I mentioned in the post about my recent florist appointment that it made me realize something. When I was told that the flowers I really wanted to use for our centerpieces (dahlias) would be too expensive, and that the budget-friendly option would be to use roses and hydrangeas, I was disappointed. I wasn't disappointed about the hydrangeas, because they're my favorite flower. But the roses? I was bummed. Like I said, it wasn't my proudest moment.
What I realized during that appointment is that reading the big wedding industry blogs with the perfect flowers and everything else had raised my expectations too high. Had I not seen pages and pages of photo inspiration online from weddings that cost way more than mine will, I probably would have been content with the idea of roses right away. Or at least not SO disappointed. In reality, there's nothing wrong with roses. They're pretty, romantic, cost-effective and the most popular flower in weddings! I'm sure our centerpieces will be really pretty. It's just, when you see so many pictures of lush flowers like peonies, it's hard not to want to go that route too...
What I realized during that appointment is that reading the big wedding industry blogs with the perfect flowers and everything else had raised my expectations too high. Had I not seen pages and pages of photo inspiration online from weddings that cost way more than mine will, I probably would have been content with the idea of roses right away. Or at least not SO disappointed. In reality, there's nothing wrong with roses. They're pretty, romantic, cost-effective and the most popular flower in weddings! I'm sure our centerpieces will be really pretty. It's just, when you see so many pictures of lush flowers like peonies, it's hard not to want to go that route too...
So after that appointment, I took the plunge. I un-subscribed from the big wedding inspiration blogs that I've been obsessing over and reading religiously for more than a year. (Don't worry, bride friends! I'm still reading your blogs! I'm just cutting out the blogs NOT written by fellow brides like me...) It's really bittersweet because these blogs are just so pretty and the photos are really helpful for generating ideas. But on the other hand, I'm at the point where I don't need to be looking at all of these perfect weddings anymore. I don't need to see all the stylized table scapes and photo shoots. I don't need any more ideas. I've realized how it's all taken a toll on me.
I'm grateful for the months of inspiration I've received from these blogs, but with less than six months to go, I need to focus on the vision my wedding will actually be, instead of dreaming of an unattainable vision. So I'm sticking to reading the blogs of my fellow brides and will just go to one of the big blogs if I need to see something specific.
How do you guys feel about the big wedding blogs? At what point did you (or will you) stop reading them?
I'm grateful for the months of inspiration I've received from these blogs, but with less than six months to go, I need to focus on the vision my wedding will actually be, instead of dreaming of an unattainable vision. So I'm sticking to reading the blogs of my fellow brides and will just go to one of the big blogs if I need to see something specific.
How do you guys feel about the big wedding blogs? At what point did you (or will you) stop reading them?
I feel you on this. At the beginning I was an avid follower of weddingbee, snippet and ink etc. But after a while it all became very samey and very unrealistic.
ReplyDeleteI have got so much more inspiration from real brides, who share their stories, their tips etc and also look forward to seeing how their weddings turn out at the end. Hence why I enjoy your blog.
We ourselves want to keep it real and have a day which reflects who we are, not what is stated in the wedding mags/blogs.
Like I said yesterday, done with inspiration and on to execution.
ReplyDeleteI was bummed I couldn't have tulips. I love tulips. So I totally feel you. I was also sad when I realized that a gorgeous bouquet with wheat or peacock feathers just wasn't me, because I wanted so badly to pull it off.
The key with roses, if you don't really care for roses, is to go for different colors than you normally would - we're doing a champagne colored rose and possibly some orange roses, mixed with Dahlias (for us, maybe it's geographic, but dahlias were like, the cheapest option).
I unsubscribed from Style Me Pretty and some of the others awhile ago. I keep Snippet and Ink and Once Wed and Weddingbee because I like the stories and the Once Wed weddings often reflect my own particular aesthetic.
I stopped reading the wedding blogs that weren't written by actual brides ages ago (except for A Practical Wedding, that one doesn't count). They were just doing more harm than good. Now, I may look at one if I'm looking for specific inspiration, but to see all of those fabulous and expensive weddings every day was just driving me nuts!
