At least, at full price — I got a giant pile of them from Sarah when we first got engaged, and those have been helpful. But paying for your own ones? Screw that noise.
Case in point: I finally caved and purchased what was maybe my second or third brand-new wedding magazine before our flight home from the engagement party. (Might as well, right? That’s the one thing those airport news stands don’t mark up extra, and we had a long dull flight ahead of us.) This one was InStyle Weddings, I think.
Bleh. Not only are most wedding magazines just ads for engagement rings (which fundamentally DOES NOT MAKE SENSE, as that step should already be taken care of by the time you start wedding planning! Right? Is their target market really the WISHFUL THINKING crowd? God save us!), but they’re also just not realistic — most photo shoots are for inaccessible couture gowns, or NYC-only patisseries, etc. Not exactly your “everyday bride” material. (And don’t even get me started on what a waste those local city-specific wedding mags are — sorry, friends, but so far I’ve found them a) worthless, and b) unnecessary to pay for, since swanky venues try to bribe you by giving you copies for free at their open houses.)
The one notable exception to this is Martha Stewart Weddings. But in contrast, that magazine is so robust with great ideas and affordable cute crafts, etc. (not to mention that they put the full content of all the useful stuff online for free) that a girl can get completely overwhelmed just peeking at a few pages. So it’s kind of a tough trade-off.
I think my strategy for the time being is to go back to playing Final Fantasy VIII with my husband-to-be. 🙂
Are there such things as groom magazines? I wonder what the equivalent would be. $2,500 bottles of scotch, cummerbunds made of spider silk, and bachelor party clubs with the world’s most expensive cover charge?