Pretentious much?
Written: May 23 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Can be used as a booster seat for small children
Cons: Outlandish suggestions, useless articles, and (mostly) awful dresses
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| atara's Full Review: Modern Bride Magazine |
According to Modern Bride, the average price of a wedding today is $18,000.
blink blink
Really? Gosh. I must be poor. My wedding budget is only $4,000. Whatever shall I do?
Paging through the magazine, you will see page after page of ads. Granted, I picked up the magazine to look at the ads for a dress I might be interested in. I did, however, stop to read the articles sprinkled lightly throughout the heavy tome. After reading a few examples of the nonsense they printed, I started to wonder why the magazine insisted on tacking the word "modern" onto their title. A few examples of their extravagant stodginess:
* Invitations should be engraved on heavy-duty paper, and should cost at least $6 apiece.
* Veils start at $150, and if you want to do things properly you should expect to spend at least $300.
* Minimum flower budget should be $3000. (It is, however, permitted to reuse the bridesmaids' bouquets for the head table's decorations.)
* A live band consisting of no less than 5 members should play at the reception. A DJ is out of the question; only hillbillies use DJs.
* A proper seated dinner (with a choice between beef, chicken or pork) requires seating arrangements. The magazine provides many tips on seating arrangements, and how to make sure you don't seat Aunt Bertha next to her ex-husband's girlfriend. A buffet is out of the question; again, only hillbillies use buffets.
...and so on. In article after article, I was told that I am not wealthy enough to have a "proper" wedding. (I was further astonished to see an article on financing a wedding by taking out a loan.) This was reinforced by the ads for $4000-$5000 dresses and designer china. I'm sorry, but I don't know anyone who can afford that. We're making our invitations ourselves, I'm not wearing a veil, flowers will be common and in-season varieties, and we're having a DJ and a buffet. So pbbbbbt!
I reached my final straw while reading an article on dealing with wedding stress. (I could say that the bridal magazines are causing most of my stress at this point...) The article describes how a "young professional woman" was not dealing with her stress well. The article quoted her saying, "I'm not doing that whole garter thing. It's stupid and barbaric and I'm not doing it."
The very next paragraph begins: "People say and do strange things when they're under stress..." Excuse me? Since when did the "garter thing" become a required part of a wedding? I don't remember any laws getting passed, unless Miss Manners is now a Congressional lobbyist. (I'm not planning on doing the garter thing either. So double pbbbbbbbt!)
If you're looking for a really expensive dress to wow all the ex-boyfriends, go ahead and check out Modern Bride for the ads. But skip the articles - trust me, you'll feel better about yourself (and your wedding plans) that way. Better yet, don't even bother. Save your money for something else. There are much better magazines out there with better, more affordable dresses - and advice that you can actually use.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
atara
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Reviews written: 26
Trusted by: 13 members
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