My Bridal Body Journey

It's no surprise that most brides want to look their absolute best for their wedding day. In attaining this goal, many of us diet, exercise, obsess and nitpick every part of our bodies. It's not always healthy, and we're not always proud to admit that we are depriving ourselves of that piece of bread because we are determined to fit into a dress that is a size smaller than our current shape. A shape that, maybe, is not meant to be any smaller than it is.

I did not want to be one of those brides who was so obsessed with her weight that she was miserable and hungry all the time. I did not want to be so narcissistic to think that I had to strive for perfection or unrealistic goals of beauty for one day. But at the same time, I wanted to have no regrets about how I looked on my wedding day, and I wanted to feel fabulous. Not a size 2 fabulous, but a size healthy fabulous. And back when my dress first came in to The Wedding Touch in February and I tried it on, I did not feel fabulous. I still loved the dress, but I did not love myself in it.

At that time, Mr. Cupcake was a little tired of the extra weight he had put on since we first met, and he started following Weight Watchers to shed a few pounds before the wedding. I jumped on the bandwagon and loosely started following his Points system, and as much as I immediately saw results on the scale, I realized that it wasn't necessarily the weight that I wanted to lose — it was some tone and muscle that I wanted to gain. But I was never great at pushing myself to get to the gym after a long day at work, especially amidst all the wedding to-dos on my list for each evening, and fuhgeddabout trying to get there before my 8 a.m. workday begins. Mrs. Cupcake is not a morning person. When I did get to the gym, I usually spent some time on the treadmill or elliptical until I got bored, and then wandered aimlessly through the weights without really knowing what to do until I eventually just went home.

Then, at dinner one night with my friend J, she told me about the new business venture she had been putting her heart and soul into. It is called Bridal Body, and it is a fitness and wellness program meant to help brides lose weight, tone up, increase energy and learn how to listen to their bodies. Each bride is assigned a trainer and a wellness counselor to guide her throughout the process. Their philosophy really stood out to me:

There is no "right" size that every bride, or woman, should be. There is no "right" diet or eating plan for everyone. There is no "right" way for everyone to exercise. We listen to you, and we teach you to listen to your unique body.

The best part: it is an in-home service. Translation: this lazy Cupcake need venture only to her living room to get in shape for her wedding day. Sign me up!

My trainer, Dave, started coming to our apartment two days a week for an hour at a time to whip my butt into shape. The hour always went by much faster than I expected it to, and I actually felt muscles working that I had never been aware of before. Dave showed me different exercises that I could do on my own time, based on the improvements I most wanted to make to my body, and overall he kicked my butt. I always felt sore the day after our workouts — that good, satisfying sore that reminds you that your hard work is going to pay off. Since I still had a gym membership and I wanted to get more familiar with some of the equipment at my gym, Dave also met me there a few times to help me feel more comfortable in the gym and to show me different exercises I could continue doing on my own. Best of all, he always worked with my hectic and jam-packed schedule to fit in our workouts, and I really started to see a difference.

My wellness counselor, Gretchen, called me every two weeks for a 30-minute follow-up on my progress. She also emailed me interesting recipes based on the foods I like (and don't like — I'm a pretty picky eater). I was honest with Gretchen that I didn't have a lot of time to cook dinner every night, and I did start to feel overwhelmed with all of her information at one point, amidst all the craziness of work and the wedding plans; she totally understood and scaled back, focusing more on encouraging me to get the sleep I needed and take a few moments each day to relax and de-stress. I was most definitely pretty stressed the few months leading up to the wedding, so my chats with Gretchen were always a good reminder to take it easy once in a while. (And now that I have a lot more time on my hands, I am looking forward to trying out some of the recipes that Gretchen passed along to me.) Gretchen also encouraged me to eat heartier foods with more natural ingredients, and I really started to feel better when I wasn't eating a lot of over-processed crapola.

After working with Bridal Body and by the time I was at my final dress fittings, I felt spectacular. My dress had fit snugly back in February and didn't feel like it needed a single alteration (which was a little scary considering that the same size sample that had made me want to buy the dress four months earlier had been fairly loose). At my fittings in August, the seamstress had to take in a few inches in the bodice, I felt okay without wearing Spanx under my dress, and I was no longer worried about the back of the dress (which was slightly lower than I remembered it being when I first tried it on). I didn't focus on trying to figure out ways to hide my flabby arms because they now felt a little less flabby, and I felt like a beautiful bride. To others, the difference may appear much more subtle, but I definitely felt and saw a difference.

BEFORE:

Trying on my snug dress in February and not very happy.

AFTER:

A few pounds lighter, dress taken in a few inches, and feeling toned & fabulous.
Photo by Mr. Cupcake's cousin, Evan (a budding photographer!)

Flab-free back and arms that I worked very hard for!
Photo on left by Mr. Cupcake's cousin, Evan; Photo on right by our friend Tara

If you are looking for someone to truly hold your hand through the process of getting healthy for your wedding (and, in general), Bridal Body may be for you. The company is based in Philadelphia but their network of providers currently ranges from NYC down to Baltimore. Every program is completely customized to each bride's needs, so there is no base price that they advertise, but do keep in mind that it is a luxury program. After a free in-home consultation, a program will be custom tailored to your budget and lifestyle. In addition to Bridal Body, there are two other programs geared towards busy moms (Mommy Body) and anyone else with a busy lifestyle, looking to transform their health and achieve balance in all aspects of their lives (Vital Body). Although I do know the owner of the company, I promise you that I would never be recommending the program if I had not had a great personal experience with it!

What are you doing to look your best on your wedding day? Have you considered a program like Bridal Body to help you achieve your health goals?