I’m an avid reader. I always have a mountain of novels on my bedside table, newspapers and magazines in a pile on the kitchen table, and an assortment of reading material stacked in a corner on the desk. And, I actually go through those mountains, pile and stacks at a pretty good pace. So at the latest Union Cooperative meet-up, I posed the question: What essential resource are you reading right now? To give “essential resource” some context, this is a meet-up of engaged women in the midst of planning their wedding (“cooperatively” planning their “unions,” get it;). While I could have spent the rest of the evening on this topic, the other women had to dig deeper. But once we started digging, we were on a roll! Here are their suggestions as well as my own.
Essential Magazines: We were unanimously against subscriptions; each publication has such a definitive style and market that twelve issues of one may feel repetitive. We preferred mixing it up; picking up the most compelling issue of the month at the airport, perusing the bookstore for the issue that features exactly your topic of the moment. Our top picks were...
- For planning tools and organization: Real Simple Weddings
- For DIY: Martha Stewart Weddings
- For a Colorado focus on style, vendors and venues: Reign, Rocky Mountain Brides
- For something edgy and high style: New York Magazine
Essential Sites: Pinterest was far and away considered the most valuable resource by this crew, not just for gathering ideas, but for communicating them to others. Couture Colorado was a popular choice on the aesthetic and local scales. I’d also recommend you find your favorite wedding bloggers and instagrammers and follow them!
Essential Books: While these may not be “essential” for wedding planning, they are certainly fun, interesting or thought provoking reads on relationships, weddings and expectations.
- For when you’re running low on time, choose a story from one of these collections - Altared: Bridezillas, Bewilderment, Big Love, Breakups, and What Women Really Think About Contemporary Weddings; This is the Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett
- For a cozy evening in or a beach vacation - Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage by Elizabeth Gilbert; The Engagements by J. Courtney Sullivan; Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James
* Can’t get enough of this ‘book club’? Find inspiration and updates on the latest essential wedding reading. * Want to become a part of this totally awesome meet-up where all things wedding are shared? Let's Talk! * Think we've overlooked a resource? Add your suggestion to the comments below. *