(Why do we even need to say this? Because media giants are exploiting small wedding brands and it needs to stop.)

Basic directories don’t work. But they’re still charging £££ to join.

Wedding suppliers work SO hard. If industry website owners and editors don’t recognise that and provide value – ie work hard FOR you – they’re not worth your money. 

English Wedding’s supplier listings include keyword links which work harder to show search engines your content. And I reach out regularly to our members to ask if they have weddings, product launches or other content to share because I want them to be seen, and I feel a responsibility to help boost their SEO efforts however I can.

Authenticity wins over AI. Always.

Real, honest images and heartfelt words hold value in a rapidly changing digital world. AI wedding content is out there, playing the algorithms and winning. Wedding blogs are the antidote to impossible wedding inspiration, sharing genuine advice and real couples’ celebrations.

“Best wedding supplier” lists should be free. 

It’s hard to believe, but some pretty major publications are reaching out to suppliers and asking for payment for being included on a “Top 50…” list. This is unfair.

Wedding awards: good, bad, and ugly.

When wedding awards are genuine, they’re ace. 

When they’re an opportunity to hear amazing client feedback, they’re absolutely worth entering.

When they’re nothing more than a social media popularity contest (for ‘votes’) they’re basically fake.

When they cause anxiety, cost a fortune and take endless hours of your time, they’re unkind.

Remember magazines?

English Wedding took off in 2009 when I published a review of print wedding magazines. The page content of most was 80%+ advertising (with up to 20% being real weddings, advice articles and editorial content). 

Wedding blogs soared in popularity because they were free to read, featured real couples and were more than a selling tool. In contrast to the print magazines of the time, which were FULL of things you should buy – and not much else, blogs were a breath of fresh air. 

Having an honest voice is even more important now than it was then. 

Wedding blogs were founded on honesty. 

Bloggers revolutionised the wedding media in 2008. They were the only independent voices in the wedding industry. Kudos to social media: it’s given every indie wedding business a platform to shine. The wedding industry is made up of thousands of brilliant humans who adore their work and speak from the heart. Blogs are still so relevant: for SEO, and for showcasing businesses and amplifying their voices wherever we can.

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It’s taken me days to finish this little article, and I’ve realised that’s because I’m conflicted. I’m super proud of English Wedding, but at the same time I feel it’s never been a major force in the wedding industry like Love My Dress or Rock n Roll Bride. I have membership fees for photographers, wedding planners, florists and all the other wedding supplier types to join English Wedding, be listed on the website and showcase their services. 

I’ve been tormenting myself – is it wrong to ask wedding business owners to pay to join my website? But no. This is different. I charge a tiny fee and I work my heart out giving members SEO-focused feature articles. 

And so we’re being honest, transparent and authentic. I make about £500 a month from English Wedding, less what I pay for hosting, tax and so on. I’m not a huge publishing company, I run this website with integrity and a passion to do the very best I can for all of the brands I support. 

I still hear stories of wedding venues who won’t recommend suppliers unless they pay to be on a list. Photographers say they’ve been approached by national magazines and asked to pay a small fortune for inclusion in a “best photographers” article. This is just so wrong. 

No one in the wedding industry should be asked to pay for “exposure”. 

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Wedding websites can be honourable, honest, and open. They can share genuine talent and integrity and promote independent wedding businesses. Wedding blogs have been doing this for almost two decades. It’s the reason English Wedding exists – and has been since day one.