(Issue date: Sept. 1, 2015)
AUGUSTA, Ga.—Morris Communications Company is pleased to announce the acquisition of EA Bride, a publishing firm in Kansas City, Mo. After the acquisition, EA Bride’s portfolio will be operated as part of Morris Media Network, Morris Communications’ magazine and digital-media arm.
EA Bride specializes in providing the wedding planning information needed by couples in the Kansas City metropolitan area. EA Bride produces EA Bride magazine in addition to the website EABride.com and wedding industry business directory EA Bridal Pages. EA Bride joins other bridal titles within Morris Media Network, including the magazines St. Louis Bride and Charlotte Weddings.
“We’re pleased to expand our footprint with an acquisition that is so complementary to our business,” said Morris Media Network President Donna Kessler. “EA Bride adds to our strong bridal publishing portfolio, and it also promises to have a positive impact on our travel media operations in Kansas City.”
Weddings are estimated to be a $53.4 billion industry nationally. In the Kansas City metropolitan region, the average wedding costs $24,000 per couple, with approximately 13,000 weddings occurring in the metro area each year.
As part of the acquisition, EA Bride founder Christie Scott has joined the Morris Media Network team as group publisher in Kansas City. She holds an M.B.A. from the Henry W. Bloch School of Management at University of Missouri-Kansas City and was named one of 2013’s Influential Women by KC Business magazine.
“EA Bride is a content-shaped organization providing education and inspiration for the bride to help her plan her wedding day and beyond,” Scott said, “and we’re the liaison bringing businesses and brides together.”
“We have tested and proved the concept of EA Bride,” Scott added. “Joining forces with Morris provides us the ability to add to our support system and take the product to the next level as we accelerate our growth.”
About EA Bride
EA Bride magazine is published quarterly (February, May, August and November), serving Kansas City’s upscale bridal audience. The title is sold at more than 200 stores and newsstands with bonus distribution at targeted businesses, totaling 20,000 copies annually. “EA” is an abbreviation of “Ever After.”
EA Bridal Pages is an annual free directory designed to be the most comprehensive resource for brides and the wedding events industry. Listings on area vendors, photographers, caterers and event facilities are coupled with core resource information that brides planning weddings will need to know. Approximately 10,000 copies of EA Bridal Pages are distributed annually.
EABride.com, which launched Summer 2015, is an interactive website catering to the needs of Kansas City-area brides and wedding vendors. Brides can use the site to build profiles, create guest lists, plan budgets and timelines and distribute information on wedding locations, schedules and hotel accommodations to guests, in addition to reviewing and rating local vendors. www.eabride.com
About Morris Media Network
Morris Media Network (MMN), part of Morris Communications Company in Augusta, Ga., is the world’s premier publisher of original, expert-driven print and digital content. MMN’s editors and authors produce passionate content in the areas of travel, outdoors, women’s lifestyle, bridal, local interest, Western and equine. The firm’s heritage in publishing dates back to 1785, but today MMN’s expert content reaches users via award-winning magazines, mobile apps, websites, nonfiction books, guidebooks and maps.