Is it the recession that is killing the print bridal magazines, the accelerating popularity of online alternatives, or is it both?
It was recently announced that Time, Inc. will no longer publish InStyle Weddings after the Dec. 25, 2009 issue of the popular bridal magazine. Elegant Bride and Modern Bride, both Conde Naste publications, were shuttered earlier this year as well.
Meanwhile, the online wedding planning resources–like Brides.com (also owned by Conde Naste) and TheKnot.com/WeddingChannel.com–appear to be doing quite well. Being the founder of an online wedding planning resource myself, I can see the logic in such an evolutionary move from browsing bookstore magazine racks to having heaps of quality online information available at your fingertips. As a general trend. But I’m wondering how much of this growing “bridal mag die-off” is really due to decreasing readership or interest; I know that plenty of brides still love browsing those magazine racks and collecting the glossy full-page detail photos versus printing out website snippets. I believe that the growing online trend may be a small factor, but that the bigger story regarding what’s hurting the print industry is the combination of decreasing bridal budgets and decreasing advertisement dollars. And this isn’t just restricted to the bridal industry…one need only look at what’s happening to newspapers around the country to see how the problem is spreading.
During the months ahead, it will be interesting to see in what direction things move. In the meantime…brides, I’m sorry to say that it’s R.I.P. for InStyle Weddings.
Photo Credits: InStyle Weddings cover from Time, Inc.
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