Phil left a comment on my Friday post, to which I’ve been meaning to reply, but then thought it would probably be too long, and decided to make a post out of it.
So… Phil doesn’t like wedding magazines. It came as no surprise to me whatsoever to hear him qualify these publications as “gunk” and “drivel” mainly because he’s a guy and also because he’s 90% right.
The other 10% aka the Phil-is-wrong part is about the fact that weddings need to be organized. Heck, any gathering where both sets of parents are present requires organization. It’s one of the most important days of your life, and you just can’t leave things happening bad comedy style, especially when there’s alcohol around.
Women want their wedding to be picture-perfect and most of them spend tens of thousands of dollars on the dress, shoes and tiaras, heaps of petals strewn on the aisle, sparkling wedding rings and fancy-schmancy restaurant menus. The wedding business is a lucrative one, a little monster that preys on women’s love for color coordination, sparkly stuff and designer labels. But let me say this: is it really that wrong? Try to set aside the reason why women love lavish & sparkly stuff, if that’s what makes them happy, why not grant them the pleasure of having a lavish & sparkly dream day? As a woman the last thing you want to associate your wedding with is the thought that the restaurant sucked, that the dress was not the one you really wanted but at least you saved $1000 , or that you’ll be embarrassed to show the pictures to your relatives because the photographer had no idea what he was doing.
Yes, every woman wants a picture-perfect wedding. That’s a fact. Now, that picture-perfect wedding can cost $5000 or it can cost $50,000, and here is where the bride-to-be can choose between being brain-washed by the glossy-paged wedding porn or putting together something fun, exciting, dreamy and probably 10x less expensive. The useful 10% of wedding magazines is the part that gives future bridezillas ideas about organizing on a budget, original centerpieces and invitations, yummy buffets instead of the traditional menus, bouquets of wild flowers and vintage dresses.
Unfortunately that 10% is shrinking to maybe less than 1% of the hundred-page thick magazines lining the shelves at newsstands. They abound in ads for anything, from dresses to mostly ugly shoes, to wedding rings, and diets for losing 10 pounds in the month before the wedding.
Honestly I don’t know who reads the traditional paper magazines, I bought two before my wedding, hoping to find some bridesmaids’ dresses boutiques. Sadly none were to my taste but fortunately J Crew saved the day and my ass.
Online magazines and wedding blogs are a completely different thing. I love scrolling and virtually flipping through their pages. And I love the pictures taken by talented photographers, a daily inspiration and food for thought, the stories couples share about how they handled things, their creative tips and genuine honest advice. That’s why there are still dozens of such blogs in my Feed Reader and although I’m done with wedding organization I just can’t push the delete button.
This would have made a long reply indeed.
) Just follow the google searches which bring people here, I think you will be amused.
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