- 10.6.09
- Filed Under: Blogging, SMP
- 65 Comments
Is it true? Are the magazines that we know and love a thing of the past? We got the news yesterday that Elegant Bride and Modern Bride, two wedding mags that have been mainstays in this industry, have decided to close their doors. It’s a crazy turn of events in the publishing industry and one that has left a lot of wedding pros completely dumbfounded.
Here’s the deal…I love magazines. So much so that I have been known to lock myself in my bedroom, cup of coffee in hand, devouring a PILE of old magazines in one sitting, coming out of the room covered in the yellow sticky notes that I used to mark the oh-my-god, I-have-to-have-that’s tucked within the pages. It’s the experience of a magazine that you really can’t compare, that blogs and websites will NEVER take the place of.
And yet, as a blogger, it’s bittersweet. The closing of magazines just might mean that more and more brides will be turning to SMP and other websites to get their wedding eye candy. That hopefully, our site will become more of a household name among brides and that we will become even more relevant in the months and years to come.
So, I’d love to start a discussion here about magazines vs. blogs…can blogs possibly fill in where the magazines have left off?? What can WE do, if anything at all, to fill the void?
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I was so sad to hear yesterday that we are losing even more fabulous magazines this year after losing Domino and Cottage Living last year… I think blogs CAN fill in where magazines are leaving off by offering lots of editorial content, because the eye candy is what blogs thrive on. I think SMP and other blogs are starting to pick up on this by doing their own editorial shoots. I hope it’s a trend that continues, especially now that there are a few less glossies around to do it.
I agree with Annie above. I was disappointed to see that these two magazines were going out of publication. As a new bride, when I was engaged, I LOVED flipping through magazines, earmarking pages, tearing pages out, marking with post its, anything to refer back to. It gives you something concrete, as opposed to a bookmark on a website that could get lost in a sea of other bookmarks. However, I was drawn toward editorial styles of magazines, and SMP seems to be a magazine, just in web format. I think to bridge the gap, brides need the option to at least print certain photos. I also think that blogs need to keep up the intensity with posting various types of weddings and trends. SMP is great about featuring all different types of weddings – budget, lavish, modern, vintage, rustic, plush, etc. Blogs will also need to keep up with and make very vocal the up and coming and existing bridal trends. I often tore out the trends portion to be sure I wasnt falling too much into a “now” wedding as opposed to a classic one. It will be a transition, but blogs will boom more and more. SMP is my favorite by the way =o)
It’s so sad to see so many mags going out of business, as I too love magazines and usually devour them in one sitting. I love being able to actually hold a magazine and leaf through it and that’s something that I don’t think will be soon replicated in the digital world. Blogs offer a more eco-friendly option and one that doesn’t take up so much space on my coffee table and nightstand. Obviously there are pros and cons to both print and digital publishing.
This post is so appropriate because just yesterday I discovered Lonny magazine, an upstart online shelter (home decor) magazine. Lonny is off to a great start trying to marry the best of both worlds. I love that you can hover your mouse over objects in the photo layouts and they link directly to the store or vendor online. The page turning technology is also quite nice, not to mention the fun things featured inside! (I’m not affiliated to Lonny in any way, just thought it fit in with this post subject.) http://www.lonnymag.com/
Here in Portugal it´s not very easy to find those magazines but with a little luck i manage to buy them so i´m very sad to find out that they are closing doors. I have been blogging for several years and i still manage to get inspired by magazines. The excitement of the latest issue is enormous! However times are changing and the internet makes us closer together every day (if we think a bit, i´m discussing this subject with you guys and i´m in Europe!!) Should´n we be able to keep magazines and blogs… oh and coffee?
I discovered Lonny recently too…I am fascinated by what they are doing with the web. I have no idea if it is too literal of an interpretation or it’s exactly what readers want. Perhaps it’s the new frontier? For me, I like the stream of content that a blog provides rather than flipping pages but of course this is where the gray area is….are blogs taking the place of magazines or are they a totally different beast.
Brancoprata…my team and I were discussing how AMAZING it was that we were building an inspiration board set based on a design that a reader in Portugal crafted. What we can do with the web and weddings is kind of incredible.
Oh and one more little thought…what if SMP put out an annual or quarterly magazine. Would you buy it?
Thank you for the link Shelley. Seem´s inspiring! Can´t wait to read it!
