If I Could Invite You, Martha, I Would...

I had been really dissatisfied with bridal magazines until I found Martha Stewart Weddings. They all seemed to just be full of the same thing: ads for $10,000 wedding gowns and the same 40 bridesmaid dresses. Then, a friend suggested this magazine and from the first issue I picked up (Summer 1999) I was hooked.

The thing I most enjoy about this magazine is that not only does it have beautiful pictures of table settings, invitations, flowers, etc. but in most cases there are step-by-step instructions on how to recreate them yourself.

I also appreciate that this magazine offers advice on everything from planning the honeymoon, to picking the music, to decorations, to ring engraving, to how to get along with your mother-in-law. Surprisingly, most of these ideas are presented for a variety of budgets and styles of weddings: from the very formal to the backyard ceremony.

There are checklists and planners, recipes and how to's - many, many ideas and plans that I have decided to use/adapt for my own wedding. Also, Martha gives tips for after the wedding: important things like writing your thank you's (especially remembering to thank your parents) and taking time for yourselves as a new married couple.

I was so thankful to find this helpful magazine and appreciate that I don't have to flip through pages and pages (and pages and pages...) of ads for helpful advice that I can really use.