Bride Buddies

I am a Bride to be who is getting married in May of 2008. I would love to have a support group of women in the same boat as me trying to lose weight and tone up for the big day! Lets motivate each other so we can look and feel great for our weddings! (not to mention the honeymoon!!!)

Hi everyone, I just found this site, and wanted to say hello and congrats! I am getting married on July 19th and am super excited...but definitely need to lose weight before it happens. I am currently 5'4" and 168 lbs, but am hoping to be in the 140's by July. I am super motivated right now, but want to get involved in some groups and such to keep me that way!!

hi soon2bewed!  congrats to you too!  there are lots of people here getting married this summer, for me it's october so I have a little more time.  it seems like you can def reach your goal, but you don't have a lot of room for slip-ups.  have you figured out your cal/day yet?

where is your wedding?  have you gotten a dress yet?

I think I picked out my style of dress - a mermaid one (or tulip one is what the lady at the store called it).  when I was trying on those def seemed to be the - wow ones!  I don't want one that's too busy, so I don't like a lot of beading and all that.  Still waiting to really go looking for one, until I'm a little closer to my goal.

Hi lemntwist! Yes, my goal for cal/day is 1350, and I have been doing pretty well (since Monday, anyways!) I have thought about calorie shifting though, and might try that if I don't get good results from keeping them at a steady level right around 1350.

We are getting married in Seattle, which is where we are from and all of our families lived. We currently live in Texas though, so planning everything has been a pain in the rear. What about you?

Yes I have picked out my dress, there is a pic of it in my gallery. It is a trumpet dress, whatever that means! I am kind of bummed though, I have been rethinking it... at first we were planning a big rustic barn wedding and I thought the lace would be perfect, but my mom passed away in late November, and since then we decided to have a much smaller, more modern type of wedding abd I can't decide if it is still gonna work! So we will see. Good lock shopping for yours, it is such a hard decision, but worth it!!

Hi soonto2bewed! I LOVE Seattle! I lived there for four years and in Olympia for three :)

Your dress is really nice, it looks like it will suit you well!

Lemntwist, show us some pictures of the styles you're thinking of!

I put a picture of the dress I'm getting in my gallery - it'll be emerald green with sapphire blue underskirting and chemise instead of the red and black pictured there - luckily for me that style is GREAT for curvy figures :) 

soontobewed ~ sorry to hear about your mom, that must be really hard to go through all this stuff without her.  I just can't imagine how I would deal with something like that.

ooh that dress is gorgeous - I totally saw it in a mag and love it!  Hmmm I think it could work with a modern wedding, it's lacy but not fluffy!  I think of the ones with huge skirts as being  less modern (does that make sense?)  Seattle is a cool place - i like to hang out there and walk around the downtown, it's so different from Southern California.  I would love to live there for a few years.  I hear ya though - I am planning my wedding in Vegas, only made one trip out there for planning so far.

I have the reception place and caterer booked, and the ceremony is gonna be outdoors there as well, so now it's just EVERYTHING else ;)

tygrkat ~ oooh yea that is so exciting!  I bet it will look really, really great in your colors!  Okay I will post a pic or two (of me in the store) - check my profile.

BTW - calorie shifting or zig zagging or whatever you call it has worked really well for me personally.  It's just so much easier for me to eat a little less in the week and a bit more on the weekends, less worrying too. 

soon2bewed ~ I must have missed that part before, my condolences to you and your family. I lost my mom in August 2005 and I know how devistating it is to lose someone so close.

I agree about the caloire zig-zagging, andI do the same thing Lemntwist ~ I have Saturday as my 'free day' and then Sunday I usually sleep in so what I eat and when gets a little screwy.

I love the dress with the cap sleeves and the mermaid-type skirt! The other one is nice, but I think that one is much more flattering, IMO :)

tygrkat - that is such a fun dress, and yes, that style will be rockin on you! Also I love blue and green together...I was thinking of having lime green and navy as my wedding colors because we are doing it on the water, but when we actually went and saw the room I realized it probably wouldn't look great (it is chocolate and tanish). I think I have to go with something a little softer, probably chocolates and greens and pinks or something. Also I think I missed it, where are you getting married?

lemntwist - Oh I love them both, I wouldn't be able to choose. I agree with tygrkat, the one with the cap sleeves looks great on you and that back is HOT, but I love the falling petals (or flowers? I forget now, I have such a short memory!) of the other dress as well. Oh I want to go try on dresses now just for fun...

And I am so jealous you are getting married in Vegas! SO much fun, are you going to stay there for your honeymoom or go off somewhere else?