I agree, blogs can’t replace the feeling of snuggling up on the couch on a sunday morning with coffee in hand and a great wedding Mag, however, I think with today’s economy it came down to the fact that brides would spend that 5.99 to 9.99 on a wedding magazine, zip through it in 10 minutes without getting one idea out of it and feel like they just threw that money away. In the day before blogs and the daily wedding inspiration online that feeling was less because brides would get ideas from them but now it’s like they look through them and can’t help but feel that they saw better inspiration online that prior week while sneaking on the blogs at work and just wasted 7 dollars they could have put towards their wedding budget. My heart definitely goes out to all those loosing their jobs its very sad but hope it leads them to brighter wedding pastures
Abby to your question….as it relates to my response, I would buy it if it gave me something the online blog didn’t. Perhaps save the best of the best weddings for that sunday morning magazine with coffee. That would be fantastic
Are you kidding Abby? If you put on a magazine i probably fly to the US to buy it (so please make shore i can buy it here in Portugal!)
I am new to the blogging scene, so far for the main purpose of wedding planning. I have at least 5 or six magazines that I have purchased for planning purposes as well. As far as the magazines vs. blogging debate, I would have to side with blogging. I do see your point about going through a magazine and having pages doggy-eared or marked up with sticky notes, but its something about seeing something new everyday on your blog that lasts a lot longer than looking through that magazine magazine once or twice! From 9 to 5 I check Stylemepretty in anticipation of what will be next, and I know I will continue to read it long after my wedding planning is over.
I would definitely buy a SMP mag — I like quarterly magazines because they tend to have a bit more substantial content than a monthly issue.
I love Style Me Pretty for style inspiration and guidance but I’d love to see it have more DIY projects, wedding planning and content similar to the magazines. Blogs that have that info are the only real replacement to the magazines. Then again, style is your niche and maybe the nature of blogging is that the readers have to find their favorites in ever wedding category.
But like I said, love it!
So true Abbey…the blog that is the most all encompassing could easily become the replacement. I’ve always thought that you should know what you do and do it REALLY well. For us, it’s inspiration and style. But, perhaps we could extend that into more super chic DIY, trends, etc. all while keeping style as the undertone.
The only magazine that is worth looking at for wedding inspiration is Grace Ormond.
Everything else is just not pretty.
All these vintage weddings I see are so cheap.
Since magazines aren’t doing so well right now.
Abby, do you really thing that opening up your magazine would be such a good idea?
Other than that, I still happen to find your wedding blog to be a very fun place to look at weddings!
Oh and I forgot to add that I’m a little miffed b/c I wrote two emails to Elegant Bride’s editor-in-chief Antonia van der Meer regarding an article she wrote from the summer issue where she mentioned my grandfather’s resort and misspelled his name! There was never a reply or any correction in the next issue which bummed me out. I don’t think a blogger would do that..
I’d actually prefer everything to be online; it cuts down on paper waste, it cuts down on hundreds of pages of ads that NEVER apply to me (I’m Canadian), it’s FREE and I can save pictures more easily. I hate clutter, and love being able to see all my inspiration in one place. You can’t do that with magazines.
Blogs allow me to easily save what I want to, hit the ads that I’m interested in and save me money. I love SMP and plan on visiting after I’m married for other party and decorating ideas, but no, I would NOT buy a magazine.
A book however, something that merges SMP with Backstage and passes on your tidbits from the pros in a timeless fashion…that I WOULD buy.
Great thoughts Jessica…my thought about opening an SMP magazine (which is still a WAYS off) would be that magazines are often bogged down in the corporation hoopla. Their operations costs are huge and they emply so many different people that they have to continue to charge advertisers a pretty penny so that they can pay their bills.
I can see approaching it HUGELY different keeping costs down by working with student designers on the layouts, bringin on vendors to help put together photoshoots hat promote their work and yet inspire brides, selling directly on our site, etc.
Majorly just in my little imagination but thought I would throw it out there for discussions sake!
