Southern Bride and Groom magazine came to be the way most established businesses do – a creative, hard working entrepreneur sees a hole in the consumer market and fills it! In the 1980s, there were national wedding magazines. However, regional publications were practically non-existent. Donna Parks saw that there was not a wedding magazine for North Carolina’s various urban areas. The thriving cities of Charlotte, Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill needed a wedding guide. And so, the idea was born!

SB&G magazine was therefore built to be a wedding planning guide for NC cities. From the beginning, the goal was to introduce couples to the best local wedding vendors. Today that intention remains central to our company’s ever-expanding mission!

Southern Bride & Groom History – from the South to the NC Triangle

The magazine has deep family business roots. Donna’s father owned a publishing company in Gastonia, NC. Under Mar Mac Services, Inc, Southern Bride and Groom came alive. Donna produced editions in Charlotte, Fayetteville, Asheville, Winston-Salem, and even Savannah, GA.

Throughout her adult life, Donna lived in Durham with her husband and daughter. So above all, the Triangle Area was always the heart of the publication. At first, Donna published two separate issues here. One edition covered Chapel Hill and Durham weddings. Additionally, there was an issue for Raleigh. Gradually, the Triangle Area grew. People were moving here for school and business. Logically, the wedding industry exploded as well.

Donna wisely responded by merging the publication into one annual Triangle Area wedding guide. In the early 1990s, she dropped the other city editions. Subsequently, she put all of her energy into the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill publication. This allowed Southern Bride & Groom to grow into the nearly 300-page magazine we produce today. In other words, this focus allowed us to become the most well-known and reputable wedding resource guide for the NC Triangle.

You might be wondering how Donna organized so many amazing wedding vendors into one publication. The answer? She built and nourished personal connections. Southern Bride & Groom magazine has always been based upon a foundation of hard-earned community relationships. From day one, Donna met wedding vendors face-to-face. She shook hands, hand-delivered magazines, and asked NC couples for honest recommendations on the best local wedding vendors.

Our Future: Heart of NC Weddings

Want to know a secret? Even today, we still practice those same business strategies! Our team hand-delivers magazines and checks in with our vendors monthly. We collaborate with these vendors on photo shoots, and attend events together. This aspect of Southern Bride and Groom magazine is truly what sets us apart from national wedding guides. We consider our recommended NC wedding vendors to be friends and family.

Now Heart of NC Weddings, this print and digital publication still focuses on the Triangle Area. As couples are now seeking information for weddings across the state, we have returned to covering great nearby destinations across the state including the Triad, the coast and the mountains. Check out our wedding planning website vendor guide if you’re getting married in North Carolina!