Ok I am glad to hear good feedback on calorie shifting, it totally made sense in my head but then I tend to be easily swayed. Thanks for the input!

soon2bewed ~ I think a chocolate and green combination would be beautiful, especially if it was a sage/moss green I think it would give a very "Pacific Northwest" feel to your decorations. Where are you getting married in Seattle? The waterways there are just stunning...I really miss it. I am planning on bringing my fiance out there sometime as he's never been, but knowing how much time we spend hiking, and how much he loves the outdoors I'm sure it'll be hard to get him to leave :D

We're getting married at the Sterling Renaissance Festival in Sterling, NY and having the redeption there as well ~  it's going to be a blast!!

Lemntwist ~ a Vegas wedding is going to be so much FUN!!!

So, I've gained the 3lbs. indefinitely but I'm trying to get back on track.  We were going to order pizza last night but didn't!  Had some vegetarian chili w/fat free chips instead.  I just really need to break this eating at night habit.  I know it's becuase of boredom and we're just sitting on the couch watching t.v., so I start snacking.

I'm turning a new leaf, in exactly 5 months from this date I will be at my wedding reception! (June 28th) and I want to look great.  Is there anything in particular that is helping you guys keep your motivation up?  Unfortunatley I can't put a picture of my dress or anything up around the house, lol.  Would love any motivation ideas!

thanks guys :) I am leaning toward the one with sleeves, (or that sort of style) that particular dress I tried on was a little out of the budget range.  But it was pretty fun to go try a bunch on and not really pay attention to that.

yeah Vegas!  We have a lot of people coming from all over (my fiancee is English), so it made sense as an easy to get to, get around, find stuff to do, and fun place.  As for the honeymoon we won't stay there, but can't decide where to go!  Too many places we want to see, ya know?

As for motivation IMO setting small goals really helps you stay focused and see progress.  Like even 2 lb goals, I weigh myself everyday and enter it here, but ONLY pay attention to the green 'trend' line.  it helps when you have the cha-cha up a few lbs and back down a few to track real progess.  Although it does sometimes upset me when I see a 3lb overnight gain, usually the trend continues down!

Another motivation tip is to take your measurements!!  Get a tape measure and do it everywhere (bust, under bust, smallest waist, just below bellybutton, biggest part of hips, biggest part of thighs).  some people do arms, but I couldn't figure out where to do it to get a consistent measurement.  Check again each month or two weeks if you've been working really hard!!!!  You will literally see yourself shrinking at it's really much more rewarding than your scale #.

i also keep track of my body fat %, using these measurements.  It's not totally accurate, but at least you will see another positive change there.  Also most people agree that body fat% is a much better indicator of health than BMI or weight. check out my journal for links to websites that will calc that for you. 

obviously i really like to see numbers!!! lol, i can't trust my eyes. 

Scarter17 ~ I love to snack at night too, and there are a few things I keep around for that ~ popcorn - I like it on the stovetop - it's so delicious when it's fresh and hot ~ baby carrots are another good snack that satisfies my 'crunchy' cravings, and for sweets I keep a bag of 3 Musketeers Mint Mini's ~ they are individually wrapped, and each one is only 25 calories...I love them :)

Knowing that the last time most of my family saw me was at my largest {picture in gallery} is very motivational for me ~ I am looking forward to seeing their faces when they come for the wedding in August and I'm looking super healthy and radiant!  :D

Thank you guys so much for the awesome ideas. 

lemntwist - I just took my measurements today, I don't think I've taken them in over 8 years!  I'm not too happy with them as of right now, but like you said, it's tough to tell whether you're losing inches or not, I love numbers too so this will be a great way to keep track of my progress.  I weigh myself everyday too so it was discouraging to see my weight go up to 159/160; this morning it was down to 157, so I think maybe some water retention had to do with it.  It's easy to get discouraged I guess, especially when you've worked so hard, and sometimes not so hard b/c you can only blame yourself! Thanks for that idea though!  BTW, both of those dresses are beautiful, you'll look wonderful no matter which one you pick!

tygrkat - I'm going shopping tonight and I'm going to pick up some stovepop popcorn; it definitely tastes better that way and seems like more of a treat.  Keep up your great work, I'm sure your family will be blown away

So I can tell the stress is starting to hit me as I am having bad dreams about the wedding. Last night I woke up in a panic because I dreamt we were at the wedding and I had forgotten to bring our wedding vows. I have put my maid of honor and bridesmaids on notice that they will all have a copy the day of...just in case

How are you all doing with working out? I have found the closer I am getting the more motivated I am to work harder at eating healthy and exercising. I am starting to crave work outs because it feels good to know I am doing something good for me and the tired muscles make me feel great.

scarter ~ i thought of one more good idea for motivation - find a picture of yourself looking, well, fat, or in unflattering clothes or position.  Seriously works for making you WANT to make progress.  Other people might even like the picture, but to you it has to really make you think wow i could workout some more!  :)

I have lots of pictures like that, but pick the one that affects you the most, lots of people even put them up on their pages, but I can't do that - lol!

tygrkat ~ mmmm I love popcorn, it is perfect late night snack!  I always go for the salty snacks. 

tootsiegirl ~ I'm not stressing yet, but I do have 9 months.  I'm pretty sure I'll have dreams like that too, cause I'm totally like that!  I blame my mom, she's always calling and saying I just had to check on you...

