Faceoff: Brides Magazine vs. Our Wedding

Blog-readers I've returned. The wedding and honeymoon are over, the guests have all gone home, and my new husband and I have begun to settle into routine with work and home life. Each month, however, I still receive an issue of Brides magazine, since I have a free, one-year subscription from creating a registry at JCPenney. Reading the latest issue, I was finally able to compare all the aspects (now wondrously set in stone) of my own wedding to their advice and ideals.

Can I say right here how glad I am how different ours was, compared to the "perfect" ones pictured in those pages? Heck yes. So here is my brief breakdown of 5 of their "wedding must-haves" and how we did it differently!

1. The Long Timeline
Every issue of Brides includes a year-long calendar leading up to the Big Day that lists what to do, in what order, to prepare.

How we were different: Our engagement only lasted 5.5 months. Know what I was doing a year prior to my marriage? Wondering if our relationship was still going to be long-distance in a year! (No offense to couples who are engaged longer, but it was a blessing for us not to wait that long, for several reasons!)

2. The Fabulous Dress
Brides magazine says (in my words): "Spend hours browsing pictures of models in couture gowns. Eventually find the Perfect one for you. Pay nearly anything to buy it...you'll be wearing it during THE most important 1-6 hours of your life!"

What we did: I clipped some magazine pictures. I looked for sales. I bought a dress the second time I entered a store. Then I made my own sash to go with it, and borrowed my sister's veil. Shazam. Beautiful, time-saving and it didn't break the budget.

3. Details Are Everything
Brides says: "Every detail should match your theme. Every details should shout YOU. In fact, the more adorable details, the better. Spend hours pouring over ones you can buy, or spend even more hours making your own so-cute-you-could-die details."

What we did: I bought decorations in one day. Having no knack for decoration myself, I left the final set-up in the hands of many female (and a male) friends, and it turned out simple yet great!

4. Cake Obsession
Brides says: "After the dress, this is the next best important object of the wedding. Pay through the nose to have it look exactly like you want.
Looks > Taste, of course."

What we did: I got quotes from 2 vendors. I decided based on cost and reputation for taste. (Taste > Looks.) In the end, we had twice as much cake as we needed...oops! For all our planning, it just couldn't be foreseen. Those are some expensive leftovers... Cake, anyone?

5. Here comes the... groom?
Brides says (rather, implies): "The groom has few opinions, and even those can be overridden. He should basically not intrude in wedding plans because this is bride-dominion-only. But he should be model-like handsome... gotta make the best of those professional pictures, right?"

What we did: My fiance booked the honeymoon plans himself. He took care of the groomsmen suits. He was with me to taste cake and dinner samples.... And he's doing exactly half of the gift thank-you's. That's perfect for me! (And he was handsome anyway!)


I promise I'm not bitter toward Brides--I always knew they cater to a demographic with more money, more style, and more bridal-obsession than I have. I clipped pictures from their pages to form ideas and show others what I was thinking of. For a free magazine, that's great! I just have to say that while our wedding day turned out beautiful, fun and very special, I am so relieved to be through with the planning, and now onto the best part: Ever After.

And a happy one it is. :-)

Thoughtfully yours,
Ellen H.