Southern Bride

What Southern Bride does

Southern Bride is a privately held bridal media company operating as a print and digital magazine under the legal entity Trilogy Marketing, Inc., headquartered in Germantown, Tennessee. The company was founded circa 1993 and has been under Trilogy Marketing's ownership since 1999. It publishes a premium print magazine twice yearly (winter/spring and summer/fall) at $14.99 per issue, alongside downloadable PDF editions at $7.49, both distributed through a direct-to-consumer e-commerce storefront. Its editorial and operations team is small, with roughly eight named core staff led by Founder, CEO, and Editor-in-Chief Sherra Meyers.

The company's core products and content surface extend beyond the magazine into a network of digital and community assets: a content blog organized across wedding planning categories, real wedding and engagement story submissions, paid styled shoot features priced at $35 (preliminary) plus $400 (on acceptance), a Wedding Happy Hour podcast distributed on Spotify and Stitcher, behind-the-scenes video on YouTube, and a searchable wedding vendor directory covering 20+ US states and select international destinations. Technology is conventional web publishing infrastructure — content management, e-commerce, email marketing, and podcast hosting — with no proprietary platform or AI components disclosed.

Southern Bride monetizes through a diversified set of small-value revenue streams: magazine and PDF sales, paid content submissions from vendors and brides, vendor directory listings, and advertising sold across print, web, newsletter, and social channels. Its go-to-market is content-led, relying on social media presence (Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, X), an email newsletter, the Styled Challenge community competition, and editorial partnerships with bridal brands such as BHLDN and venue partners such as Beau Rivage Resort and Casino. The primary customer segment is brides-to-be seeking Southern-inspired wedding content, with a secondary B2B segment of wedding professionals and brands seeking visibility through the publication's audience.

Name

Southern Bride

Legal name

Trilogy Marketing, Inc.

Website

https://southernbride.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Southern Bride is a privately held bridal media company that publishes a twice-yearly print and digital magazine and operates a wedding vendor directory, podcast, and content site serving brides-to-be and wedding professionals across the US South and select international destinations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Bridal Magazine Publishing

NAICS

Periodical Publishers (513120)

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

Vendor Sourcing & Management (Venues, Catering, Photo/Video, Music) (HSACABAG)

Keywords

• Bridal magazine publishing
• Wedding media content
• Wedding vendor directory
• Bridal editorial features
• Wedding inspiration publishing

Headquarters

HQ city

Memphis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Magazine Sales (Print): Premium print magazine published twice yearly (winter/spring and summer/fall) sold for $14.99 per issue. Print editions shipped directly to customers in the United States with 3-6 week delivery timeframes.
2. Magazine Sales (Digital/PDF): Downloadable PDF versions of magazines sold for $7.49 per issue. Available internationally.
3. Styled Shoot Submissions: Two-step submission process: $35 non-refundable preliminary submission fee, followed by $400 publication fee upon acceptance for online feature with 14-20 images and 400-word count. Includes complimentary social media promotions.
4. Engagement Story Submissions: Engagement stories published on SouthernBride.com for $100, including 6-8 images and self-written 250-word proposal story plus complimentary personalized Instagram story.
5. Advertising: Advertising opportunities across the magazine, website, email newsletter, and social media platforms targeting wedding professionals and vendors.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Southern Bride is a bridal media brand that publishes a premium print and digital magazine twice yearly (winter/spring and summer/fall editions), featuring real weddings, styled shoots, bridal fashion editorials, and wedding planning advice. The company also operates the SouthernBride.com content platform, the Wedding Happy Hour podcast, a searchable vendor directory, and paid editorial submission services for wedding professionals seeking exposure to engaged couples.

Product overview

Southern Bride is a bridal media company operating primarily as a print and digital magazine, publishing two print issues annually (winter/spring and summer/fall) available both as physical copies and downloadable PDFs. The company complements its magazine with a digital platform featuring styled shoot features, real wedding story submissions, engagement announcements, a weekly podcast (Wedding Happy Hour), and a searchable wedding vendor directory. The core offering centers on inspirational wedding content combining Southern traditions with current trends, distributed through print magazines, the SouthernBride.com website, social media channels, and podcast platforms.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Wedding Happy Hour: A podcast focused on wedding themes and celebration discussions.

