Weddingbee Blog

Lest you think all I do is blog, know that this post was written weeks before our wedding in preparation for posting when I knew I would have zero free time. I do love to keep a schedule, wedding or not!

This is by far my favorite series of all the ‘bee ongoing series’ because I love to learn about what goes on behind the scenes of anything. When I first found Weddingbee, and before I applied to be a blogger, I poured over as many of these entries as I could find. I found them to be extremely helpful and insightful and inspiring, and I hope my post helps you in the same way.

1. How I found Weddingbee:

Well, this one’s easy. I got engaged in February of 2012 and immediately started asking my friends for their favorite wedding blogs. One of the of recommendations was Weddingbee. The Fairy Tale/Magic generation icons were just beginning to appear and I proceeded to fall head over heels in love with this community.

This is going to come across slightly arrogant or conceited but there’s no other way to say it. I kid you not, from the minute I laid eyes on this fantastic website, I knew I was supposed to be a WB blogger. I know it sounds dramatic and weird but I swear, I was drawn to it and I had this gut feeling I was going to be a blogger one day. Mind you, I didn’t have a wedding blog going at the time and no idea where to even begin, but being that I was having a Fairy Tale wedding that coincided with the Fairy Tale/Magic generation, I felt it was all meant to bee!

2. My application story:

Before I talk about my application, I want to share that my passion for writing started at an early age. I used to write a ton in my angsty teenage years in the form of poetry and journal entries. I’ve been obsessed with quotations (as I’ve mentioned before) for as long as I can remember, because I’m drawn to the way others communicate their thoughts. I also used to write short plays for my home church’s drama team and I’m the person who gets asked to write little notes or change song lyrics for family celebrations and parties. Despite all this, there was NO WAY I was gonna start a blog.

Even once blogging became popular, I still had no desire to start one. This is the dialogue that went through my stupid little head: Me? A blogger? Puh-lease. Blogging is weird and if everyone is doing it that means I’m not going to do it. I’m too unique for blogging. I need to begin working on my novel yo.

Obviously, I got slapped in the face (figuratively) by my stupidity and decided blogging was good, and especially helpful if I wanted to continue writing. So I started a personal/relationship-focused blog back in October 2011. Mr. Sword was known as “the Scottish” and I shared many embarrassing moments about my life with gripping topics such as, Why Do I Look So Fat in Pictures?, Are you in a Bi-Facial Relationship?, I’m a Church-Crier, and Here’s Hoping My Babies Come Out with Scottish Accents. I also talked about my relationship with Mr. Sword as well as offbeat or unusual types of relationships (which I’ve talked about before).

When I started to blog about wedding related content I was shocked to find that most of my faithful readers did not give two craps about my wedding planning. AS IF!

So I started a new blog and devoted it solely to talking about A Highland Fairy Tale. For months I talked about Weddingbee and how I wanted to be a blogger for them. I dragged my camera to every vendor meeting and wedding-related outing or event. My family was like, “Yeaaa, OK, what are you even talking about?” They didn’t get it.

Then I applied in mid June. And I waited. And I waited. I waited over five weeks and still I had heard nothing. A new bee hadn’t been introduced in forever and there was literally one fairy tale icon left (sword). I finally mustered up the courage to email Pengy to nonchalantly ask if they’d received my blog submission. I went to bed right away and braced myself to wake up to a rejection email.

I did wake up to email from Pengy, but it wasn’t a rejection, it was an acceptance. I had been accepted!!! NO FREAKIN WAY! I know it sounds silly but I meant what I said in my first WB blog post, this really is a dream come true, and I was so excited to start sharing my wedding plans with this awesome community. My gut instinct had been right and now I was going to be a Weddingbee blogger. I will never forget that awesome feeling AND how I almost fell on my face when I ran into the bathroom to tell Mr. Sword that I had been accepted.

Naturally I told everyone. And most people were like, “I knew you’d get accepted!” (False. They had no idea. Most of them were like, what is blogging again?)

3. What’s it like blogging for Weddingbee?

I’m gonna give it to you straight. If you blog frequently and honestly about your wedding for all of the months leading up to your wedding, it is going to be a lot of work. And when I say work, I mean, it’s like a part-time job. All of a sudden not only are you planning the biggest event of your life but you’re also documenting it every step of the way. I don’t mean to sound scary, but blogging is a large time commitment. However, if you LOVE weddings and writing, then it’s totally worth it!

But wait, there’s more! I wouldn’t leave this post hanging without a list of my un-asked-for tips!

Miss Swords Tips to Blogging Bliss

1. Do lots of blog prep. By prep, I mean writing posts in advance as ideas come to you. My posts that have a few days or weeks to sit before being revised are so much better than the ones I hammer out the night before my self-imposed deadline. My personal schedule (if you haven’t already noticed) is to blog three times a week, M, Tu, and W. The secret to my consistency is that the bulk of my blogging is done on Thursday and Friday when I have more free time and don’t feel rushed. Sure, I spend a lot of evenings revising and sometimes scrambling before a post goes live, but it saves me loads of time in the end.

2. Keep a Google document with a list of topics and ideas for those days when your brain is totally fried. My spreadsheet has a column for the blog post idea, the working title, the title that actually gets posted, and the date it was posted. This helps me stay organized and it’s a good way to quickly browse all of your topics.

3. Find the things that make YOU interesting and extra special. (Hint: there is no wrong answer here.) We, as readers of WB, all connect with different people and different wedding themes, so don’t hide the parts of your wedding that make it unique. Here’s what makes The Swords so interesting:

• I’m marrying a dude from Scotland. Like he’s here on a visa and needs a green card. We fly to Glasgow every year. We designed a family tartan because his last name was not associated with it’s own clan.
• My little sister is getting married three months after me. We are both brides and maid of honors at the same time!! WHOA! And she steals shares a lot of my vendors. It’s a bit crazy.
• I’m a weirdo. I take way too many photos of myself, I’m wearing a tiara with my wedding gown, I can’t handle my liquor but there will be a lot of drinking at our wedding, and I’m obsessed with my boobs.

This was taken the Friday before our wedding!

4. Do the thing that you’re the best at. I am good at writing lots of content and advice. I’m also good at pushing the envelope and bringing up controversial topics. I’m not good at crafting, researching, making inspiration boards, posting photos from other weddings, and I especially suck at making color palettes. Know yourself well enough to know what your strengths and weaknesses are in regards to blogging. Do you do better at comparing and contrasting? Do you thrive on scoping out other blogs? Do you enjoy commenting on articles or links? Are you funny? Are you a bit offbeat? Blog your strengths, I can’t stress that enough.

5. Grow some thick skin. The thicker the better! I can be a real Sensitive Sally sometimes, but I had to let that go when I became a bee blogger. You know how you’re supposed to keep your mouth shut if you have nothing nice to say? Well, that doesn’t always happen on the interwebs. And you might get some hurtful comments on some of your posts.

After one particularly mean comment I was talking to Mr. Sword in attempt to feel better and gain some perspective. Luckily, my husband is one of the smartest men I know and he reminded me that for every person that doesn’t like something you write, there will be someone who does like it. He said if you put yourself out there, you will get both good and bad feedback and that’s OK. 100% of people who read your stuff will not like it. It’s impossible. And then I felt 100% better.

I blog not only for Weddingbee and the community of readers, but also for myself and for family and my future. I am so excited to have this entire year of written memories recorded in one place. How cool!

On that note, this post is complete.

Good luck to those bloggers who are itching to write for Weddingbee! Thanks for reading my story.