For some brides-to-be, glossy wedding magazines are like crack. They'll buy issue, after issue, and they just can't get enough of the models in couture gowns. For me, right now it's real-life brides and their weddings who are most appealing to look at.

Every now and then, rather than pick up the latest bridal mag at the grocery store, I'll visit the photo blog of (my wedding photographer) Jennifer Childress to get my fix.

I love how the photos tell a story, beginning with the "getting ready" shots. Jenn usually brings attention to details of a bride's jewelry, her shoes and other personal items. I don't know these women, but I enjoy looking at them frozen in a moment I am about to live.

People say, "Every bride is beautiful." And it's true. I'll look at a picture and think, "She looks beautiful," and at the same time I'm thinking, "I'd never choose that dress." I'm so intrigued by how different one bride's ivory apparel can be so different from the next, and how even if the dresses have the same neckline and skirt shape, it's the bride who makes hers unique.

In any given region brides will visit the same shops, surf the same websites and page through the same magazines. They could hire some of the same vendors and even have their weddings at the same venue. But somehow, it will all turn out differently. Even if two brides wore the same gown, or the same veil, they'd each make it their own and would never look the same.

I like scrolling down Jenn's blog, taking note of each couple's wedding choices and appreciating the way brides pulled their "looks" together. What I see may not be my style, but I certainly recognize the beauty in front of me.