Products and services

• Southern Bride Magazine (Print)

Named customers8 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered featured vendor, collaborative, marketing and core.

• Beau Rivage Resort and Casinofeatured vendorOthersFeatured wedding venue vendor prominently displayed on Southern Bride homepage, representing luxury resort and casino hotel venue in Biloxi, Mississippi.
• BHLDNcollaborativeGTM or Marketing PartnerOver two years of collaboration on editorial shoots featuring BHLDN products. Southern Bride showcases their bridal assortment in tasteful and inventive imagery that exceeds expectations. Open to ongoing collaboration opportunities.
• Romantic Destinations TravelmarketingGTM or Marketing PartnerFeatured honeymoon and destination travel partner on Southern Bride website, promoting romantic getaway bookings to brides.
• Marrow Private Chefsfeatured vendorOthersCatering vendor partner featured on About page and in vendor listings.
• Wedding Vendor NetworkcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorExtensive network of wedding vendors across categories including Bridal Events, Cake, Catering, Convention and Visitors Bureau, Counseling Services, Destination Wedding & Honeymoon, Entertainment, Fashion, Flowers, Food & Beverage, Formal Wear, Gift Registry, Hair & Makeup, Health & Beauty, Hotel, Invitations & Favors, Jewelry, Men's Formalwear, Photography/Videography, Rental & Decor, Spa, Travel Agency, Venue, and Wedding Planner. Geographic coverage includes Alabama, Arkansas, British Virgin Islands, California, Caribbean, Europe, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Ireland, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nationwide, Nevada, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Here Comes The Guide:
• Inside Weddings: Inside Weddings is a bridal media brand publishing a quarterly print magazine and digital content focused on luxury weddings, vendor directories, and planning inspiration. It is one of the closest direct competitors to Southern Bride given its similar print-plus-digital model serving an upscale bride audience.
• Bridal Guide Magazine: Bridal Guide is a longstanding national bridal print magazine and website covering planning advice, real weddings, fashion, and vendor directories. It competes in the same niche bridal media category as Southern Bride with a similar print heritage plus digital extension business model.

Broad incumbents

• The Knot Worldwide: The Knot (formerly The Knot Worldwide, parent of The Knot and WeddingWire) is the largest US wedding media and vendor marketplace platform, combining inspiration content with planning tools and vendor reviews. It serves the same brides-to-be and wedding vendor audiences as Southern Bride but at vastly greater national scale, making it the dominant incumbent Southern Bride competes against for advertising and audience attention.
• Zola: Zola is a leading wedding planning platform offering free wedding websites, registries, vendor marketplace, and editorial content. It targets the same brides-to-be segment as Southern Bride with a modern digital-first experience, representing the kind of tech-enabled competitor that is reshaping how brides discover vendors and consume wedding content.
• Martha Stewart Weddings: Martha Stewart Weddings is a premium bridal media brand combining print magazine heritage with digital content focused on luxury weddings, fashion, and entertaining. It targets a similar aspirational bride audience as Southern Bride but at a national luxury tier with stronger celebrity and high-end brand partnerships.
• Brides Magazine (by Condé Nast): Brides is the legacy national bridal magazine and website published by Condé Nast, covering real weddings, fashion, planning advice, and vendor inspiration. It competes directly with Southern Bride for bridal advertising budgets and audience attention but with national brand prestige and significantly greater scale.

Emerging players

• Carats & Cake: Carats & Cake is a digital-first wedding vendor marketplace and inspiration platform featuring real weddings, vendor portfolios, and booking tools. It targets the same bride and wedding professional audiences as Southern Bride but with a tech-enabled platform approach that bypasses traditional print publishing.
• Aisle Planner: Aisle Planner is a wedding planning SaaS platform for wedding professionals and couples offering planning tools, vendor CRM, and design services. It represents the technology-enabled evolution of wedding vendor marketing that competes with traditional bridal media like Southern Bride for vendor advertising and marketing budgets.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses1 record

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/southernbride
• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/SouthernBride
• Facebookfacebook.com/southernbridemagazine
• Instagraminstagram.com/southernbride
• Pinterestpinterest.com/southernbride
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/southern-bride-magazine

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Southern Bride