Are you sick of the same old wedding cakes? Are you a non-traditional bride? Here are some of our favorite alternatives to the traditional wedding cake!
Blending Multiple Religions into Your Wedding Ceremony
Bleudog Fotography
This is a hard one for me to write about, because I do have personal opinions about religion and marriage. While that is a whole different topic that I have no expertise on, I do my best to answer all questions I receive, in hopes of helping each and every one of you get to and through a stress-free wedding day!
So instead of discussing my view on the role of religion in marriage, I am going to give some of my tips on how to incorporate different religions into your wedding ceremony. And if any of your reading this have any prior expertise or ideas on the topic, we would love your comments below!
1. Make your parents happy.
Now before you get any pre-conceived notions about this one, I want to clear one thing up: No, I do not agree that you should participate in anything within your wedding ceremony, that causes you to worship another God or being. Your are an adult when you get married and no matter what your parents have brought you up to believe, you are now old enough to formulate your own belief system. So if you grew up Catholic and now have become an atheist, I am not saying you should worship God in your wedding ceremony, just because it would make your parents happy.
However, keep your family in mind, and don't allow them to be placed out of their comfort zones. Many ceremonies do ask guests to pray or worship or participate in religious activities, and you do not want anyone to feel uncomfortable.
So just be aware of your roots and aware that your guests will not all have your same belief system and if worship is important to you, you could even think about having a small, private ceremony and invite the rest of your guests to the reception only!
2. Don't worship what you don't believe in.
A ceremony is a very special time for the two of you, and oftentimes brings religion into the mix. Not all couples have the same belief systems (because love is love), but your personal belief system is still important. So if that means cutting worship out of your ceremony, in order to not worship another Being that you don't believe in, then that will have to do.
3. Worship is different than tradition.
There are plenty of religious traditions that don't involve worship, and I love when couples bring their cultural traditions into the ceremony! With mixed religions and cultures marrying and coming together for this celebration, it is always nice to bring your roots into the mix!
4. Decide on a plan before marriage.
Love is love, and can often trump religion. And while I won't say much on the issue, it is a great idea to discuss long and hard about each of your religions, before you decide to commit to one another for the rest of your lives
Could your religious differences cause you to drift apart in the future? Who and what will your kids worship? What belief system will you teach them?
Having kids brings strain on a marriage asit is, so make sure you have a plan before you say "I Do."
Sweating for the Wedding // Make the park your playground (Part 1)
Written with love, by Nikki Lian
Every Sunday morning I get to train one of my clients, Jessa, at the beautiful Echo Park in Los Angeles. With a 5-pound weight in each hand, we set off on a lap around the lake using some “equipment” you will find at any park in your area. The following workout can be done with or without weights!
Step-Ups
Find a sturdy bench, and simply use it as a step. Start with one foot on the bench. Step up onto the bench and stand all the way up straight. Keeping the same foot on the bench bring the other foot back down to the floor.
Repeat 10 times and then switch legs. If you have weights and would like to add some arms and shoulders to the mix you can throw in some bicep curls or shoulder presses.
Standing Lunges with Lateral raise
Here’s a great compound exercise that works your quads, glutes and shoulders.
With your weights, take a step with one leg and bring your opposite knee almost to the floor. Push back into a standing position with the same foot. Once you are standing up straight, raise your weights to shoulder level and then bring them back to your sides.
Alternate legs and do about 10-12 reps each leg. If you don’t have weights you can always use water bottles, or nothing at all.
Stairs, Stairs, Stairs!!
Find a set of stairs you can run up and down. With Jessa, I usually count three flights up and down as one set. Other options are that you can time yourself and increase your time every set. You can also do two steps at a time for that extra leg workout. Not only are stairs good for your quads, glutes and calves, but they raise your heart rate and burn a ton of calories.
So if you want to take advantage of the beautiful weather and decide to take your workout outdoors, slap on some sunscreen and make your way to a park. Remember to drink plenty of water and try to stay in the shade to avoid dehydration.
A special thanks to Jessa for being a wonderful model this week!
