Many brides that their impending wedding day makes a great motivator for their weight loss goals. Upcoming nuptials are a good marker for health goals: your friends and family will be looking at you all day, you’re going to fill several albums with pictures of you and your new spouse, and you have to fit into what will likely be a very expensive and wonderful dress. All of these factors make getting in shape for your wedding an important goal, but try to keep these tips in mind as you’re dusting off your chin-up bar:

Waiting Until the Last Minute will Wreck your Body

Typical engagements last close to a year – so unless you’re running to the altar, you’ve got plenty of time to develop good, healthy habits. Don’t spend months cramming in burgers and fries as you’re addressing invitations only to switch to a cabbage-and-tequila diet two weeks before your final dress fitting. Getting healthy and losing weight is a long, difficult process, and you need to respect your body as you work toward your goals. Start small, and work your way up to taking out red meat and dessert, or drastically reducing your daily caloric intake. Long-term weight loss is a marathon, not a sprint, and if you crash diet at the last minute, you’re not going to find results that last.

Dieting Alone Isn’t Optimal

Try to think about weight loss as a reflection of both biology and physics: If your body isn’t getting as much energy as it usually gets, it’s going to find it somewhere else so you don’t starve. Your hope will obviously be that it takes what it needs from fat that you’ve already got, but there are other places your body can find what it wants: your muscles. Unless you’re using your muscles regularly (by exercising them), your body will assume that it’s cool to dissolve them. You will see yourself losing weight, but good luck with the pickle jar in a few months. Incorporate an exercise regimen in whatever capacity you can, and find time for both cardio and weight training.

Don’t Stop

When I was in high school, one of my teachers got engaged in the first few weeks of the year. She immediately switched from high sugar/high fat foods to fresh green salads and colorful, whole fruit, in addition to a high-intensity workout routine that she followed for months. By the time her big day came around, she’s lost more than fifty pounds. When school started the next year, it had all come back.

The reason most diets don’t work is because the people employing them tend to be short-sighted. They think of their new routine as a temporary hardship that will give them results that last forever, but the truth is: You can’t just diet; you have to change the way you live. Make your new habits a part of your life, or the weight will flood back to you as soon as you return from your honeymoon. Use your wedding as your motivation, not your goal.

Eco Friendly Wedding Accessories for an Environmentally Conscious Event

Eco Friendly Wedding Accessories

If you and your fiancé are environmentally conscious and you want that passion reflected in your wedding day, you’re going to need some eco friendly wedding accessories. The easiest way to remain eco friendly on your wedding day is to communicate your preferences with your vendors before signing any contracts and making any plans. Most vendors are happy to accommodate vegan/vegetarian diets, eco-friendly lighting, and any other environmentally friendly needs that you may have. If you vendor can’t accommodate you, and being eco friendly is a big concern, take your business elsewhere. Environmentally friendly business practices are growing in popularity; your search won’t take too long.

For the smaller stuff, eco friendly wedding accessories are a fun way to show your guests your passion for the environment. Consider eco friendly wedding accessories such as invitations and guestbooks make of recycled or natural paper. These things are better than processed goods for mother earth, and they fit seamlessly into any decor. Select paper products with pressed flowers inlayed into them, or pieces of nature sewn into their lining. Eco friendly wedding accessories don’t have to sacrifice beauty for practicality!

Think about eco friendly wedding accessories for your favors as well. Use that same natural paper for environmentally friendly hand fans for your guests, or find escort cards or menus that can be planted (seeds sewn into paper products are growing in popularity for eco friendly weddings). Whatever you do to help the environment on your big day, eco friendly wedding accessories are there to help!

Enjoy your Shindig with Bachelorette Party Accessories

Bachelorette Party Accessories

Whether you’re getting hitched right out of your family’s home or you’ve been living together for years, every bride deserves a bachelorette party. And every bachelorette party deserves killer bachelorette party accessories.

So what will you need to hit the town with your closest gal pals?

