Hello everyone!
I hope your fourth of July holiday was awesome! I am currently in the process of finishing my other blog and will be relocating to that one permanently. I will still post a lot about my experience and tips for weddings and more, but it will also be directed toward everything else! I enjoy talking about much more than bridal chaos, and I want people to get to know Lauren and not just Your Bridal Bestie. I will still be offering help and advice, so I encourage the love and questions via email, so feel free to give me a shout! The new blog address will be up soon and I want you to be the first to follow me :)
Xoxo
Friday, July 6, 2012
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
I work out!
Are you ready to start working on that wedding dress body? I've been trying to start getting active and watching my diet again, so by the time our wedding rolls around, I can be in perfect shape for the honeymoon ;)
I had a great experience with the "No Junk Food Diet" that I formulated on my own, with some help from various other slimming down secrets online, in magazines, and (of course) Pinterest. This particular diet was pretty easy to follow and gave me results quickly when paired with a weekly routine, that I'll share in a bit. Although it's not everyone's dream diet, where you can eat whatever you want and not think twice about those delicious looking snacks, it's still pretty easy to follow.
Stay away from:
I had a great experience with the "No Junk Food Diet" that I formulated on my own, with some help from various other slimming down secrets online, in magazines, and (of course) Pinterest. This particular diet was pretty easy to follow and gave me results quickly when paired with a weekly routine, that I'll share in a bit. Although it's not everyone's dream diet, where you can eat whatever you want and not think twice about those delicious looking snacks, it's still pretty easy to follow.
Stay away from:
Cake
Muffins
Fast food
Chocolate
Candy
White bread
Caffeine
Ice cream
Cookies
This was easy, other than the fast food for me. But I made it work! Chicken is so easy to throw on the grill, so it quickly became my friend. Paired with this, I did light weights every day, alternating between upper body and lower body workouts. I also would spend 3.5 miles, about 15 minutes, on the recumbent bike, and then walk for another 15 minutes to cool down and stretch out a bit. This was working, but I got bored very easily, so now- I'm kicking it up a notch.
My fiance is in such good shape- he plays basketball and lifts weights for at least 4 hours every day and he has a very high metabolism. Yes, I'm rolling my eyes at his athletism, which has blessed him with an eight pack. So, I asked him to help me come up with a few different workouts to keep me excited about working out. He created a 20 minute interval system for me, then I chose the NFL cheerleader workout that's been haunting me on Pinterest, and Zumba. These three workouts (each twice a week), paired with an extra 10-15 minutes of cardio and a clean diet are sure to give me some great results :)
I'll keep you posted on my progress! Wanna join me? Just shoot me an email and let's do this!
Xoxo
Sunday, June 24, 2012
The next step
We finally decided (permanently) on a florist! I'm psyched with our choice and have finally been able to sleepp without having dreams about not having any centerpieces at our reception. Please tell me I'm not the only bride with the "weddingmare" issue :) lol.
I hear a lot of ladies think that their planning is wrapped up and ask, now what? I promise, there is always some stickler detail waiting for you to realize that it needs to be done. For us, it's been deciding which save-the-dates to get, or in our case, make. We searched Martha Stewart's adorable DIY ideas and have narrowed it down to two. My creative qualities love DIY and I'm super excited to make our date savers! I'll keep you posted on how they turn out.
Our other forgotten task was registering! How could that slip our mind, right? Well if you're in the same boat and are trying to decide where to pick your gifts from, think about these factors
Need some help? Email me!
I hear a lot of ladies think that their planning is wrapped up and ask, now what? I promise, there is always some stickler detail waiting for you to realize that it needs to be done. For us, it's been deciding which save-the-dates to get, or in our case, make. We searched Martha Stewart's adorable DIY ideas and have narrowed it down to two. My creative qualities love DIY and I'm super excited to make our date savers! I'll keep you posted on how they turn out.
Our other forgotten task was registering! How could that slip our mind, right? Well if you're in the same boat and are trying to decide where to pick your gifts from, think about these factors
- easily accessible stores for the majority of your guests
- a variety of prices for guests to choose a gift that's best for their budget
- stores that offer a registery that will remain open from the time of your shower(s) to your wedding
- places that carry enough items for you and your hubby-to-be
Need some help? Email me!
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
The Florist Face-off
We've been shopping for the best florist that fits our needs lately, and its been a struggle because of the millions of factors that tie in to what makes a suitable florist. Style, habit, price, and one that I've noticed- willingness. The top two that we have met with are two completely different people! While they are both very sweet and cooperative, one charges for things that I wasn't expecting, like putting together samples or working with me one-on-one to find a style that I like. I'm not excited about paying for that, but I would much rather see a sample of what I'm paying for before I walk in to my reception (uh, duh). On the other hand, we have creativity between the two. One is all about the styling and doing things that are unique, or unexpected, while the other is down right obedient to exactly what I tell her that my vision is. I don't know about you ladies, but I love when someone has the expertise to put touches on my amateur vision where they know it will add to it and not change it. Finally, the financial aspect comes in to slap the dreams of six foot centerpieces out of your reality. Luckily, both florists are in our price range, but this makes deciding even harder! Then again, going back and assessing what is included in each price can definitely be a tie-breaker. Make sure to note whether everyone in the wedding party and family is taken care of, as well as the tax, delivery, and set-up charges that the florist will charge!
It's a tough decision, but hopefully we can speak with both of them to find a middle ground where all qualities that we admire can be brought to the table in either florist. Are you having a hard time choosing between two vendors? Tell us about it!
It's a tough decision, but hopefully we can speak with both of them to find a middle ground where all qualities that we admire can be brought to the table in either florist. Are you having a hard time choosing between two vendors? Tell us about it!
Monday, June 18, 2012
Weekend finds!
