Twice a year, when new issues of Seattle Met Bride & Groom land in stores across the region, I get hit with questions about our Real Weddings section.

You can scroll through the Seattle-area celebrations online, but I’ll admit: there’s nothing like having the big, oversized pages in your hands.

And from what I understand, there’s nothing like seeing yourself in the big, oversized pages.

If you’d like your wedding to be considered for a future issue, please take a look at look at these hopefully helpful tips.

1. Plan a singular wedding. Go outside-the-box, but do it in an elegant, timeless way. Tell your story, in the form of a party. Leave no detail out.

2. Hire a photographer who is literally and figuratively focused on the little stuff. Make sure he or she captures the:

a) welcoming, inviting tabletops; the centerpieces, the carefully selected place settings, the gorgeous linens, the printed menus, the place cards, the thoughtful details of fine service

b) food and beverages—the cake or dessert, the signature cocktails, the inventive apps

c) fashion of the bridal party and the guests. Like you, we love a shoe shot—when the shoe shot really shows something new and tastefully colorful and inspiring.

d) decor. What hung from the rafters? What greeted guests as they walked through the country chapel doors? What handsome signage pointed folks in the right direction? What tweaked tradition informed your middle-of-the-field altar or chuppah? How did you arrange the vintage settees on the venue’s back porch for the coziest cocktail lounge ever?

e) printed matter. We’re paper junkies, you dig?

f) the venue. Where did this glorious union take place? You, seasoned soon-to-be-married-person, know that it often starts with selecting the right setting. Real Weddings is, above all else, a service to other engaged couples. We love the idea of putting them inside a handful of venues each issue, via your celebration pics.

3. Take note of what we don’t tend to print. You don’t see many posed, formal portraits in the mag, right? Best not to use up one of your 15 or so allotted submission pics by including three or four.

4. Alloted submission pics? Yes, please see the instructions on the Seattle Met Bride & Groom site of the nitty gritty of how, when, and via what delivery method. (And should you chose to send a DVD, do be a dear and label it with your name and wedding date, eh? You’d be surprised how many don’t …)

5. Anyone can submit Real Weddings images. In the current issue, it was an officiant who brought to our attention the vows of Amy Sommer and Jeri Andrews, causing us to scrutinize anew the words "Bride & Groom."

6. Have fun with it. If you have a ball planning your wedding, if you have a riot being the co-star of the day, if you spend a fun Sunday putting together your submission, you’ve succeeded—even if your wedding doesn’t end up being quite right for our pages.