There are so many good reasons why you may be planning a non – traditional wedding. If you are in a same-sex relationship or you just don’t want/need all the girl stuff traditions usually bring with them a non-traditional wedding will make you the happiest.
It’s time to let go of the notion that you are not a real bride unless you wear a shiny new (and no doubt expensive) white dress or even a dress at all. Nowadays you can walk down the aisle in any outfit that makes you feel like the beautiful goddess you should feel like on your wedding day. So don’t feel like you have to choose a white dress or else. Anyone that tells you that you do, you can feel free to ignore. After all, it’s your special day, not theirs.
Depending on how far from tradition you are going in the planning of your wedding you may not even feel the need to have bridesmaids. If you do, there is no wedding law that says they all have to have matching dresses. There is nothing wrong with each bridesmaid choosing her own dress and there is no reason why all of their dresses have to look the same. As long as everyone is considered dressed appropriately for a wedding at the end of the day, which is probably all that matters to you.
As we all know, a traditional wedding usually calls for a bridal shower prior to the big day. If pestering your friends and family to buy gifts that you may or may not like and may or may not use is not your cup of tea you can scrap the bridal shower altogether. If you have a well-meaning friend or relative that insists on throwing you a bridal shower and the thought of opening gifts in front of people makes you want to run screaming into the night there is a unique way around it. Ask your guests to bring their gifts unwrapped and simply display them on a gift table. If you need a justification for this just to shut up opinionated friends and family or to ease any unwarranted guilt you might feel make it all about saving the environment. After all, how much paper gets wasted creating wrapping paper that you’re ultimately just going to rip up and throw away anyway?
These are just a few of the things you can do to plan a non-traditional wedding. For more ideas visit Best For Bride online today.
Your wedding will be the most memorable day of your life and you and your family and friends will want to look back on it with fondness, never bad occurrences because of ill-mannered brides and grooms. Your wedding day can also be very stressful, but if you keep these tips in mind on your special day, your guests will remember everything happily and not still talk about the time that the groom was giving a speech after having one too many or how the bride didn’t say hello to certain people.
Visit with Each Guest
There’s no doubt that during the reception there will be lots going on, but don’t forget to visit every table and take a couple of minutes to speak with everyone. They’re just as happy to be there as you are to have them there, so make sure all of your guests feel like they’ve been acknowledged by both the bride and groom and don’t forget to thank them for coming to share your special day.
Mingle as a Couple
It’s easy to want to break off from your new husband or wife and hang out with your friends at the bar, but make sure you make time to talk to your guests as a couple. You just got married, and plenty of people will want to come and congratulate you; it’s just easier when you are both together.
Be Mindful of Your Alcohol Consumption
There’s always someone that gets too drunk and ends up embarrassing themselves; you don’t want that to be you, especially on your wedding night! Make sure you pace yourselves because there is likely to be lots of toasts with champagne, wine at the tables and friends and family wanting to have a celebratory drink with you.
Remember Your Bridal Party
They’ve likely spent money on suits, dresses, shoes, accessories, makeup and more (the average bridesmaid spends $600!), make sure that you get a nice thank you present for your bridesmaids and groomsmen. Make sure you budget and plan ahead for this; this isn’t a spot to save your money. Make sure they not only know how important they are to your special day, but how thankful you are. Need some tips on finding the best bridesmaids gifts? This article will help you!
Don’t forget to check out Best for Bride as your one stop shop for everything you need for your special day. From dresses to invitation, we’ve got you covered.
You finally did it! You picked out your perfect wedding dress, allowing for plenty of time to have it ordered in your size and shipped in time for your wedding. Then it hits you: this will be MONTHS from now and with all the upcoming pre-wedding celebrations, how can you be sure that the size ordered will still be suitable when it arrives?
No need to panic. These tips from our Registered Dietitian, Anna Gofeld, will help you make sure that dress fits even more beautifully on your wedding day than the day you fell in love with it.
Getting married is exciting! You not only get to tell the love of your life that you want to spend the rest of your life with them, but you get to have a big party to prove it, along with several smaller ones.
While you’re focused on putting together the perfect big day, you are probably having a few pre-wedding celebrations as well. Regardless of their size, the one thing most gatherings have in common is FOOD.
Eating together to celebrate is a cornerstone for gatherings of any culture, with alcohol often also added to the mix. Between the engagement party, bridal shower, bachelorette, and wedding food tastings, many brides struggle to keep their dress size in check for their big day.
Here are 3 tips that will help you fit into that wonderful dress you ordered, months later:
1) Avoid Stress Eating and Drinking
Many people turn to food and drink when they are stressed out, often craving sweets and refined carbohydrates (carbs). This a stress response rooted in our biology. When we eat carbs and sugars, our brain releases a chemical called serotonin, which improves mood and induces calmness.
Alcohol also has a calming effect, as it changes the balance of neurotransmitters in the brain to decrease the response of nerve cells.
