How to Read Wedding Magazines

There was nothing I throuroughly enjoyed more than taking a crisp $20 bill down to the bookstore to purchase 3 or 4 wedding magazines when we got engaged. I bought them a couple different times and took any free ones laying out in places we registered--duplicate or not.
Now I'm not the average Midwestern bride that gets married in a church and has a reception in a hotel. If you are, I wouldn't have to tell you how to read magazines! They are made for that kind of awesome experience. For those who are more like me, or want something that isn't in the magazines, don't write the Knot off quite yet; there's still things the mags are good for.

Inspiration
The books are filled with pictures and ads (also pictures). Don't skip over them; this is not a magazine. It is a wedding magazine. The pic of the centerpiece you skip over could be the One. Don't pore over every page, but be objective and look at each photo for a good amount of time.

"NO" ideas

What DON'T you like about the magazine? In the magazine? Is there a photo of a reception you think is the ultimate tacky festival? Cut it out! Making an antonym inspiration board when you're first planning is actually a lot more helpful; at that point you're bombarded with ideas you like. If you find one you don't like, there's a definite no. We must learn to celebrate this word later, so start now!



Read it Backwards
The only thing you should skip in wedding magazines is the table of contents. Don't expect what's coming next. Take no context with any photos. One thing that helps me with this is actually a funny habit of mine: I read magazines backwards. I don't know why, I just start in the back cover and read to the front.
Read your magazine front to back, read a new one, and then pick up the first one and read it backwards. You'll be like, "Did I see this?! I don't remember that!" It's like having fresh eyes when it's in a new order!
Remember that the Wedding Industry pays a ton of money to put their interpretations of being married into these mags. Only you can tell what being married/getting married will look and feel like to you. Most of my wedding magazines were for gathering "NO ideas" and it helped us a lot!

After you read them, I suggest giving them to a friend who would be interested or is getting married. Just because it's a new month doesn't mean the ideas from last month won't work anymore! What are some of your favorite magazines? Do you cut them up, give them away or save them?