Blogger Spotlight: Julia Braime, Brides Up North

Julia Braime decided to launch Brides Up North after becoming frustrated with the lack of a Northern presence in glossy bridal magazines and online platforms. All of the suppliers, styled shoots and real wedding features on the blog came from the North of England. While many of the weddings that feature are traditional, the blog also focuses on distinctive rustic styles. In this spotlight Julia chats to us about how she measures the success of her blog, working with PRs, and reveals what will be big in her blogosphere in the coming months.

Why should people read your blog? What makes it different? Brides Up North launched in 2010 and has since skyrocketed in popularity and profile to become one of the most visited UK wedding blogs. It offers brides-to-be a pretty daily dose of stylish wedding inspiration in the form of fabulous real weddings, inspirational styled shoots and informative trend features as well as expert advice and guidance.

Brides Up North stands out because it encourages its readers to think  local and to support the fabulous wedding industry suppliers on their  own doorstep. Every single featured supplier, styled shoot, real wedding or industry expert we feature on the blog took place or is based in the North of England.

The Brides Up North brand has become extremely well known away from the pages of the blog too. We have a loyal and local offline following and Brides Up North’s branded luxury wedding exhibitions, networking events and parties across Yorkshire, the North West and North East have been consistently sold out with record attendances for our venues. We have hosted more than eighty luxury bridal events under our brand name since 2012, and have thirty plus events planned in 2016 alone.

How do you measure the success of your website? Like all other blogs we track our monthly hits, unique user levels and social media followers which gives a great indication of how the blog is being received and gaining support as we move forward. In addition, our list of blog sponsors is increasing month on month with a growing number of top wedding suppliers and designers keen to become a part of the Brides Up North family. Representing these amazing professionals and couturiers is something that we are extremely proud of and shows that we are continuing to move in the right direction whilst taking the blog from strength to strength.

Industry awards are also a good reflection of the blog’s success and we are thrilled that Brides Up North has gained some fabulous accolades over the past six years. These include being named “Best Blog for Northern Brides” by Channel 4; crowned “Best Big Day Inspiration” blog in the Wedding Magazine Awards 2013; highly commended in the “Best City Blog” category in the Wedding Magazine Awards 2014 and 2015 and a finalist in the Perfect Wedding Awards and Cosmopolitan Blog Awards in the “Best Wedding Blog” category. We have also been listed in Easy Wedding Search’s Top 100 UK Wedding Blogs, appeared in Vuelio’s Top 5 UK Wedding Blogs and were a finalist in the “Digital Business of the Year” category at the Women In Business Awards 2015. Having just discovered that we have nominated for another two awards at this year’s Wedding Magazine Awards, we are hoping to add further accreditation to the Brides Up North name very soon.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to start a blog? Whether you intend to create a “traditional” blog or use microblogging software like Instagram to create a following, it’s important to have a USP as the blogging world is very saturated; you are going to need something that sets you apart from the competition and that makes you stand out. Obviously being passionate about the topic helps – we live, breath and sleep weddings and wouldn’t have it any other way!

Also, be prepared to put the hours in. Just the other day we read a survey that revealed “writer/blogger” is one of the most desirable job titles there is, but contrary to what people might think, there’s a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes in order to to get a blog up and running, and then continue to make it a success. A blog needs to be updated regularly to bring its readers fresh and exciting content, and needs to keep ahead of the game so not to be seen to be regurgitating other blogs’ ‘old news’.

How do you work with marketers and PRs? We have a great relationship with many marketers and PRs within the industry. Some, particularly those who represent our sponsors, we work with on a regular basis to arrange posts on topics such as new collections, services, products, bridal events and upcoming wedding trends. PRs also often send us invites to industry events and we work with them on some review style posts too. An example of this would be our ‘Blissed Out Bride’ features, which provide inspiration to our readers on ideal getaway locations for spa days, hen dos, minimoons and honeymoons.

How do you use social media to promote and share content? What are the challenges? Our social media channels are a key part of our working day and allow us to capture the attention of readers whilst interacting with them too. We share all of our blog posts on Instagram (our fastest growing platform), Facebook and Twitter and have strong followings on other platforms like Pinterest too, as so much of what we do is image led. In addition, we can use these social media channels to make announcements of what’s coming up on the blog, share details of the luxury wedding exhibitions that we host and help to promote our lovely Sponsors. We also have a Brides Up North Facebook group, which brides-to-be and suppliers can join to interact with each other directly by asking questions, starting discussions and gaining expert advice. The challenges can be trying to be the first to get the latest news out there, the danger that once you hit ‘send’ something is instantly  in the public domain and, of course, the fact that there just aren’t enough hours in the day to do as much as you would like to via these platforms.

What can PRs do in working better with you? We understand that PRs have a tough job to do in getting the best coverage for their clients and reaching out to as many platforms as possible. That said, for us there is nothing better than an offer of ‘exclusivity’ and dealing with a PR who is efficient and organised, delivering well-written releases, proposals that are of interest to our readers accompanied with beautiful imagery. Also, little things like giving Dropbox folders names that relate to the brand, focus of the feature really helps us to easily locate what we need, and naming images with appropriate titles and image credits will score Brownie points.

What has been your blogging highlight? So many to mention both online and off! Our branded events are lots of fun and our Wedstock and Wedstival events this year (the first large scale festival inspired outdoor wedding fairs in the UK) were a real triumph for us.

Other than that, alongside the blog we edit glossy bridal print title Unveiled and acting as creative director and lead stylist on an exclusive bridal fashion editorial shot at designer Ian Stuart’s London boutique was a true “pinch me” moment.

What will be big in your blogosphere in the coming months? We are constantly impressed and delighted by the fabulous real weddings that we receive from both our lovely readers and amazing photographers, and we have some real beauties coming up in the coming months. We will be bringing our readers news of the top bridal trends through fabulous wedding fashion and styling posts, whilst introducing some talented new Sponsors to the blog. We’re also busy working on an exciting site refresh to make the end user experience and benefits to our Sponsors even better.