This weekend was a blast! We had time at the pool with some cousins, tickets to the Comedians of Chelsea Lately, and plenty of shopping. With that came arts & crafts shopping, and Michael's has come through for us for again! They have a great selection of the cutest little wedding finds for very reasonable prices. From precious favor boxes to creative place card holders, they have a ton of bridal items to choose from! As I already told y'all, we purchased our DIY invitations there, and now we have also chosen a monogram cake topper and ribbon to go around the base of our cake! If we decide against open seating at our reception, I'm definitely going back for the tree branch place card holders that we saw! Michael's often holds classes for a variety of bridal DIY projects, like making bouquets, invitation making and etiquette, and a lot of other stuff! Check it out and take advantage of things like that ;)
If you need any help, don't hesitate to contact me! Xoxo
If you need any help, don't hesitate to contact me! Xoxo
Thursday, June 14, 2012
It was fate!
Our big day is still a ways away, so we've been playing with our invitation options. We found some adorable invitations at Michael's that were our favorite design by Gartner Studios' BRIDES brand, and they were very inexpenses. They have a nice selection of DIY invitations that include directions, template codes, RSVP cards and envelopes, invitations, and the envelopes for those.
After buying one pack and testing them out, we decided that it was easy, smart for our wallet, and cute, so we would go with these! Happy that we had finally chosen our invitations, I went to the Gartner Studio website, planning on buying a few more boxes, and I freaked out! This design was no longer available. Non-existent. Discontinued. You should have seen the look on my face as I frantically called for my fiance.
Yesterday, after a florist meeting, we ran over to Michael's, walking in with our fingers crossed... We found them on the clearance rack! The last two boxes, which is exactly how many we needed. I was so relieved! Then we checked the price, mind you that the first box that we bought about a month ago was on sale at 30% off, so I was hoping that this time we would be lucky again. Even better, final sale at $12.49 per box of 40! Invitation jackpot? I think so!
Check out the Gartner Studios website for yourself :)
After buying one pack and testing them out, we decided that it was easy, smart for our wallet, and cute, so we would go with these! Happy that we had finally chosen our invitations, I went to the Gartner Studio website, planning on buying a few more boxes, and I freaked out! This design was no longer available. Non-existent. Discontinued. You should have seen the look on my face as I frantically called for my fiance.
Yesterday, after a florist meeting, we ran over to Michael's, walking in with our fingers crossed... We found them on the clearance rack! The last two boxes, which is exactly how many we needed. I was so relieved! Then we checked the price, mind you that the first box that we bought about a month ago was on sale at 30% off, so I was hoping that this time we would be lucky again. Even better, final sale at $12.49 per box of 40! Invitation jackpot? I think so!
Check out the Gartner Studios website for yourself :)
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Wedding Chaos
I cannot stress enough how important it is to not get worked up or overwhelmed when (not if) something does not go as you imagined that it would. This advice comes from me doing the complete opposite when we had a minor hiccup with our venue. I will go into that in a second, but for now I will just tell you not to let things freak you out! In the end, you will still be marrying your honey and I promise that your guests will never know if any misshaps occurred during the process. Keep a smile on and remember that things always have a way of working out.
Our wedding planning nightmare
After choosing our venue, we were so excited to have our first meeting with the coordinator that was provided through the venue. We enthusiastically discussed our vision and the important aspects of our day, while the coordinator wrote down what she thought was necessary and tried to talk over our ideas. This was very discouraging and left us with thoughts of if we should choose another venue or even elope! We were too in love with the venue to leave, so we bit our tongues and continued on our road to newly weds :)
Before our second meeting, some questions arose and we tried contacting our coordinator, who was always "busy at the moment," which again, made us kind of uneasy. After weeks of calling, we were finally set up with a second meeting (thank goodness, right?). We arrived at the venue for the meeting and a woman who we didn't recognize came to greet us and tell us that we would be meeting with her. I looked at my fiance like, what the heck is going on? Shortly after, the new woman informed us that our original, rude planner had been let go and that we were now going to have to start over. This meant answering the same vision questions, menu questions... etc. Overall, it took the magic away from our thoughts and expectations, or so I thought.
Months later, here we are with our planning nearing complete, in love with our choices and feeling that wedding magic again. I thought it was a jinx or something! but in the end, I look at my fiance and realize that we could be anywhere, any time, with any coordinator, and I will still be just as excited and blessed to be marrying this man. Take a breath! Things always iron themselves out, just be proactive and patient with all involved.
Our wedding planning nightmare
After choosing our venue, we were so excited to have our first meeting with the coordinator that was provided through the venue. We enthusiastically discussed our vision and the important aspects of our day, while the coordinator wrote down what she thought was necessary and tried to talk over our ideas. This was very discouraging and left us with thoughts of if we should choose another venue or even elope! We were too in love with the venue to leave, so we bit our tongues and continued on our road to newly weds :)
Before our second meeting, some questions arose and we tried contacting our coordinator, who was always "busy at the moment," which again, made us kind of uneasy. After weeks of calling, we were finally set up with a second meeting (thank goodness, right?). We arrived at the venue for the meeting and a woman who we didn't recognize came to greet us and tell us that we would be meeting with her. I looked at my fiance like, what the heck is going on? Shortly after, the new woman informed us that our original, rude planner had been let go and that we were now going to have to start over. This meant answering the same vision questions, menu questions... etc. Overall, it took the magic away from our thoughts and expectations, or so I thought.
Months later, here we are with our planning nearing complete, in love with our choices and feeling that wedding magic again. I thought it was a jinx or something! but in the end, I look at my fiance and realize that we could be anywhere, any time, with any coordinator, and I will still be just as excited and blessed to be marrying this man. Take a breath! Things always iron themselves out, just be proactive and patient with all involved.
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