Definitely sad news in the already struggling publishing industry. II definitely agree with several comments that there’s something special to the physical experience with a magazine. Turning the glossy pages, seeing big, bold, stylish ads for dresses, and more. It’s definitely very experiential. Blogs on the other hand are a different kind of experience I think. They give you the opportunity to take part in the conversation so now it’s two ways rather than the one way delivery of information when reading a magazine. I also agree with Kristen that any print publication would have to offer something the blog didn’t or expand deeper on things the blog only touches on. And Abbey hit the nail on the head! Quarterly would be the best option in my opinion. Definitely allows you to focus more on quality than the quantity needed to produce a publication on a monthly basis. Maybe the next step to expand on the SMP brand, while needing to fill the void left by departing glossies would be to have carefully chosen correspondents to cover certain areas of the industry? They each make it their specialty to know the in’s and out’s of one piece of the wedding industry; photography, decor, fashion, DIY, etc all the while maintaining the SMP brand. And of course keeping the overall tone that the foundation of anything they produce is rooted in style and inspiration. Weaving that through any kind of extension is key to maintaining the SMP brand integrity which is rock solid at the moment! Can’t wait to see what new ideas are coming!!
SO interesting Corrine!!! Great idea BTW!
There is something to be said about feeling the glossy pages beneath your fingertips. Blogs are an affordable way to replace magazines because they’re inexpensive to produce and free for readers. In this economy we’re all looking for ways to cut back. Magazines were one of the first things to cut back on in my budget. That said, nothing will ever replace the smell of a brand new magazine or book.
I will be sad to lose these magazines, but at the same time I don’t feel the void will be one blogs won’t be able to fill. I sometimes hated how New York/East Coast centric some of the wedding magazines were (no offense to any of you NY-ers or east coasters!) but I’d love to see weddings and wedding vendors from all over the country, not just NYC or LA.
Wedding blogs are the new wedding magazine.
I agree with Jessica above that Grace Ormond is a great magazine stand pick, as can be Martha Stewart weddings, but I can’t help but notice that these publications, even at their release, seem a bit out dated.
One can flip though a wedding magazine and think, “oh yeah, I saw that on SMP two months ago….or so and so’s blogged wedding was just like this.” It seems to me that these publications are giving us what we already know, and with a lot more advertisements printed on them. I think the reason this is happening is because wedding blogs spend time talking about REAL people and REAL love, whereas most magazines are just about SELLING a wedding image to large crowd of wedding hopefuls and primarily making a profit. Fashion shoots are fun, but I’d rather not look like a cookie cutter bride on my wedding day. I’d like to look like the person my fiancee fell in love with. Most blogs celebrate this, and that’s what we want to see. Stylish, fun and loving parties.
I don’t know about you, but I’d rather spend my time par oozing umpteen wedding blogs full of *free* inspiration than spend ten dollars on seventy pages of advertisements and four features.
But Abby, I would definitely buy a magazine from you…. Just to read on airplanes, when I can’t get the internet.
Abby I had no idea you had this blog! Sean Low has said so many great things about you. I will have to come and see you when I am back in NY. Yes yesterday was a sad day in the wedding world.
I personally feel like that blogs and magazines are two different beasts. There is just something about having some me time with your favorite publication where you can cut out pictures and create a story board vs. have a slew of pictures you can access on your hard drive.
There is a need for both!
Print magazines are slowly fading, but in its place are digital magazines. As a big fan of SMP, I personally think you guys would thrive as a digital magazine! Although they are not the same as a print magazine, they offer many advantages to your fans and your wallet. There are digital magazine software out there that make it so easy to create different layouts, etc. Check it out! Wow, do I sound like a salesman or what? Lol. If you ever need a salesman, you know who to call now. =D
Look what I found: http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2009/10/conde-nast-closes-four-magazines-focusing-on-digital-distribution/#
FASCINATING. Wonder what they’ll come out with!!!
As an art director and lover of magazines, I don’t think blogs can replace the printed paper. However, I agree with some of the other readers that blogs do offer something that magazines do not, there is an “instant gratification” factor with blogs that magazines, no matter how often they are published, cannot match. I will say in planning my own wedding, i scour magazines and blogs for inspiration, tearing things out of the former and clipping images out the latter to make my own inspiration boards and to put in my wedding workbook. Sometimes the images from a magazine that you see on their website aren’t as big or as detailed as what you’d get by tearing out the printed page. I will continue to read both stylemepretty and other wedding sites after i’m married, but i’ll probably look at wedding magazines as well (maybe not buying as often, or checking out the site first and buying if there is content i am interested in). as i say, inspiration can come from anywhere.
I was sadden to learn the closing of four Conde Nast publications but the truth is this was a long time in the works. They were going to close some titles and sadly it happened to some magazines I like.
