While we do love everything about stunning floral bouquets, we love when brides mix it up a bit too! So today, we're featuring some of our favorite unique wedding bouquets!
Bleudog Fotography
To Hold & To Have
D Park Photography
To Hold & To Have
Bleudog Fotography (Bouquet by With Love and Petals)
Eternal Wooden Roses
Lynkzstudio
To Hold & To Have
I come from a religious family, where moving in together before marriage was never an option in my eyes. That is what we believed marriage should be like, and that is what the statistics proved to end in a great marriage together, despite popular belief.
Jay Dixon Photography
The only thing holding us back as we approached a couple months before our wedding day were finances. We both had great jobs, were financially independent from our parents and were fine covering each of our rent payments. But if you live in Los Angeles, you know that rent just isn't cheap. I was living in a 400 square foot studio, and paying $1250 per month which was fine, but how amazing would it be to save $1250 EVERY SINGLE MONTH? That would be going straight into our savings account! Sounds pretty amazing, huh?
But it all boils down to what is more important to you - marriage or finances.
Of course, there are plenty of couples who move in together before they get married, have a wonderful, prosperous 50+ year marriage and just defy those statistics. But statistics don't lie.
We all believe that "we won't be part of those statistics" because we love each other and cannot see our lives without each other. Well guess what? 99% of the population is deeply in love on their wedding day - it's pure bliss that seems like it will last a lifetime. But statistics don't lie, and many of us end up in divorce.
- finances...adding to that savings account, paying off the wedding
- to find out if we can really live together? A trial run?
Those are the two best reasons we were able to think of, and then we began researching...
Divorce. That's the best reason I can think of. Divorce terrifies me and although I never foresee it in my future, I do my best to make sure we stick to everything that will help prevent divorce - managing our finances, apologizing, waiting a couple of years to have kids, being intimate, and so on.
When researching divorce statistics in regards to moving in together before the wedding, I found all kinds of results...
- a 50% higher divorce rate in couples who moved in together before marriage
- a 27% higher divorce rate in couples who were under 23 AND moved in together before marriage (we were young, so this applied)
- a 2% higher divorce rate and so on...
...and no matter what the statistics showed, there was ALWAYS a stronger correlation between moving in together and divorce. You may think, "Well it's only a 2% increase and that's not much" but isn't 0% better than 2% if you could just wait it out a couple of months?
Bleudog Fotography
Of course we can always defy odds, and plenty of us do. But before you put yourself in that category, remember that you have 15, 20, 60+ more years in order to be part of these statistics. Because marriage is not 5 years, it is a lifetime.
So before you jump on the bandwagon and move in together before you are married, think long and hard about what is right for you as a couple. Does saving $1250 every month for 3 months or a year have more value than a 2% increase in divorce? Why is it that you want to move in together?
I would love to hear your thoughts below on whether or not you moved in together (or will be moving in together) before the wedding and how you can to that decision?
Written with love, by Nikki Lian
Although we refer to plyometrics as "jump-training," we can still get in a decent core and upper body workout using a Plyometric routine. Here are a few more examples of Plyometric exercises you can add to last week's routine to get a more thorough workout:
Of course when we see the word "squat" we think of our legs. But this type of squat done correctly can really work on upper body and our midsection as well.
Start off with your feet together and your arms straight up in the air holding a weight (start off light and work your way up to a heavier weight. I usually start with a 5 pound weight). Keeping your back straight and your belly button in, slightly jump in the air spreading your feet apart and coming down into a deep squat while taking the weight and chopping it down as if it were an axe. At this point you should be in a wide stance and low to the floor. Immediately jump back up into your starting position what your feet together and your weight up in the air. Try doing this in repetitions of 10. Your legs and arms will be on fire!
Trunk twists are a great abdominal exercise to work your obliques. It's also a fun exercise to do with your workout partner.
Standing back to back, twist your torso to the right and hand off the medicine ball to your partner. Then turn to your left, taking the medicine ball back from your partner. Do 20 repetitions clockwise and 20 repetitions counterclockwise. Remember to pop your chest out slightly to keep your back straight and your belly button in. If you don't have a partner to work with you can simply step 2 inches away from a wall (or if you're at the park use a tree) and twist back-and-forth tapping the ball to the wall. You'll be working your same muscles with the same weight in hand, only by yourself.
Mountain climbers are like Burpees. They are something we remember from gym class and aren't always thrilled to do. However, mountain climbers are great at working your upper body as well as your abdominals, your quads and your calves.
Starting out in a plank position, bring your knee towards your chest using a twisting motion, then bring your foot back down it's a starting position. Alternate legs at a fast pace. Start by doing 10 repetitions each leg and work your way up. I always consider this an upper body workout as well considering you are holding your body weight with your arms and your core as well as your legs.
So there you have it. Now you know enough exercises to make an easy plyometric routine that can be done as often as you want. Not only do plyometrics burn calories, but remember they also are stretching your muscles, therefore toning them as well while you're performing these exercises. This type of exercise routine I like to either do repetitions 10 to 15 each set, or I like to do three rounds of one minute per exercise. Either way, you should always do these in a circuit--one set of each exercise and repeat.
