About Sasha

Sasha Vasilyuk is the founder of wedding PR agency I Do PR. A former cultural journalist, her writing on arts, business and travel has appeared in Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle and Newsweek.

East Coast Wedding Photographer Nadia D Joins I Do PR

Posted on November 1, 2011 by Sasha

We are pleased to announce the newest member of the I Do PR family – the very talented wedding photographer Nadia D!

Originally from Russia, Nadia D is based out of Atlanta where she has been shooting weddings for over 8 years. With a degree in fine art and photojournalism, she has established herself as the photographer of choice for high-end Atlanta weddings, engagements and destination weddings both abroad and in her favorite East Coast metropolitan centers like New York and Washington DC.

As a hopeless romantic herself, Nadia knows exactly how to capture the love her couples have for each other in every shot – one of the many reasons we adore her work! She excels at creative editorial portraiture, which is her biggest passion.

Nadia has also become the expert on Indian weddings, which can have an incredible amount of details, colors and people, and often span multiple days.

We are very excited to work with Nadia D and help her show off her artistic talent for capturing great weddings.

Brides Features Yael Designs Unique Engagement Ring

Posted on October 27, 2011 by Sasha

We’re very excited to see a modern engagement ring by Yael Designs featured on Brides.com in their story on Unique Engagement Rings:

Yael Designs engagement ring features on Brides.com

Welcome to Wedding Registry Hatch My House

Posted on October 21, 2011 by Sasha

We are thrilled to welcome Hatch My House to the I Do PR family! Hatch My House is an online wedding registry that allows friends and family to help couples save for their dream home – whether it’s a down payment, home improvements, or maybe even furniture!

The online gifting experience is fun as the houses are customized by the couple and friends and family contribute by buying a part of the house – a window, or maybe the whole porch!

Founders of Hatch My House and San Francisco Bay Area natives Erin and Rieve MacEwen first got the idea during their own engagement. Friends and family were constantly pressuring them to register for their wedding, but they didn’t want more fancy china in their one bedroom apartment. Instead, Erin and Rieve wanted their wedding gifts to go towards something they really wanted, like a house they could buy together. And the idea clicked.

“Giving couples the option to save toward a home is practical and deeply meaningful at the same time,” said Erin. “Little by little, couples are able to move forward as a family, building their home and making their dream a reality – all amidst the support and love of friends and family.”

We love working with this adorable couple. They have already been featured on Daily Candy and Brides.com. We hope to share this great alternative gift registry with the rest of the bridal world!

Bridal Guide features Choco Studio and Yael Designs

Posted on October 19, 2011 by Sasha

The November/December issue of Bridal Guide is our all time favorite because we had not one, but two of our clients featured inside!

For the issue’s real wedding, the Bridal Guide editor chose a stunning Dawn Ranch summer wedding of Stephanie + Tom shot by wedding photographers Choco Studio! Check out all the DIY wedding decor made by the bride in this 4-page spread (yes, I know!!):

Enjoy more images from the wedding on the original Choco Studio blog post about the Dawn Ranch wedding!

As with all photographer placements, other wedding vendors from the day also got credit including reception venue Dawn Ranch Lodge, DJ Patrick Numair, florals by Lila B, wedding coordinator Erica Becks, cocktail hour band Russian River Ramblers, bridal jewelry by Yael Designs and lighting by The Lux Productions.

Wedding band by Yael Designs featured

Another thing that we were swooning over was the gorgeous eternity bands that Bridal Guide featured in their All That Glitters feature in the same issue, including our very own San Francisco-based Yael Designs’ diamond band from their Affinity Collection! I love how the Yael ring is right below Tiffany’s – it’s always great to be in good company 🙂

Wedding PR: Working All the Angles

Posted on October 3, 2011 by Sasha

PR for wedding photographers does not mean mindlessly submitting every real wedding to the top bridal magazines and blogs. Here we go into a strategy of how to get press by being smart, timely and creative.

Be smart

What every editor wants is a unique story that will entertain and educate her readers, while beating out the competitive media. Keeping that in mind, it is important to think like they think and recognize unique story opportunities that are going to grab readers’ attention. In PR biz, we call this “the angle,” which means the unique twist that gives a story its spark.

Be timely

Editors live by their calendars as they look – often months ahead – for stories about the upcoming holidays or seasons. In September, when the first day of Fall officially opens the floodgate of autumn-themed weddings, we worked with the editor of Get Married on this apple orchard wedding of Whitney + Mike photographed by Choco Studio.

Check out the beautiful fall lighting of this wedding, which ran on the magazine’s home page:

Get Married features fall wedding photographed by Choco Studio

Be creative (and pay attention)

While a calendar is pretty easy to follow, creativity can go a long way when it comes to pitching to editors. When reading through a questionnaire a recent bride filled out about her wedding, I was struck by a story I haven’t heard before: the bride’s inspiration book, where she kept a photo of a berry cake from Martha Stewart magazine, was stolen from her car! She was so in love with the cake though that she worked with her cake maker, Not Just Cheesecakes, to find and recreate the berry cake.

As soon as I read the story, I knew Martha Stewart Weddings editor would loooove to hear it too and feature photographs of the happy couple and the cake taken by Choco Studio! Pay attention to your clients as they may have the unique angle you’re looking for.

Martha Stewart Weddings features Choco Studio

If you want to stand out from the crowd when pitching your wedding portfolio to bridal editors, don’t forget to think like an editor, keep in mind the calendar and recognize unique stories they won’t find anywhere else.

