Publisher’s Notes

What an unbelievable year this has been! Working exclusively from home since March of 2020, I’ve spent a whole lot of time with my ten-year-old lab and not nearly enough time with our amazing vendor partners. I’ve missed getting to meet so many of our engaged couples at the yearly wedding shows too. Thankfully, we’ll be hosting our first show of the year in a few weeks, and we can’t wait!

So many of our beautiful couples have had to cancel or postpone their big, dream weddings in favor of smaller, intimate affairs due to the pandemic. Many of them have shared their micro-weddings with us for this issue, and I have to say, I kind of love these intimate, detail-filled events.

The biggest learning for us this year came as an understanding of what you really want to see in our pages. 2020 was a banner year for us digitally and socially, and 2021 looks to be the same. This year drove us all online for more than just information, we started looking to online sources for more connection.

We’ve watched as couples came to the site, our social pages, and especially our Pinterest page, for ideas and inspiration. Your online choices have been the driving force behind the changes we are making to our site and publication in 2021.

We felt it was time to respond to the needs of all our readers by expanding our magazine in content and frequency. While we believe that there will always be a place for print publications in the world of weddings, we have chosen to deliver our magazine content digitally in 2021. We hope to return to print next year, but for now, digital delivery allows us to reach a much broader audience instantly with content that will live online and available at the click of a button.

In the past, our publication was limited to two yearly issues featuring weddings and vendors from the gulf coast states while our blog, idoyall.com, featured weddings, ideas and inspiration from all over the south. As our following increased, we realized that not only were our readers coming from all over the country (and beyond) but they were looking for fresh ideas and amazing wedding pros to implement them, regardless of geography. That’s why, for the first time, I Do Y’all Magazine is featuring Real Weddings, Engagements, and Styled Shoots from all across the south!

Contributing Writer

Chelsey Gatlin

Chelsey has worked in the wedding industry for nearly 7 years in many capacities from wedding planner, dress consultant, catering staff and more. She loves being able to help couples make their dream day uniquely about them, and celebrating love in all shapes, sizes and forms.

Chelsey has been a regular contributor to idoyall.com, and her great advice can be found in the articles throughout this issue.

I’ve spent countless hours on this dock this year feeding the ducks and fishing while sorting through data, looking for ideas, and making plans for our company. Most of our social media updates were made from my cushy deck chairs. Our ten-year-old lab, Puddin has been my constant companion and co-worker. She gets paid in dog treats!

You have told us that you want more inspiration, more design, more details, and more Real Weddings, and we are so excited to be able to deliver them to you in this issue. Gone are the tips & tricks, the planning pages, and tired articles. You can find those anywhere. From now on, we’ll be delivering nothing less than 300+ pages of incredible design and amazing inspiration from first-class wedding pros four times a year!

If you’re not already signed up to receive I Do Y’all Magazine in your inbox, head to our Facebook page to subscribe now. Happy planning and we hope you enjoy the new look and features!