Some bachelorette party accessories that can’t be missed are: themed favors, transportation decals, and sashes that tag you as the lucky future wife. Themes and color coordination aren’t just for the big day; they can also have a place at your bachelorette shindig. Make sure your bachelorette party accessories (such as favors and banners) are coordinated so you can find each other across the club, and make your way back to your ride (driven by a designated driver, of course).

If you’re having your last hurrah in Las Vegas, your bachelorette party accessories practically pick themselves. Go for banners and car decals that sport the iconic sign for Sin City, or bachelorette party accessories that showcase some sexy silhouettes.

Don’t forget favors at the end of the night! Bachelorette party accessories wouldn’t be complete without a few little gifts to give your favorite girls. Show them you appreciate their support with shot glasses dedicated to your last wild night before your nuptials.

Las Vegas Wedding Accessories Light up the Night

Las Vegas Wedding Accessories

If you’re tying the knot in Sin City, you’ve got to be prepared. Las Vegas wedding accessories can take your event from a run-of-the-mill shindig on the strip and turn it into an elegant (yet cheeky and fun) event that would make any traditional wedding blush.

Vegas weddings aren’t what they used to be (though you can still find Elvis impersonators who will jump at the chance to officiate your wedding), but you still have to bring many of your Las Vegas wedding accessories with you. You can count on your chapel for flowers and a musician, but what about flower girl baskets? Car decals? Cake toppers? Las Vegas wedding accessories are the little pieces that really bring your day together, but with a little Sin City flair.

The phrase “Las Vegas wedding accessories” doesn’t necessarily imply the bold and brazen trinkets that a bachelorette party on the strip might have, though that is always an option. There’s no rule that says shot glasses and racy cake toppers are off the table for Las Vegas wedding accessories, but they aren’t your only option. Vegas can be a family venue too, and classy weddings aren’t as rare as they used to be. Accent your decor with Las Vegas wedding accessories that showcase poker themes or the specific theme of your hotel. Little hints of Vegas make your wedding your own, and Las Vegas wedding accessories can set the tone you want for your big day.

Last time, I reviewed a great chapel on the Las Vegas Strip: The Chapel at Mandalay Bay. Not all of Vegas’s wedding establishments are as elegant as Mandalay Bay, however, so if you are thinking about traveling out to sin city for your nuptials, a little research is pertinent. Don’t stick with the first place you see – the perfect Vegas chapel, like a good Christmas tree, is hardly ever in the first lot.

The Chapel at the Luxor, for example, would not be my first choice for tying the knot in Las Vegas. Here’s why:

Unlike the quiet location of the Mandalay Bay chapel, the Luxor’s chapel is located right next to the food court. The chapel is over the main hotel lobby and directly behind the seasonal hotel attractions. Though the main rooms of the chapel seemed more or less soundproof, don’t expect your entrance to be subtle or private.

I was invited to look around, but no one seemed particularly eager to help. I was told that there were three chapels, but I’m still not sure where the third was. (If you’re doing your own research in Vegas, pay attention to how you’re treated by the staff. If they don’t seem to care that you’re there while you’re looking around, think about the kind of service you’ll receive on your wedding day.)

The decor was also not really what I expected. The main lobby was a little cramped, mainly because of the floral cooler (Unlike Mandalay Bay, which hid their hardware in some other part of the chapel).

I felt like I was in an old, important house – the kind with overstuffed chairs and couches that look like they should be comfortable, but aren’t. Everything looked more French than Egyptian, and what could have been classic and elegant ended up looking and feeling more old-fashioned.

The detailing in the ceiling was pretty, but it disappeared once I entered one of the first chapels. The chapel was nice, but I wasn’t really blown away. The carpet looked very much like the kind you put in a hotel room because it’s easy to vacuum, and the chairs were about as comfortable as benches. I’m sure the chapel looks nice in final wedding pictures, but it felt stuffy and cold while I was there. The two cut-out cubby holes at the front of the room had big cameras in them, and it wasn’t as subtle as it could have been (though the bunches of dusty silk flowers did try to, unsuccessfully, hide them. I hope they’re tucked away better when there’s a ceremony on).

