How To Share Photos with Wedding Vendors

Dear Jasmine,
How do you share your images with your vendors? Do you have a policy? What if they want to blog the wedding? Or submit the wedding to other blogs? I had a Brides mom who wanted to see her daughters very nice and extravagant wedding published on one of the wedding blogs, but the photos were already shared and of course then none of the blogs would take the wedding since it was out there already. Is there a way to work this out if the coordinator or florist or whoever would like to submit the images to a blog before the photographer posts them? How is this addressed, if at all?
Sincerely,
Submission Strategist

Dear Submission Strategist,
I usually don't talk about submitting a wedding for publication (print or online) until the wedding is complete. There's too much pressure to carry in advance to the wedding and I don't like to get brides' hopes up in regard to publication, as it's highly competitive. Once the wedding is completed, I'll contact the wedding coordinator and ask what her hopes were for submitting. Most times coordinators know the best fit (stylistically, aesthetically, etc.) for their weddings and I want to make sure to respect their wishes.

Once we assemble a submission, I contact the bride for permission and if she agrees, I contact the wedding creative team and let them know the following:
1. Where the wedding will be submitted and thank them for their beautiful work.
2. How they can download images from the wedding day to use for their portfolios (with the caveat that photo credit must be attributed when they are used)
3. To refrain from posting photos online until the submission has been approved and published (weddings won't be published without exclusivity and the ability to share lots of detail photos before anyone else).
4. Once the wedding has been published, I will follow up with another email confirming the open use of the wedding photos online.

More than anything, I want to ensure I'm on the same page as the creative team and let their desires be heard. Yes, I'm the photographer, but they spent weeks–if not months–pouring their hard work into designing/decorating/planning the wedding so I want to reflect the team, not just my wishes. The best news is that the team and I are usually on the same page, so it makes life grand.

Get Your Feature On,
j*

p.s. If you'd like more information on submitting weddings for publication, feel free to check out:
*An interview with Abby Larson of Style Me Pretty
*An interview with Rebecca Crumley of The Knot Magazine
*An interview with Marilyn Oliviera of Inside Weddings Magazine