The Summer 2013 Bridal Guide is on stands now! Getting the magazine ready for BYU students to enjoy has been a fun, but stressful process. Most people can’t say they go to work everyday and plan a wedding, but we get to do that! Mind you it’s not easy. We put in a lot of work and time to make the Bridal Guide perfect. From finding the ideal picture to using the right font, we think about every detail and possible fault. We started the process of developing the Bridal Guide in Fall 2012 and went to print in late March 2013.

Writing Stories

The Bridal Guide features stories from the BYU Feature Writing class. The students wrote articles for a grade and then submitted them to the Special Sections Coordinators. We chose articles that had high visual appeal and applied to our audience of BYU brides. Once we decided which stories to keep, we edited them to be what you read in the magazine.

Our staff also wrote stories, which allowed us to work with designers during the writing process so we could generate content that matched their layout ideas. Working with the designers is great- we get to bounce ideas off of them for stories and they consider our opinions on how to visually present them.

Choosing Photos

Finding the perfect photographs to accompany stories is a challenging, but rewarding process. We had at least one week where everyone scrolled through local wedding photographers’ websites and blogs searching for the best cover pick or photo for the dress spread. Every photo that we choose must meet stringent guidelines, both aesthetically and in terms of content standards.  It can be difficult already to find a beautiful photo with proper lighting, but it can be especially hard to find one where the dress is modest, the couple displays appropriate body language, the temple is respectfully represented, etc.

The pictures we do feature tend to be from photographers based in Utah Valley. We include their contact information so brides who like the photos in the Bridal Guide can actually hire the photographers who took them.

We also take some photos ourselves. Our head designer, James Gardner, photographed the ring spread using rings from various BYU students. He also took pictures of Graphic Designer Tom Busath and Sections Coordinator Britania Busby. Tom and Britania are getting married in May at the Los Angeles Temple, and the Universe staff congratulates them on their upcoming nuptials.

Of course Brad had to model for us as well.

Here’s Tom in a candid pose for the camera

This was Britania and Mandy’s first time working on the Bridal Guide, and both feel blessed and excited to be a part of such a fun publication and staff. Next up? The New Student Guide!