Their packages were about the same in price as the ones at Mandalay Bay, but I never really understood what they included. If you’re doing research for your own wedding, make sure you know what the price pays for. If all you’re getting is an minster and a DVD, consider taking your business somewhere else. There are plenty of options in Vegas for your big day – don’t settle without doing your research!

Plan Ahead for your Bridal Shower Favors

Bridal Shower Favors

A bridal shower is a pre-wedding event often hosted by a bride’s female friends and family. Etiquette dictates that all those who are invited to the bridal shower must also be invited to the wedding, but the guest list is always shorter (sometimes just the closest friends of the bride) and usually entirely female. There’s no rule that says bridal showers can’t be co-ed, but a bride’s shower can be a great time to kick back in an estrogen-fueled environment and talk about girlie things before the big day.

If you’re hosting a bridal shower, it can be a little nerve-wracking – especially if it’s your first time. Bridal showers can become mini events in themselves, and they have many of the components of the actual wedding, including food, centerpieces, and even bridal shower favors.

How can you be sure that the bridal shower favors you’ve selected will be as unique and interesting as the rest of your event?

Well, bridal shower favors have the advantage of not being intended for both genders. Bridal shower favors are more of a female thing, so traditional and universal gifts such as soaps and mini scented candles will always go over well. If you’re in a rush and don’t have much time to plan, these bridal shower favors are a good go-to.

If you have a little more time, and you want to make sure the bridal shower favors you select will be the hit of your event, consider a mani/pedi set, elegant serving dishes (for olives or cheeses), or just purchase unique and flirty packaging for hand-made gifts like chocolate or jewelry as your bridal shower favors.

A bridal shower may be for showering the bride with gifts, but that doesn’t mean your guests have to go home empty handed!

Wedding Bouquet Accessories Highlight your Creative Choices

Wedding Bouquet Accessories

Whether you’re building your own bouquet or looking to improve on your purchased one, wedding bouquet accessories are a stunning addition to all of your floral arrangements. Usually an accessory such as a bird, crystal, flower, or other trinket is suspended on a long, thin wire to make up a wedding bouquet accessory, so they are easy to place and arrange in a tightly-bound floral arrangement. Florists will often mark up wedding bouquet accessories, but if you have an eye for design and style, there’s no reason why you can’t fit them in to your bouquet yourself.

Wedding bouquet accessories that are simple and not so varied in color (such as teardrop or cluster crystals) are great for winter or solid-color bouquets. They won’t distract from the bold floral statement, but will add sparkle to your day.

Wedding bouquet accessories that feature garden-like trinkets (such as hummingbirds, ladybugs, and colored crystals) look wonderful in whimsical and colorful bouquets, especially in the spring.

And don’t discount the other uses for wedding bouquet accessories. To create unity and flow in your reception space, highlight and accent your cake and centerpieces with the same wedding bouquet accessories that adorned your floral arrangements as you walked down the aisle. You can add your own creative touch to every aspect of your day with wedding bouquet accessories!

Say it with Wedding Table Runners

Wedding Table Runners

Personalized wedding table runners are a unique and exciting accent that will compliment any event’s decor. Wedding table runner are already a staple at party rentals, as they add depth and stylistic complexity to your table arrangements, and they’re perfect for tables that are showcasing simple centerpieces. Wedding table runners highlight the centerpieces without distracting from the overall design (and your guests don’t have to move them to see each other). Wedding table runners are a great way to make sure your centerpieces and table designs pop without being overly showy.

The benefit for personalized wedding table runners over traditional wedding table runners is obvious: they offer another way to showcase your monogram on your wedding day. By adding your signature monogram (or names and wedding date), you add unity to the other pieces of wedding decor likely to display your initials as well.

