The creators of Wed magazine, Rebecca Matthews and Brendan Sleeman, visited University College Falmouth on Monday the 27th of February to deliver an insightful guest lecture on how they earned their success, and what students can do to emulate it. Matthews, an ex-UCF student herself, admitted that initially she’d thought that ‘you needed 20 years in London’ to consider setting up a successful magazine, but a chance phone call from Brendan Sleeman brought them together just as she’d finished her professional writing degree.
The duo began work on a film magazine that can still be found inside the local Phoenix cinema in Falmouth. Deciding it wasn’t an original enough brand for them, they made the decision to move onto a specific genre – weddings. They saw the gap for the niche magazine and leapt at it.
“If you’re getting married in Cornwall,” Sleeman said, pointing at the free copies of Wed they were handing out, “that is the magazine. You have to buy that magazine if you’re going to get married. It’s got all the information in there.”
The magazine itself is a high-quality looking thing, and Matthews spent time discussing the decisions regarding the typography and design ideas that keep the product suitable for both brides and grooms. The magazine sells for £3.50 and Matthews is insistent that people will keep buying the hardcopy, even though they have a back catalogue of all their issues online. She commented:
“Print isn’t dead. People do want to switch off from technology and they want to curl up with a magazine.”
They use their impressive website and social media to keep people invested in their product. They point out that print and the internet should go ‘hand in hand’ and that the latter should not be seen as a threat. Their awareness of the importance of networking and sites like Twitter has resulted in their ability to hold wedding shows and events across Cornwall.
They ended by noting that the most successful writers have their own unique writing style, and encouraged ‘a strong sense of voice’ on our blogs.
The Wed magazine website can be found HERE
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