I am taking a huge exam to get licensed as an engineer, it's two 8-hour days in April so I'm kinda putting wedding plans on hold til then, which means I will be in the crunch time of 6 months to go!  Right now I'm studying in about 90% of my free time, so I haven't worked out since christmas!  and I feel like a slug!  but once this thing is outta the way i really hope I will workout at least 3x week. 

scarter, I recommend the same thing as lemntwist.  I have a picture of myself up when I was at my heaviest (my fiance bought me a frame for it, I couldn't say no.  It was from the only real vacation we have taken together!) and I can see from the kitchen-  I tell ya, I see that thing and I don't want to go anywhere near the fridge! 

tootsiegirl, I have been having nightmares already as well.  We are getting married on the water, and leaving by boat. A few days ago I dreamt that I fell off the dock as we were loading up!  Eek!

tygrkat, we are getting married on Lake Union, towards the University bridge.  I found this yacht club/catering facility that is literally 3 minutes form the house I grew up in, and I never knew it was there.  Go figure!

I am definitely more motivated to work out lately, I love the feeling of sore muscles.  I have also noticed I have a LOT more energy during the day when I work out in the mornings, which is great, no more falling asleep in front of spreadsheets for me!

Thanks for the great ideas guys, I think I have just the picture for motivation! 

The nightmares have started for me too.  Last night I had one that my wedding band was HIDEOUS and it was all rusted/corroded becuase it wasn't real gold.  And when I got to the hotel for my honeymoon, my fiance was running a few hours late and I went into the room and there were other people in there...I'm sure the dreams will probably get worse as the date approaches.  Usually I start having dreams that I can't get dressed fast enough or don't have enough time to get ready for things.  My high school prom nightmares were terrible!

Hi All!  What a great thread!!

I just joined CC and am super excited to start losing weight and getting back on track.  I got engaged December 1, 2007 and this has really motivated me to lose weight.  Our date is April 25, 2009, so I have plenty of time to get there

Currently I am 130.2 lbs (started at 132 lbs) and would like to get down to 110 by the end of June.  We have our enagement pics in the summer and I want to look my best for them.  The hardest part will be maintaining it for the following year until the Big Day.  However, I feel so inspired right now and I just invested in buying a treadmill for my home.

I have yet to go dress shopping because I just felt so blah...so hopefully I can lose a little bit more in the upcoming months and get my butt into those bridal shops!  I'm currently in love with this dress:

http://www.jimhjelmvisions.com/jim_br/display _dress.php?imageno=8763&multimatch=x

 

soon2bewed ~ Lake Union is BEAUTIFUL! What a great place for a wedding :)

 I have only been having good dreams about my wedding so far...I get anxious about it during my waking hours :p

I haven't taken my measurements in a while, but I have been feeling like all the exercise I have been doing is starting to show ~ the blouse I wore to work yesterday fit better in the sleeves and in the tummy ~ Yay for crunches and freeweights!

shannon72781 ~ Welcome and Congrats! That dress is GORGEOUS!

soon ~ LOL - don't worry you're not going to fall off the dock!  Some drunk wedding guests might :)  I would love to go to wedding on lake union, sounds really scenic and beautiful. 

One of the girls I work with had her husband pushed into a pool at the end of the reception... she said 'I wasn't mad and I was jokingly pretending to jump in after him, and then i fell in!'  so she ended up totally soaked and completely ruined her dress.  It had nasty green and orange mold.  she was a little pissed, but i guess it was fun.  I have yet to see pics!

Hi shannon!  You def have the most time, no problem to lose 20 lbs by the end of June - that's one/ week.  I personally had a hard time keeping up with that rate, but then again I pretty much stopped working out - bad me!  That dress is soooo pretty I really like the color they show too.

tygrkat ~ nice one!  stick with those weights and crunches!  Do one for me!

Thanks guys, I hope it is beautiful...as will yours be, I'm sure!!

How is everyone doing? I had a BAD day yesterday and probably ate 4x what I should have, I am so mad at myself. I got up at 5:15 to punish myself and workout, but since I didn't go to bed until late I think it ended up being lazier than usual. And I obviously ended it early since I have time to write this before getting ready...

So my fiance ordered me some workout videos I wanted for v-day (hey, at least he is getting me what I ask for, right?!) and I am so excited, I even got one called the wedding workout! I am sure it will be super cheesy, but fun! You can even set up your workout for yourself depending on what type of dress you are wearing- strapless or form-fitting. Of course, mine is both, so I am gonna have to do double duty with it!

Alright, have a good day everyone! Be good!