I like magazines just like I like books. I can’t take reading every single thing online. I need human interaction away from the computer. I like curling up with a well edited magazine. I also love being able to tear out beautiful editorials and hang them on my mood board for inspiration. You just can’t get that with blogs, even if you do print something. I don’t like most digital mags especially the ones that simulate magazines it’s stupid to me. Why duplicate something people keep saying is dying?
As far as you starting a magazine. I like the idea because you have a built in audience. Listen a good friend of mines works with fashion magazine Lula and trust me they take on 10 or 11 adverisers in each issue and only put them in the front and back, never within the pages of editorials. They are a small staff, awesome print on thick stock paper, and come out 2 times a year I believe. It’s worth the wait. Lula isn’t trying to be Vogue or any monthly they are not trying to break news or new trends they created a fantasy world for their readers and they have a very strong following with very little online presence. I say look at the model and don’t repeat the current model that magazines work from. CONTENT over advertisers.
Good luck and if its a dream don’t let anyone stop you with their predictions about print, not all magazines are created equally.
As a wedding vendor, I think a big part of the failure of wedding magazines is how they treated their sponsors. That’s not to say that the people who advertise in these magazines have been treated badly, but I think that in general, magazines have been a poor return on investment. I personally have shelled out tens of thousands for print ads, and to this day I’ve never once had a customer say “Oh I found you in _____ Magazine!” On the other hand, I spend a few thousand a year on web ads and a substantial amount of time submitting to wedding blogs, and I receive inquiries from brides on an almost weekly basis who found me on one blog or another. In speaking with my colleagues, this seems to be a common experience. Brides rarely look for their vendors in magazines anymore, and vendors are starting to notice that. In a medium that depends on advertisers to pay their bills, that’s the kiss of death. If a wedding magazine truly wants to survive, they need to find a way to really make their advertisers’ investments worth what they’re paying (perhaps through guaranteed features or online advertisements), instead of jacking up their advertising fees and hoping no one notices their dwindling circulation numbers.
I think it’s fair to say that wedding blogs have been the demise of wedding magazines (ironic, considering how many magazines have started blogging, and how a few blogs have launched magazines). Brides nowadays check wedding blogs on a daily basis and become very loyal readers. Thus, when they stop by a bookstore and see the bridal magazine, there’s little incentive to shell out $5-10 for something they get every single day for free. Furthermore, wedding blogs tend to show “everyday” weddings that are more realistic and attainable for the average bride, while magazines tend to feature million dollar weddings that might be pretty to look at, but provide little in the way of inspiration for brides planning their weddings. Everyone enjoys looking at fancy things, but when a bride is looking for inspiration for her wedding, she’s more likely to find it from a well-styled “real wedding” on a blog than in an elite, high end affair featured in Grace Ormonde.
I have just read all the posts here and especially the one just before mine from Stacy Reeves, I so agree that brides are getting their ideas and information from blogs. I myself a planner/event designer, get great information all over from blogs. It is daily reading. I want to bring fresh and new ideas, mine and other for my clients.
Love SMP
As the editor of a local wedding magazine, I of course love and believe in magazines. Since I was a little girl I have always devoured mags—I would excitedly await their arrival in my parent’s mailbox (the glossy pages peeking out from behind bills and flyers), then would hide out in my room—much like you Abby!—pouring through the pretty pictures and exciting articles for hours. Magazines transported me to a bigger, more stylish world, and inspired me to no end. I believe mags can still have a future, but I think the business model will need to change (advertising, marketing, etc.), and the content will have to be top-notch quality, from the art to the edit. Of course, change is not easy, and that is where the problem lies: Evolve and adapt or die.
That being said, as a blogger and web editor for the magazine as well, I also greatly love the online format and think it can be equally inspiring. I think blogs can offer insight into current trends and of-the-moment info that magazines can not because of the lead time in publishing. I also thinks blogs can be a bit more irreverent and fun—there seems to be a greater sense of freedom of ideas in blogging. The most interesting thing to me, though, is the dialogue that blogs and online planning sites create between brides and vendors—this is one component mags have never really mastered.
I truly believe there is a place for both in the future—and I think content, creativity and quality will make the difference. Keep up the great work, Abby! You are an inspiration to not only bloggers, but also those of still trying to make magic in the magazine world. And if you do decide to start a magazine, drop me a line—I will happily help with any writing/editing you need!
I love blogs! circut I go through most mornings. they inspire, create conversation etc…but, I like nothing more than a glossie on my front porch with either a cup of coffee or glass of wine (depending on the time of day)
Nothing can replace the feel of paper in your hands the turning of a page…maybe I really am getting older, I don’t mind the getting older, I just don’t like the losing of things that comes with it.