Personalized wedding table runners also make wonderful keepsakes after the big day. If they display your family name, they’ll be a wonderful addition to the homes of your relatives – if they’ll just be personalized with the names of the happy couple, they’ll make a great addition to your dining room table. Personalized wedding table runners can be stored away for anniversaries and special occasions (not to mention for the eventual distribution to progeny), or they can be left out year-round to remind you of your love and commitment.

Getting married in Vegas isn’t what is used to be. Gone are the days of driving down to the slimy end of the strip for a quick “hey-there-what’s-new-you’re-married” with an overweight and geriatric Elvis. The swanky hotels are stepping it up with entire bridal teams and plush in-house chapels, ready to make everything perfect for your big day. “Caesars Palace” offers a beautiful garden ceremony steps away from their grand pool; “Mandalay Bay” has a wedding package that has you reciting your vows under a pod of sharks (standing room only, I’m afraid); and “Treasure Island” lets you kiss the bride on the same pirate ship that’s home to a horde of scantily-clad singing pirate ladies.

So, in short, your choices are a more varied than you might think. I recently took a short trip over to sin city and collected some shaky, blurry pictorials and reviews for your knowledge and benefit. Here’s my review of one of the most highly-rated chapels on the strip: The Wedding Chapel at Mandalay Bay:

The Mandalay Bay Chapel makes a good first impression right of the bat, as it isn’t located right in the heart of the busy hotel. It’s tucked away from the casino and shopping district.

The lobby was welcoming and much bigger than I expected, and the entire building was also sound-proof. The noise from the nearby convention center was completely damped once the doors shut behind us.

There were three chapels to choose from (in the main building – for other options, check out Mandalay Bay’s wedding website), though two of them were nearly identical. The only difference with the third was its slightly larger seating capacity. The chapel seemed to have a preference for calla lilies, but they fit in wonderfully with the soft décor. Whether they were swirled into glass bowls or springing from small planters, it was hard to miss them.

My only complaint with the décor is the beading on the wall lamps. Beads dripped from every surface, and I was not feeling it. Though the translucent beads looked nice and simple when draped against the wall, I was not so happy when I noticed them falling from the lamps. It was a little tacky, but the room itself made up for it. There was plenty of seating, the décor was simple and pretty, and the baby grand in the back added a little something extra.

What really makes the Mandalay Bay Chapel my favorite on the strip, however, has to be their bridal packages. Not only do they offer the basics (photographer, bridal dressing room, simple bouquet), their deals also offer a variety of options that include free spa visits, romantic dinners, honeymoon suites, champagne, mimosas and breakfasts in bed, and even limo rides to retrieve the marriage license. Their prices range from $750 to a little over $18,000 (for the whole shebang, including reception, bar, cake, and wedding planner).

Oh, and if you really want to meet Elvis, they’ve got you covered with the “Viva Las Vegas” package.

Celebrate with Unique Toasting Glasses

Unique Toasting Glasses

The glasses that you and your fiancé will toast with on your wedding day are one of the only keepsakes that you will be almost guaranteed to display in your home throughout your (hopefully never-ending) married life. The glasses are usually a centerpiece on your wedding day (on your sweetheart table or presented adjacent to your cake), and are one of the items you don’t want to just rent from your caterer. Your toasting glasses should reflect who you and your fiancé are as a couple, as they are the symbolic representation of your union. Think about selecting unique toasting glasses for this role – glasses that you’ll be proud to display in your home for years to come.

Toasting glasses aren’t one-size-fits-all. They’re as different and creative as the rest of the special touches you’re adorning your event with. Unique toasting glasses are a great way to fit your décor in with something you’ll be comfortable displaying in your home. Into tabletop gaming and/or Ren Fairs? Select unique toasting glasses made of pewter, adorned with slinking dragons and whimsical fairies.

Are you and your fiancé into art and culture? Find unique toasting glasses made of blown glass or shaped in an appealing aesthetic fashion. Your unique toasting glasses can also reflect your heritage (in fleur de lis or Celtic designs).

When you’re choosing beverage receptacles to reflect your relationship, no unique toasting glasses are the wrong unique toasting glasses.