CondeNast Folds Brides Local Magazines

Posted on September 22, 2011 by Sasha

Today, we’re very sad to report that publisher CondeNast decided to close down the Brides Local magazines, published in 16 different regions including Northern California. Unlike the national Brides magazine that features national brands, the local Brides editions provided resources and information for local brides and highlighted local wedding vendors.

I have been working with the Brides Local editors for two years and am very saddened by this news. Some of the editors are staying at the property to run brides.com. Some have already left, including my friend Amy Elliott who is now at Lucky.

What is the reason for closing? Well, it always comes down to profits, which CondeNast executives said have still not returned to prerecession levels of 2007, according to the WWD article on the changes:

“Chief executive officer Chuck Townsend and president Bob Sauerberg stressed the importance of beefing up revenue and widening profit margins, according to several people at the meeting. The two executives said the top priority for publishers and editors should be to return print magazines’ profit margins to prerecession, 2007 levels. Townsend emphasized that editors should be more experimental with their Web sites in order to increase revenue. Wired, Vanity Fair, Glamour and The New Yorker were credited with having decent profit margins for their Web sites.”

It’s interesting that Glamour was credited with having “decent profit margins” on their website. I do love Glamour Weddings, which churns out several great stories a day and honestly don’t know how their editors do it! I do find it interesting that they only have the wedding section online without any print products.

Given the proliferation of online wedding blogs, perhaps that is the future for bridal press? I certainly hope not – I just love leafing through those delicious bridal pages and so do many brides and wedding vendors.

New Client: Italian Wedding Photographer Rochelle Cheever

Posted on September 13, 2011 by Sasha

We’re so excited to announce that I Do PR is now working with Rochelle Cheever, a talented wedding photographer who lives and works in one of the most beautiful countries in the world, Italy!

This Italian-American photographer who grew up in Rome has been photographing couples from the all corners of the world, including the US, Canada, Brazil, Australia, Singapore, England and Russia, who come to Italy to get married. We particularly love her black and white stylized shoots reminiscent of cinema italiano!

A former fashion model with a BFA in photography and painting from the Corcoran School of Art in Washington D.C., Rochelle has been photographing weddings in Rome, Tuscany and other gorgeous parts of Italy and was recently named one of the world’s best wedding photographers by Junebug Weddings.

Can’t wait to help get her real destination weddings in some great magazines and blogs!

Vintage Engagement Rings in C Weddings

Posted on September 12, 2011 by Sasha

C Magazine is one of the premier glossies in our sunny state of California, covering food, fashion, architecture and style. It’s more well known in southern California, but is making its way up north to our parts. Last year, they began publishing a biannual C Weddings issue so we got to work with them on a neat vintage jewelry story.

Imagine my excitement when the editors selected one of my personal favorite rings from Yael Designs’ Leone Collection.

While the black and white diamond ring was not originally conceived as an engagement ring, it sure works for a woman with a unique sense of style. Here is the ring up close:

Wedding PR 101: The In Person Meeting

Posted on August 6, 2011 by Sasha

: Visiting Harper’s Bazaar office

While it’s hard for Bay Area wedding business owners to personally meet with bridal magazine editors, most of whom have offices in New York, it is absolutely essential to a successful relationship.

I have been working with the editors of Bridal Guide magazine for a while, but when I got a chance to finally meet with them in person in their New York office, it gave our relationship a huge boost. In the industry these meetings are known as “deskside”, but despite their impersonal name they are a great chance to showcase your offering to the editor and see their reaction.

Meeting in person makes all the difference in collaborating, networking, selling or pretty much any business activity. And it’s certainly a huge part of successful public relations strategy as you become more than just a voice on the phone, but a reliable and friendly resource.

Since our New York meeting, I have been working closely with the editors there on a few features for several of my clients, which I’ll be publishing throughout the year. But here are two recent stories featuring Yael Designs bridal jewelry:

Retro Chic jewelry story in the Summer 2011 issue of Bridal Guide featured aquamarine cocktail ring and black diamond stud earrings:

The Fall 2011 issue of Bridal Guide featured Yael Designs pearl drop earrings in its Pearl Chic story (see top right):

I’m excited to be a resource to the Bridal Guide editors and am looking forward to our continued relationship. Stay tuned for more features 🙂

Great Advice from Bride about Planning a Destination Wedding

Posted on July 22, 2011 by Sasha

Recently, Destination I Do magazine featured a destination wedding of Vika + Igor, photographed by none other than the talented Choco Studio. The wedding took place in Riviera Maya, Mexico last year.

The bride gave a lot of great tips on how she was able to pull off a wedding of her dreams. Here are some of my faves:

Tip #1 – use a travel consultant to make travel easier for guests

The couple hired a travel consultant who got the couple and their guests a group rate. Guests emailed their travel confirmations to the consultant who then created an itinerary of arrivals for Vika. This way the couple knew about the safe arrival of their guests without having to organize dozens of flights themselves.

Tip #2 – hire a wedding coordinator

The bride said she helped by staying on top of things, getting local wedding favors and keeping all the information the couple needed organized.

Tip #3 – incorporate travel into the wedding experience

Vika sent guests pre-travel packets with customized luggage tags, brochures and a wedding itinerary. Once everyone arrived, they received an “out of town bag” with personal labels and the couple’s wedding logo. The bags included a hangover kit, first aid kit and beach kit.

You can see more photos and read the rest of the bride’s tips on Destination I Do.

I Do PR

wedding public relations firm

Author Archives: Sasha