However, the long-term consequences of poor eating habits and excess alcohol consumption far outweigh their short-term benefits. Refined carbs and sugars—including sweet cocktails—increase the body’s production of insulin, often followed by a sugar crash and a renewed feeling of hunger. This is a double whammy, as insulin is a fat storing hormone and the sugar crash causes an even greater intake of calories. As well, keep in mind that alcohol contains 7 calories per gram, which is almost as much as a gram of fat.
Instead, aim for a balanced plate that includes half vegetable, a quarter complex carbohydrates, and a quarter lean proteins. This will help balance out your calories, as well as ensure you are getting a good range of nutrients in your diet. If you choose to consume alcohol, do so in moderation, with no more than 2 standard drinks on most days and even less whenever possible, as alcohol can really pack on the pounds and interfere with vitamin absorption. Remember that 1 standard drink is equal to 12oz of 5% beer/cider/cooler or 5oz of 12% wine or 1.5oz of 40% spirits, while your glass may hold more than that.
2) Don’t use food as reward
After checking a few big things off your seemingly never ending to do list, it is often tempting to reward yourself with a nice dinner or a yummy treat. This is often a learned response, especially if your parents used food as a reward when you were younger. Over time, our brain connects accomplishment with food treats and we end up reaching for those “sometimes” foods more often than we should. This can add up over time. For example, if you reward yourself with a Starbucks grande white chocolate mocha made with 2% milk (no whip cream) and peanut butter cookie once per week, that will equate to 880 calories per week, which adds up to 13 lbs per year.
Instead of rewarding yourself with food, think of new creative ways to pat yourself on the back. Go for a manicure, buy a new shirt, play a board game with your partner, or just take some time to relax with a good book or craft activity.
If your partner likes to spoil you with chocolates and yummy things, encourage them to be your ally by getting you things like a card or flowers instead.
3) Stick to the 90/10 rule
In life, it is nearly impossible to have perfect eating habits. Particularly when things get hectic and the number of social gatherings increases, some less desirable food choices are bound to happen. This is perfectly fine, but needs to be planned out in order to avoid excess weight gain.
Enter the 90/10 rule of eating: 90% of the time you are eating healthy and 10% of the time you allow yourself to have less desirable food choices. For someone who eats 3 meals and 2 snacks per day, this roughly translates to 2 less healthy meals and 1 less healthy snack per week.
This allows for increased food choice flexibility and a break from the constant meal vigilance that causes most people to give up the health habits they are working on. The most important thing is to get right back to healthy choices at the next eating occasion and ensure that this provisional rule doesn’t become too flexible.
Wishing you great health and good food,
Anna Gofeld, RD, M.A.N., BASc
Owner of Eat Well Anna – annagofeld.com
Registered Dietitian
Masters of Applied Nutrition
BASc Nutrition and Food
Anna Gofeld is a web-based registered dietitian (RD) from Toronto. Using a lifestyle management approach, she helps individuals develop skills and healthy habits that are sustainable for life, allowing for maintenance of optimal health for years to come.
For more information about Anna and her services please visit annagofeld.com
According to the flower girl dictates, she walks down the aisle in front of the bride and the bridesmaid at the wedding. They have held an important place in wedding and till today they continue to do so. These girls have also symbolized fertility at the nuptial union and have melt most hearts with their innocent and angel looks. There is no doubt she is the sweetest and youngest guest at the wedding. Apart from dropping flower petals in front of the bride, a flower girl performs other duties as well.
Although the bridal fashion has come a long way, but flower girls dress did not change a lot. Even though it is not necessary, but most brides select her dress similar to hers. This is mainly done to create a miniature version of her. This is really a great thing, but above all the girl’s dress depends entirely on her comfort level. Apart from the bride, the flower girl’s parents also choose the dress and accessories. It is usually a tea-length dress along with a satin bow or white bonnet. She carries a beautiful bouquet and a flower basket.
Now coming to the duties performed by the cute little flower girl. There are a couple of duties which the girl needs to perform during the wedding. Traditionally, the girl walks behind the ring bearer down the aisle and moves to the maid of honor. But along with this, it is also acceptable that she walks ahead of the bride and drop flower petals and grains on the floor from the basket. The main task is to look good while walking down the aisle. The girl also attends the rehearsal which helps her know the duties. This even helps to reduce her anxiety on the big day.
After performing her task, she can either stand or sit with her relatives throughout the wedding ceremony. The bride decides what works best for the girl. After the wedding, the flower girl once again walks up to the aisle to the maid of honor. Along with these duties, the flower girl also appears in the family portrait with the bride. This is also an important part of the duty and it can either take place before or after the wedding.
Now coming to the bride, the bride makes sure she prepares the girl just like her miniature version. Due to this reason, in most cases, the bride selects her gown and gives her a similar look like her, at the wedding. The bride also introduces her to the guests at the end of the ceremony.
