(Un)Feminist Guilty Pleasures: Wedding Blogs

As a lot of you already know, I’m getting married (this Saturday, eek). And I’m not going to lie, while there was definitely a lot of feminist-minded thought behind my planning process, there was also a lot of…well, other stuff. I succumbed to buying wedding magazines despite their gross consumerism, bought a pair of nearly-unwearable – though fabulous looking – shoes, and decided to have flower girls even though I didn’t want a wedding party simply because I think my cousins’ kids are adorable. It doesn’t surprise me that I bought into some wedding culture stuff – after all, some of it is fun – but it was wedding blogs that did me in. Truly.
I’ve always been a bit of a dork over design, and wedding blogs were just the thing to bring my love of things aesthetically pleasing together with my control freak planning side. Whether it’s “wedding porn” (yes, people call it that) shots of brides and table settings or DIY madness, I wanted it all. My Google Reader nearly collapsed under the weight of my bridal RSSness.
And though there’s no doubt that some of the blogs I’ve been frequenting buy into the wedding industrial complex in a way that makes me massively uncomfortable (Martha Stewart Weddings, I’m looking at you!), I also found some sites along the way that we’re amazingly helpful not just from a planning point-of-view, but from a feminist one as well. Like A Practical Wedding, Offbeat Bride, and IndieBride (no blog, but the forum is great) – these sites helped me keep my sanity with their sage advice and senses of humor.
When the wedding is over and my planning all finished, there’s no doubt that I’ll have to leave some of these blogs behind – after all, how many wedding cake shots can one look at? But there are a few that I’ll keep reading, because the women who run them are funny and smart and remind me why I love the internet. Also, because I like pretty pictures.
Another guilty pleasure – wedding flowers! The picture above is a sample centerpiece from my dope florist, Sarah of Saipua – who incidentally has a really great and hilarious blog herself. Pretty, no?

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