. Mr. Taffy and I are having a blast planning our Ann Arbor wedding, and cannot wait to share our day with friends and family.
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