Buzz: Brides New York

As planners in an industry saturated with uber talented musicians, there is no shortage of great bands to recommend. Check out our advice on some awesome bands and musical talent in the new issue of Brides New York on newsstands now!

GUEST BLOGGER: Sarah Jenks

Why Your Scale is Helping you Pack on the Pounds

The walk from your bedroom to the bathroom in the morning can feel like a death march. Not because you need to navigate the shoes strewn across your floor or avoid ramming your calf on the corner of your coffee table in a dark sleepy haze, but at the end of the perilous path, your biggest critic awaits to determine your sense of self-worth for the day – your scale.

As a bride, I know you want to lose weight for your wedding. It’s almost an unavoidable expectation these days that so many of us feel obligated to fulfill. And weighing yourself feels like a necessary evil, a sick obsession to make sure you are on track. But the process can seriously weigh you down…

As you stand in the bathroom, you start removing every article of clothing. You peel off your camisole and shorts, your underwear, even your rings and earrings. Oddly, this is probably the only time of day when you are truly naked. It’s just you and your body. And instead of feeling strong, beautiful and empowered, you feel vulnerable and judged.

But there is something very wrong with this picture, because the scale really doesn’t reveal anything of value.

First, the scale lies. The number can fluctuate a lot in a 24-hour period. Things like what you ate the night before, how much water you drank, where you are in your cycle, if you worked out or not, all effect the number, but have nothing to do with your health. Not even to mention that muscle weighs a lot more than fat (and it’s fit and strong we’re going for here, not an arbitrary number on a scale).

Second, the best judge of how healthy you are is how you feel. Think about it: your scale can’t tell you how you slept last night, how you felt after Chinese take-out, or how clear your skin is. These are all true signs of health. Tune into how you feel while you are eating, working out and living your life- your body will communicate health by your energy, ability to sleep, skin quality, and mood.

Here’s the reality: Have you ever actually been happy with the number on the scale? If you gained weight, you’re a fat loser. If you stayed the same you are lazy. If you lost weight, you could’ve lost more and aren’t trying hard enough.

Getting your daily dose of self-esteem bashing from your scale causes stress, poor body image and really crappy moods. And what happens when women get moody? We eat. Weighing your self is actually making you fat, not thin. And the reality is, we all know when we lose weight. Our jeans feel looser, our skin is tighter, our face is less puffy. It’s not some big mystery. A scale can’t tell you how toned your arms are getting from doing a million triceps curls, or how radiant your eyes look from taking care of yourself.

My advice to you? Take steps to wean yourself off of the scale. The number on it means nothing. It is not an indicator of how you feel or how you look. It tells you nothing of importance. If you weigh yourself everyday – stop. Try instead to weigh yourself just once a week. If you weigh yourself every week, try cutting back to once a month. And if you really want to cultivate health in your life and develop a positive, trusting relationship with your body- just throw it away.

I promise – you will be far better off without it.

In the morning, go through this routine instead: undress, stand in front of your mirror and tell yourself you look beautiful (even if you don’t believe it at first). Admire and adore your body. Picture how you want to look in your wedding dress. Now hop into the shower feeling empowered, sexy and healthy.

Want more of Sarah? Check out her website: http://thebreathtakingbride.com/

Mini of the Month

In case you have not been paying attention, the way to our hearts is through our stomachs... more specifically if you buy us Baked By Melissa cupcakes, we will love you forever.

Just when you think 10 flavors of awesomeness is all you need to be happy in life, Baked By Melissa is introducing their "Mini of the Month!" (We know, it is a dream come true!) Each month, they will introduce a new cupcake which will only be available for that month. The August delight is Sundae Cupcake, made of chocolate cake, hot fudge stuffing, vanilla icing, chocolate sprinkles, with a cherry on top!

So run to the nearest Baked By Melissa store and order some of these yummy treats - you only have until August 31st!

Happy Birthday!

We want to wish a very Happy Birthday to one of our fav interns as he turns a quarter century old!!!

Breathtaking Bride Master Class - Limited Space!

As event planners, we’ve seen it all! But the saddest part is watching our brides struggle to lose weight for their wedding – believe us ladies, we understand your pain!

We are so happy to tell you that Sarah Jenks of the Breathtaking Bride, is now offering a two-hour Breathtaking Bride Master Class: “How to feel centered, confident and drop dead gorgeous in your wedding dress without crash diets, deprivation or turning into bridezilla”. This master class will show you a completely different way of losing weight for your wedding. A way that doesn’t involve starving yourself, counting calories or giving up chocolate.

Held at the gorgeous, Gabriella New York Bridal Salon on on Tuesday, July 27th from 6:30-8:30, this class is limited to TEN BRIDES, which will allow Sarah to give each participant the kind of one-on-one support she, until this point, has reserved for her full-time clients. Sarah’s philosophy is truly a breath of fresh air in this culture of crash dieting. To read more about Sarah and the class, click here.

These ten spots are going to fill up fast, so we recommend that you jump on it!

A Flag That Looks Good Enough to Eat!

With July 4th weekend right around the corner, we thought we would take a break from blogging about flowers and dresses and just focus on deliciousness! We know everyone has been to a BBQ where someone made a pound cake with cool whip, blueberry stars, and strawberry stripes. Let's face it, no one actually likes that cake! Well, we have a remedy for the mundane... check out the July 4th themed cupcakes below from Baked By Melissa. Yum

Have FUN with your Engagement Pictures!

There’s a new trend with engagement shoots: HAVING FUN! Forget about those stiff, staged engagement photos you think you’re supposed to take! We live in the best city in the world so get out there, take advantage and capture the energy of this amazing city, but most importantly HAVE FUN!

Check out how much fun our clients (Annie & Ed) had during their recent engagement shoot:

Photography by Lina Jang of Jang Photography