So sad.
So sad to hear the news today about the closing of Elegant Bride and Modern Bride! I am not engaged…and haven’t been yet, but have been an avid reader of wedding magazines probably since the age of 5! I am the one who checks the box “wedding enthusiast”…and I owe a ton of my fascination and passion for the industry to these two magazines. It’s the reason I’ve decided to pursue a career in the wedding industry, and wedding magazines are what keep me inspired while I’m figuring out how to make the switch from higher education to weddings
That being said…blogs have replaced most of the gratification factor of the magazine…more specifically, the delivery of ideas and concepts. You can access more themes, vendors, and styles at a quicker pace in a blog…plus you’re able to decide instantly whether what you like IS what you’re seeing or not, and then accordingly, choose a different blog/website. With a magazine…once you buy it, your stuck with it.
What the magazine can provide, however, is the physical visual…you can’t cut out a webpage or post it on your wall.
I’m just as obsessed with magazines as you are Abby….I just choose the more unique and perspective specific wedding magazines now. And…I can pretty much guarantee I’d be your first subscription holder if SMP put out a magazine! SMP has such a unique and specific perspective…driven not so much by what the experts are doing, but by what brides are doing! Besides…with two big icons leaving the industry, they’re going to need someone to fill the void! I say go for it!
Abby, I am with you…I love magazines. My first love was Seventeen, then on to Vogue and W. As a bride to be, I love Martha. However, a magazine only goes so far. I make my own story boards, with images I find online. This is my hobby and guilty pleasure. I never cut up a magazine. I don’t think it is just the economy that is driving down magazine sales. I simply cannot run a Google search for “Peach Wedding” or “Red and Pink Wedding” in a magazine.
There are so many of us that log on each day to your site and others. Style Me Pretty and all the other plethora of sites out there are what keeps me from the magazine kiosks. A magazine may be gorgeous, but the internet is magic.
You and others give me what Martha does not…a daily fix!
As much as my obsession with blogs is growing, my favourite way to spend a free afternoon (very rare!!) is curled up with a stack of magazines and a cup of coffee. I think it’s all about the experience. I’m at my computer all day so I flick through blogs throughout but sitting to read a magazine feels like time out. Wedding Style Guide (www.styleguide.com.au) which hails out of Australia is the most beautiful wedding magazine I’ve ever seen…as well as buying a hard copy they offer it digitally online and the price reduces once the latest copy is out which is great way to appeal to all audiences in this market. It’s not littered with advertisements which so many of them are, and every page is honestly a work of art! (And no I don’t work for them!!)
I was so sad to hear this as well because as much as I love wedding blogs (especially SMP!), they simply cannot replace the lovely tactile fix I get from curling up with a magazine. I save many of my magazines and when I started planning for my wedding (and now planning for other people’s weddings) I realized that I had wedding magazines that dated back to my high school years! I used to buy them for the visual inspiration and beauty and couldn’t throw them away! Now, when I look back on some 10 year old mags, I see them in a different way and re-purpose the ideas with a modern flair.
I think the magazine just seems more manageable than an entire blog. I could never make my way through the whole SMP blog (with all it’s branches and sweet nooks and crannies), but I like grabbing a magazine from 1999 and reading it from front to back. I think an annual publication/book from SMP would be GREAT!! I would definitely collect all of them!!
Thank you for continually working towards meeting the needs of brides and planners! You work is much appreciated!!
I love the idea of SMP doing a print magazine. I think semi-annual would be frequent enough, and align the issues with when the spring and fall season wedding dresses are released. It would be so nice to have something concrete from SMP to make inspiration boards and collages with to take to vendors, etc.
{Side Note} an earlier reader mentioned printing out the pages of SMP, which is useful. I have tried to do this to add ideas/inspiration to my wedding binder, and it has been a little difficult. If you could put a print button somewhere on the page, or a way to print specific sections without including all the blog content that would be very useful!
Lastly though, the most wonderful thing about SMP and blogs over magazines is how amazingly intimate they are. I love knowing that I can connect with people all over the word so quickly and easily, vs. a magazine where only certain content is included. This is what makes SMP brilliant, is that so many comments and ideas are updated on a moment to moment basis. The constant flow of inspiration and connection to others is what keeps me coming back for more…..
keep up the great work! xoxo.