ReplyDeleteI have always been into blogs by real brides, but am guilty of taking the occasional sneak peek to some of the bigger ones...I love to get ideas from as many places as possible, but I need to be careful because I am on indecisive lady and adding too much options to the mix could mean disaster!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great post. I am so over seeing photos of people's amazing DIY favors, invitations, EVERYTHING with mismatched vintage chairs and milk glass at their weddings of 25 guests and wishing I could execute it at my 400 person wedding. I have seriously cut back on these styled, professional-type blogs, though I will occasionally still read OnceWed.
ReplyDeleteI only go there once every few weeks or so. It's just too shiny to be relevant and leaves me feeling sad about my (already expensive-to-me) wedding. I prefer to follow real brides who are managing the same challenges I am (and not silly DIY challenges that make it all seem so Easy and Perfect. grr.)
ReplyDeleteRoses are beautiful. I'm happy this experience helped you see things more clearly. I'm trying to do the same thing with wedding dress shopping right now too (budget and reality. sigh.)
Luckily I never got into those blogs, and by the sounds of things, I'm glad I didn't. It was so much more interesting for me to read blogs by actual brides and get inspiration for them. I think your wedding will be gorgeous, roses and all! :)
ReplyDeleteI love looking at them just for "wedding porn" but realistically I know mine will never look like that. Even worse I think are some of the DIY projects I've seen that look UH-mazing! Any DIY attempts on my part look like a kindergarten project.
ReplyDeleteOh & I was really upset when I learned that we can't get peonies for our Sept. wedding.
ReplyDeleteBUT
Good news is there are bazillions of different types of roses and some LOOK like peonies - there's a bunch of resources on my blog (tag: flowers). Check out the names of them & ask your florist. Good luck! :)
I never read them in the first place, except for Weddingbee. I'm an older bride, have been to and been in many weddings and kind of had an idea of what I wanted in a wedding. I have specifically focused on looking on blogs written by black brides since I am one and there isn't much representation of us out there.
ReplyDeleteI do read Practical Wedding and started reading Los Angeles Love because their great discussions of relationship/emotional/transitional issues surrounding the actual wedding.
I've been single for 36 years. I have that down pretty good. I'm ready to be married.
I have you bookmarked. Come visit when you can.
http://theunemployedbride.wordpress.com/
I'm the same way. I stopped looking at Style Me Pretty, Wedding Bee, Once Wed, etc. because they were making me feel badly about our wedding. Worse yet, like I had to defend our wedding and that's not good either.
ReplyDeleteNot soon enough. All those blogs make weddings look like magazine shoots. I swear that's half my issue with my photos - I wanted it to look like a Martha stewart spread.
ReplyDeleteYou'll feel better now. Trust me!
Girl, you're not alone! I had to unsubscribe from a lot of them too. At a certain point, you just don't "need" the inspiration anymore--you know what you're doing, what you're having, etc. that sometimes they just serve to dish up jealousy or feelings of inadequacy instead of inspiration in the long run.
ReplyDeleteYour centerpieces are going to be gorgeous...and hey--we're using carnations in ours, so take THAT big fancy wedding blogs! Haha! :)
I completely agree! With 6 months to go I need to focus on my plan instead of inspiration overload. Real brides are more fun to read and journey with.
ReplyDeleteHi Ghenet, late comment - but great choice. Why compare? Inspiration is great, but you'll find it surely with a wedding that really reflects you.
ReplyDeletep.s. I was totally going to do the white and orange pumpkins for our original fall wedding! They're so seasonal and lovely!
Like Chocolate Lover, I never really got into the inspiration blogs. Not because they didn't show image after image of gorgeousness, but I just felt it was always so much more interesting to hear about weddings from individual people who were going through the process of planning their weddings. Don't get me wrong, I've definitely used images that I've found for inspiration, but I never felt I fit in with the effortlessly gorgeousness on a lot of those sites. *shrug* I'm a budget, lazy bride, what can I say!?
ReplyDelete