Mags: Bride To Be (Guest Review)

Though we have to wait until January to see Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson duel it out in Bride Wars, spring marks wedding season in the Great South Land. In a nod to the brides having their final fittings, Polka Dot Bride has graciously contributed this review of Bride To Be – a fairytale magazine where dreams really do come true (even if you're on a budget!).

Bride To Be is Australia’s best selling wedding magazine (86,000 readers, equating to 59% of market share). While this might seem low, Bride To Be produces eight issues a year for a very specific, big-spending and inspiration-hungry audience: the engaged woman.

The Cover
It’s heading into peak bridal season and Bride To Be’s latest cover is decidedly summery with its blue and fluoro yellow cover, requisite tanned young-model-as-bride and enormous flowery headpiece (when else but her wedding day can a girl, other than Carrie Bradshaw, get away with such extravagance?). The cover lines promise us dream dresses, 435 creative ideas (you can never have too many ideas) and tips for those on shoestring budgets (you = not the ideal reader but we’ll throw you a bone).

The ed. says…
Acting editor Jacqueline Mooney emphasises the importance of an engagement (that would be a key step in the whole marriage process) and regales us with the tale of the recent wedding planning party held by Bride To Be and attended by local celebrities (one of whom, Christy Hayes, of Home and Away fame, has her wedding featured this issue).

The story line-up...
• ‘Chic On A Shoestring’ advises us to pick colder months to marry, pick a gown from a non-wedding designer and opt for a smaller cake to save money. Essentially, downsize and lower your expectations.
• ‘Rustic Chic’ takes us into the wedding of actress Christie Hayes who tells us she wanted her gown to be “messy, dishevelled and gorgeous” (which is in keeping with her character’s personal style).
• ‘Registry Wrap Up’ guides us through 23 different wedding registries and lets us know the features of each in a handy comparison chart. How to choose?!
• ‘New Designer Homewares’ introduces us to four designers who, although renowned for wedding gowns, have taken the leap into designing crockery and tableware… the kind you might want to put on your registry list, of course.
• The honeymoon supplement takes us to exotic locations, like Mahalo in Hawaii and Cuba while showcasing all-inclusive stays and budget honeymoons. (Always a forgiving nod to the bride-on-a-budget).
• But it's always the real weddings spreads (aka 'Your Day') that have the most appeal (on my site, these also generate the most reader responses). Unlike the highly stylised shoots, these give us a glimpse into the culmination of months of planning and the visions of different brides, which provides for plenty of inspiration – even if they give you more of an idea of what you don't want. Essentially, these stories are a way for brides to compare notes – and also prove you don't need to be a model to look divine, glowing and happy on your Big Day.

The superficial:
• The Harvey Norman advertorial captures brides perched on dishwashers and wedding cakes on microwaves. Welcome to a new life of electrical goods!
• Fashion shoots this issue include Wild Hearts (horses and wedding gowns), True Blue (shot on mountain tops in New Zealand), Geek Chic (thick rimmed spectacles and bow ties), Riverdance (gowns for a riverside wedding) and Puppy Love, which includes top hats and Mickey Mouse ears paired with polka-dot camis and frilly knickers (cute!). Bridesmaids are guided by ‘Violet Femmes’, while Grooms are styled in ‘City Boys’.
• ‘Alexander The Great’ profiles Alex Perry, who has recently released a ready-to-wear bridal range (prices between $2000-10,000, as opposed to his couture, which starts at $10,000). Perry says he started out as ‘Alex Perry Couture’ but dropped the couture part when more designers latched onto the term, rendering it too mainstream: “most of them don’t know what it really means or how to do it and I don‘t want to be lumped with them.”
• ‘Eye Spy’ showcases three eye makeup tutorials by respected Aussie makeup artist Rae Morris: choose from Natural Eyes, Bronzed Eyes and Smoky Eyes.

The score:
Overall excitement factor: 6/10
Feel-good factor: 7/10
Eye-candy rating: 6/10

The stats:
Issue Volume 145 August-October 2008
Cover Price $15.95
Book Size: 314 pages
Ad Page Count: 109
FOB Ads: David Jones, gm Photographics, Alex Perry, Mariana Hardwick, Myer and Blumenthal Photography.
Back cover: Steve Khalil
Editor: Jacqueline Mooney (acting)
Website: http://www.bridetobe.com.au

Yours truly,
Girl With a Satchel