Nancy…magazines are like little archives of our life! It’s so funny that you would mention bringing out issues from 1999. I recently found a binder I made when I was in 7th grade of hair styles, exercise ideas, make-up tips, fashion. Hilarious.
I love that years and years of magazine clippings can give you a window into your life. So neat.
Wow. Great discussion all! ~I believe blogs to magazines are like apples to oranges~ each providing different experiences. With print reading, I feel a certain inherent permission to actually slow down {rare these days} to process the images and content. I’m a wedding blogger and I LOVE the immediacy in the blogosphere, but I also LOVE to settle in and read my fav magazines~ even perusing those at Home Depot for design inspiration. But, as Tessa said earlier, magazines MUST change their business model to succeed in this day of the internet and the fabulousness of real time 2-way communication. IDK how that will look but there are sound recommendations even in this dialogue. Content is Queen! Yes Abby, I would buy your qtly magazine!
Such an interesting discussion! I am a journalist on a quarterly wedding magazine in England and have literally just finished writing my regular column on planning my own wedding (May 29th 2010, yey!!); so, guess what the subject matter is…how wedding blogs have become my latest obsession and why I think every bride needs to put down the magazines and get herself online!
Don’t get me wrong, I am a major magazine lover – they’re like my addiction and my fiance now believes that the collages i create from my favourite images is a fully fledged hobby (to be fair, i’m pretty lame and spend hours doing it!) – but as a bride to be and where weddings are concerned, blogs win hands down.
When I first got engaged I bought every magazine out there and before my fiancé and I had made the major decisions about what we wanted from our wedding and hired all our suppliers, they were helpful. But now we’ve booked everything and our wedding style has come together I completely sympathise with all those girls who have spent £5 on a magazine only to flick through it, be completely uninspired and put it straight in the recycling box! It’s always so disappointing and frankly a cost that I just can’t justify anymore.
Today, what I’m really interested in, are the ‘real wedding’ features; seeing how other couples have pulled their ideas together and created a day they’ll remember forever, what DIY inspiration I can take and any budget tips that will come in handy. And sites like SMP offer these in abundance – profiling weddings of all styles and budgets to ensure inspiration for every bride out there.
Plus, and this is the best bit, I can visit the site everyday (ok, ok – three times a day!) and be presented with more beautiful pictures, new wedding ideas and fun, helpful commentary! My impatient nature is satisfied and, naughtily, I can sneak a peak during work hours!
That said, a SMP magazine packed with your best real weddings and some of your fantastic DIY tips would have me enthralled and I’d buy it in a flash!
PS. Abby, just to let you know that in my column I’ve let all UK brides in on the secret that is SMP – it’s offered me the most fantastic inspiration and I have found some other brilliant blogs thanks to your site too, so huge thank yous from across the Atlantic! No doubt as soon as any of my readers log on to your site, they’ll become as enthralled as I am!
That is amazing Nell! I looooove that we have readers finding inspiration all over the world.
When I was first engaged, I purchased every single bridal magazine in the hotel gift shop where we stayed after my husband proposed. Any time I saw a new one on the stands, I would buy it excitedly until I started to realize that they were all the same! The majority of the pages are ads for wedding gowns I would never be able to afford and I felt there was very little for the DIY bride (as I proudly was). I learned about 6 months into our engagement that Martha Stewart Weddings was the only bridal magazine worth buying and I have clipped several ideas from those ever-inspiring pages.
Now that I am starting my own event planning company, I rely so heavily on blogs like this one and Weddingbee to keep me abreast of the latest trends and needs in the wedding industry. I still buy MSW, but I have no need for any other wedding mags.
I actually was not surprised nor sad to hear about Elegant and Modern Bride shutting down. I think it is a result of so many recessionista brides buying more affordable gowns (I got mine at Brides Against Breast Cancer), DIYing tons of details, and looking to be unique in an industry that thrives off of “Ohmigosh, you HAVE to have a 5 tier wedding cake!”
SO true. So many magazines feature weddings that aren’t attainable for anyone…and to be honest, I’m not sure that brides even WANT that style anymore. We have featured $250,000 weddings where just about any bride could replicate the details if they were willing to DIY. And, we’ve featured $10,000 where no-budget brides find inspiration. I think that is KEY.
