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Jill Hudson Neal - Bridal Editor, The Washingtonian

By Erin Upton

Over the last several years the wedding industry has grown in leaps and bounds.  With no signs of slowing down, more and more brides and grooms are searching for unique and innovative ways to tie the knot. Noticing the significance of this trend, The Washingtonian decided it was time to expand its bridal coverage and asked Jill Hudson Neal to be its bridal editor.  She happily accepted the proposal.

“It was a great opportunity,” explained Hudson Neal.  “I’ve done so many different kinds of lifestyle coverage, I mean, everything from fashion, home design, a little bit of travel, a little bit of food, a little bit of leisure, so it all kind of dovetailed so I could cover everything around weddings sort of comprehensively.” 

Before starting with The Washingtonian on March 31, 2008, she had worked for the Washington Post Magazine as a design editor covering home and design.  In her six years with the magazine, she also covered fashion for the Sunday magazine, served as co-editor of the Date Lab column and wrote a column about how to be a hip mom. 

Though Hudson Neal’s true love has always been lifestyle topics, she did try her hand at hard news for a while.

“I assumed I would just be a lifestyle beat reporter,” she said.  “But along the way I was encouraged to be a hard news reporter and I did that for three and a half years.  I think it made me a better all-around reporter.”

Bringing such an array of journalist experience to the table, coupled with her recent devotion to the bridal beat, she is looking forward to taking her relationship with The Washingtonian to the next level.

“We are going to launch a standalone title at the end of the year and I’ll be the editor in chief of that,” announced Hudson Neal.

And she’s already busy planning for the big day.

“This is going to be a startup publication and I just want to expand,” said Hudson Neal.  “We already do a bridal guide once a year and I just want to offer a real comprehensive guide to those brides-to-be.”

Having been a bride herself 10 years ago, she knows first hand just what goes into preparing for this very special day.

“It’s supposed to be this fairytale experience,” Hudson Neal pointed out.  “I remember very vividly when I was planning my own wedding.  It can be very challenging and maybe even a little bit stressful.  I just want to help brides as much as I can.  If they can pick up the magazine and say, ‘Okay, whatever these guys say must be right, it must be top of the line,’ then I think I’ll be doing a good job.”

Pitching Tips

Hudson Neal prefers to be pitched via e-mail.  She does not want to receive phone calls. 

“If you can put something together that I can keep as an e-mail and just file away for when I need it, I will be forever grateful,” she said. “If I get a phone call that can be very distracting, or it can be something I write down on a little slip of paper and then lose.  It’s always better to do e-mail.”

She asks that pitches get straight to the point and stresses that she only receives pitching on things she would actually use.

“If you are pitching neck ties, it’s very unlikely that I’m going to put a neck tie in the bridal guide,” she said. “Luckily, The Washingtonian.com is a really good resource for PR folks to just go and read it and see what kind of stuff we like to cover.”