Friday, January 19, 2007

The Many Sources of Wedding Information

Even if you're brand new to the whole engagement world. You probably already know there are lots of bridal and wedding magazines at your favorite newsstand or bookstore. For the most part they're excellent, and contain lots of good information. They're usually a little bloated on the advertising side, but those ads can provide a lot of good ideas too.

What you may not know, is just how many other resources are out there to help you!
There are books, websites, even video and TV programs addressing every aspect of getting married! In many cases, they also offer some things that the major magazines do not.

For example, what about local information for your state or city? Would you like to discover some unique places in your area where wedding ceremonies are being performed? How about the inside scoop on wonderful locations for your reception? Want to do some comparison shopping for photographers, DJs, florists, or cake bakers? These are all examples of useful information you're not going to find in the national bridal magazines.

Who's going to perform your ceremony? What are the local laws about marriage in your state? How do you go about getting a marriage license? And, how much should you expect to pay for various items or services, in your area? Again, the national magazines can't deliver that sort of information!

The other thing is, most of the ads in the magazines are for national brands or products. In the first place, buying ad space in those publications is usually way too expensive for your local suppliers. Plus, why would your local wedding supplier spend thousands of dollars to be in a national publication, when they only do business in your local area? Rev. Ron Heilner, of Wedding Ceremonies- Michigan (http://www.weddingceremoniesmi.com) says, "Those national magazines are beautiful, and they have some excellent articles. But a local or regional wedding company doesn't really care about reaching people on the other side of the country. And, the prices for their ads are totally out of our reach!"

Try some web searches using terms like "michigan weddings," "connecticut brides," "atlanta bridal," or "dallas ministers." You'll find lots of local information!

Check out some of the major websites like "theknot.com," or "theweddingchannel," or "theweddingdirectory." Yes, they're national resources, but they often have links to some local information for different areas of the country.

The point is, there's plenty of good information and fresh ideas for you to consider. Buy all the magazines-- they're beautiful! But "think local," too, and don't lose touch with your roots!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

People should read this.