Check out Sean Low’s article on the closings, completely fascinating!
http://www.thebusinessofbeingcreative.com/2009/10/07/thoughts-on-modern-bride-and-elegant-bride/
Well, I can admit to a touch of sadness at the announcement, but only because Elegant Bride was the first wedding mag I purchased after I got engaged. That purchase was prompted only because of a beautiful bouquet on the cover that was just what I was envisioning at the time. When the new mags come out, I spend about half an hour at the store flipping through them all. I almost never walk with one to the register. Why? I find about 2/3 of the pages are gown ads and if I can locate the editorial content, it doesn’t relate to me (I’m sorry, I have a $5,000 budget, not 10 timse that!)…all that and it’s $5-10?!
True, I get sick of being glued to a screen all the time, either for work, play, or reading. There really isn’t anything to compare to curling up with the printed page. However, if some of my favorite blogs did a quarterly magazine with some of their own editorial content not online, I would totally buy it! (My top fav being SMP followed by Snippet&Ink)
I was devasted by the loss of Domino and now this. I’ve been a certified magazine addict since high school, and I need a magazine fix to survive (usually involving a whole stack and absent fiancè). Mags are not blogs or websites. Sitting down and devouring Martha Stewart Weddings could never be the same as going to the website, unless they had every single feature online. Tiny computer screens and eye strain? There really is nothing like combing through a magazine. Nothing. Now if I could just procure 10 whopping euros to get the September issue of Vogue…
OH and I would definitely buy an SMP mag.
I love magazines. I subscribe to three of them, and there are several that I miss (Blueprint). I like the portability and the fact that you are holding the picture in your hand.
But bloggers have proved that you can produce a good read everyday, with little or no cost.
Gourmet is a good example of a concept that lost its original passion. At the end, it was all about selling ads.
So many wedding magazines are like this, too. I get more ideas from SMP in one post than I do from Brides magazine in a month. Blogs are just upping the ante, and hopefully both magazines and blogs will come out the better for it. And yes, Abby, I would read your magazine!
I was sad to hear the news about Elegant and Modern Bride Magazines. The hubby and I were on our way home from Turkey and heard the news on the TVs at the Atlanta airport. I used Elegant and Modern Bride during our wedding planning and still have the old issues. I hope that someday, they might come back!
On the other hand, I hope that this does bring more readers/brides your way. Style Me Pretty is always an excellent resource for all things pretty!!!
So I have to give my two cents to this conversation. First of all I am a magazine junkie for life and especially those on weddings. I think I have every Martha Stewart Wedding magazine sicne it first was published! There is something so tangible to have a magazine in hand. Call me old school, but I too love being able to tear out pages of a specific magazine and putting them in my binder of favorite things. I am pretty new to the ‘blogging’ world. I am in love with SMP and agree with some of the other comments in saying there should be a better way to print and save images. As a bride-to-be I would like to have something tangible to take to my vendors to express the look and feel of my wedding. On a side note to Abby I would definelty buy a print version of SMP and have thought about emailing you in the past in regards to this issue, because I am such a passionate believer in magazine…though I have to say I love going online each night to check the latest SMP blog
I will continue to read both magazines and blogs and am happy there are both!
I adore Wedding Magazines, along with a few others… but I really mean it when I say a “few” (let’s just say that I’m the opposite of a hoarder). I think print publications are fantastic – BUT I also think the print market is completely saturated, with so many publications competing for the same audience that they effectively dilute their own talent, readership, advertisements, and now, their own success.
I discovered this week that another Conde Naste magazine is ceasing publication – Gourmet Magazine – one my beloved favorites. I wish I could convince the leadership at these companies to think uncoventionally… to do something different to save their publications and embrace the change that the future brings. I truly believe that there is some middle ground between the web and print. There is a way. There has to be.
Hi Abby-
Just wanted to post my own thoughts about the magazine issue. I was sad to hear that EB would be off the scene, not so much MB b/c Brides is so similar and higher end. I think, like anything, it’s different strokes for different folks though. Some will flock to a blog, some to the paper product. I myself, love a beautiful bridal magazine. I have a slight obsession. I have every Martha Stewart mag since she started and cherish my collection. Along with those, I have probably 500 other bridal magazines that have grudgingly (only to those helping me move!) gone with me through 3 states! I practically attack anyone who even think of bending a page. Ahhhhh, rest in peace EB.
xo,
Lindsay
we enjoyed reading the blog, you have a amazing delivery style! I have sent a link to my dad, and shall definately be returning back for more reading.
backstage.stylemepretty.com has become a favorite sunday point for me
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