Saturday, July 18, 2009

Want your name in the paper?

All of your life you've read the Times wedding section. Seen the beautiful brides, fantasized about the church, the ceremony, your spouse to be. And dagnabbit, you've work hard, done the right thing, found the right partner, and you deserve for your wedding announcement to appear in the Sunday NYT vows section.

So how do you go about it? Go Bridezilla on them and your toast.

According to a recent story in the Times, its not all that hard. You just have to complete the following info and submit. They are looking for achievers, so you better have done something worthwhile. If your submission makes the first cut, every blessed thing you submit will be fact checked, six times to Sunday so DO NOT LIE. Revisions to the rules are coming soon, but I doubt it will make it easier to get in. You have about a 1 in 5 chance of making it.

How to Submit an Announcement


To submit news of your celebration to The New York Times, please observe the following instructions closely.
Weddings and commitment ceremonies are reported in the Sunday Styles pages and on the Web at nytimes.com/weddings. We report ceremonies taking place during the previous six days. Events that take place on a Sunday are reported on the day of the ceremony. The timing is governed by the date of the formal event. Submissions are rewritten, fact-checked and edited according to the standards of The Times.

Engagement notices are no longer published.

Please send in requests for weddings or commitment announcements at least six weeks before the event. Although we sometimes consider submissions received after that deadline, we give preference to those received first.

The Times does not charge for publishing these news articles — but space is limited, and we cannot guarantee publication.

Your request must be typewritten and include the full names of the couple, the date of their event and the approximate time of day. We need their addresses, schooling and occupations. Also mention any noteworthy awards that the couple may have received, as well as charitable activities and/or special achievements. We also ask that you tell us how the couple met.

We also require information on the residences and occupations of the couple’s parents. Please include this information even if the parents are no longer living.

In the case of a wedding, a civil union or a partnership registration, we must have the name of the person who will sign the official certificate. Please give the exact title and affiliation. For an interfaith event, please include the names and affiliations of any other officiants who will participate. Please also state the exact location of the event.

All announcements must include daytime, evening and cellphone numbers for the couple and their parents. We also need the office phone numbers for those performing the ceremony. Please identify each number. Submissions without telephone numbers cannot be considered.

If you wish, you may demonstrate your preferences by following the form of an announcement that has appeared in our Sunday newspaper.

Our policy on photographs has changed. 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.

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.

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.

Guidelines for Sending Images by E-mail
Image requirements: - JPEG file format- File compression size of 9 or more- RGB color- 300 DPI at an 8x10 size (or 10 inches on the longest dimension).- File size of 12mgs or more (this will be determined by the above).

Other suggestions: - Please try to avoid images with red-eye.- Images should be sharp, in focus.- Try to avoid busy or confusing backgrounds.- Try to select an image where couple's heads and eyes are on the same level.

If you wish to have us consider your event for the Sunday “Vows” column, please prepare a duplicate submission, along with a covering letter giving details about the planned ceremony and reception. Tell us about how the couple met. Please direct your request to the “Vows” column.
Where to Send the Information
By e-mail: society@nytimes.com.
By fax: 212-556-7689. (Fax users will not receive confirmation of delivery.)
By mail or overnight courier: Society News, 4th floor, The New York Times, 620 Eighth Ave., N.Y. 10018. (If you would like to verify receipt of your submission, please also include a stamped, self-addressed postcard with your mailing.)

Again, please note that we cannot guarantee publication. If your announcement is selected, you will be telephoned by a member of our staff a few weeks before the event.

If questions remain, you may telephone the Society News desk at (212)-556-7321. Because of the volume of requests, we may not be able to reply immediately.

How to Submit Yourself for Our 'Vows' Video Series
Please submit your wedding announcement for consideration to the paper before being considered for the video series (see above).

If you would like to be considered for our Vows video series, please send an e-mail to videovows@nytimes.com. Please include the following information in your e-mail:
1) The full name of the bride and groom and contact information, including address and phone numbers, for both.
2) The date of your wedding.
3) How did you first meet?
4) Who proposed and how?
5) Is there anything else that you would like us to know?
6) Do you have any home video of the two of you that you would be willing to share?
If you are selected for the series, a Times producer will contact you.

No comments: