Your wedding day is often a mix of excitement and anxiety, with stress thrown in for good measure. Unfortunately, uncomfortable bloating, a few panic attacks and unexpected energy dips may also rear their unnecessary heads.
If there’s one thing that any bride wants to feel, it’s great – especially when you feel the glare of countless eyeballs on you. Whether you imagine it as the day of your dreams or the start of an incredible journey, here are six tips to leave you feeling your best on your big day.
Grab a cup of lemon water
Hot water and a squeeze of lemon is the miracle cure to bloating. It also offers a natural way to boost alertness and energy – who knew! Lemon is also bursting with vitamin C and is a great immune booster (you hear that COVID!) Along with all these incredible benefits, it will also help you stay hydrated throughout the day, so make sure that you sip on a glass or two.
Don’t forget to eat
Saying “I do” can be overwhelming with your wedding day going by in a blur. If there’s anything that you take from this article it’s this – don’t forget to eat! Indulge in a few healthy snacks and good food throughout the day to keep your energy levels up and squash those nerves. Loading up on veggies, proteins and some healthy snacks will ensure that you steer clear of those sugary snacks and carbs, which are known to spike sugar levels and cause you to lose energy quicker.
Handy essential oils
There are so many benefits to having your favourite essential oils handy. Energy crashes and anxiety be gone, thanks to a few sniffs of lavender and peppermint essential oils. Put a few drops on your pulse points or take a few sniffs, including a few bottles of oils in your clutch will offer you a natural way to boost energy and calm your nerves.
View this post on Instagram
Trade coffee for green tea
Is green tea the best tasting beverage? No, but it will leave you a lot less jittery than consuming five cups of coffee. Green tea is teeming with antioxidants and caffeine, ensuring that you get your energy and have glowing skin. A few other benefits? It helps with that pesky bloating and it also contains the amino acid L-theanine which promotes relaxation. We see no downsides!
Exchange letters with your soon-to-be husband
Your big day can go by in a whirl, and while you’ll have a ton of beautiful photos, there’s nothing that stops time quite like a handwritten love letter. Consider writing heartfelt letters to each other to help wash the jitters away. There’s nothing quite as magical as reading a letter from your person and cracking a smile. Plus, it’s bound to fill your day with love!
Surround yourself with people you trust
Last, but not least is surrounding yourself with loved ones on your big day. We all know that wedding planning is stressful and the last thing you need is negativity. If those around you aren’t wiping away tears of joy, then be sure to cut a few people from the guest list. This is your special day, so make sure that you surround yourself with judgement-free and positive energy – only!
Picture: Finn and the Fox Photography
Popping the big question can be a nerve-wracking experience for both the bride and groom-to-be, but there’s no question that it’s an unforgettable moment. Unfortunately, one woman did…
The thought of international singers Maluma and Jennifer Lopez in the same movie has our spines tingling. A match made in heaven, or by the looks of their new movie trailer, perhaps not.
Marry Me is said to be packed with original songs from the two Latin music stars. But while there’s nothing we love like a good song or two to tap our feet to, a lekker storyline is what we’re really after.
The film features Jennifer Lopez starring as musical superstar Kat Valdez and Owen Wilson as Charlie Gilbert, a math teacher—total strangers who agree to marry and then get to know each other. An unlikely romance about two different people searching for something real in a world where value is based on likes and followers, Marry Me is a modern love story about celebrity, marriage and social media.
Kat Valdez (Lopez) is half of the sexiest celebrity power couple on Earth with hot new music supernova Bastian (Maluma, making his feature-film debut). As Kat and Bastian’s inescapable hit single, “Marry Me,” climbs the charts, they are about to be wed before an audience of their fans in a ceremony that will streamed across multiple platforms.
Divorced high-school math teacher Charlie Gilbert (Owen Wilson) has been dragged to the concert by his daughter Lou (Chloe Coleman, HBO’s Big Little Lies) and his best friend (Sarah Silverman). When Kat learns, seconds before the ceremony, that Bastian has cheated on her with her assistant, her life turns left as she has a meltdown on stage, questioning love, truth and loyalty. As her gossamer world falls away, she locks eyes with a stranger—a face in the crowd.
If what you know lets you down, then perhaps what you don’t know is the answer, and so, in a moment of inspired insanity, Kat chooses to marry Charlie. What begins as an impulsive reaction evolves into an unexpected romance. But as forces conspire to separate them, the universal question arises: Can two people from such different worlds bridge the gulf between them and build a place where they both belong?
Sounds like a movie we can sink our teeth into. Check out the trailer below:
Picture: YouTube Official Trailer
Congratulations! You’ve decided to dive into the freedom-seeking world of elopement. The dawn of COVID-19 has ensured that running away and skipping the big ceremony is no longer…
The first dance as a married couple is the highlight of the wedding. It’s the perfect opportunity to show off your dance moves before the celebration really kicks off and gets have the chance to celebrate a little with you. The vows are done and dusted and the stress seems to melt away. However, for some couples choosing the first song to dance to as man and wife is an easy choice. Perhaps it was that Elton John song that was playing when you first bumped into each other at that charming coffee shop, but for others finding the perfect first song to boogie to can be a challenge.
Thankfully, a little survey conducted by The Black Tux of over 900 married couples from all age groups revealed a few of the most requested first-dance songs. Here’s a list of the top 15:
- Sons and Daughters, by Allman Brown
- Moon River, by Frank Sinatra
- At Last, by Etta James
- Time After Time, by Cyndi Lauper
- Amazed, by Lonestar
- 500 Miles, by Sleeping at Last
- Your Song, by Elton John
- I’m Yours, by Jason Mraz
- Perfect Duet, by Ed Sheeran and Beyoncé
- The Way You Look Tonight, by Frank Sinatra
- Escapade, by Janet Jackson
- My Best Friend, by Tim McGraw
- That’s When I Knew, by Alicia Keys
- Falling Like the Stars, by James Arthur
- This Kiss, by Faith Hill
View this post on Instagram
If you’ve been wondering what the perfect song to get down on one knee is, make sure you check out Spotify’s ultimate engagement playlist.
Pciture: Pexels
After the stress of planning a wedding and the jitters of saying your vows in front of friends and family, it can be liberating to metaphorically let your…
Some will consider former Japanese Princess Mako and her ‘peasant’ husband Kei Komuro the stuff of fairy tales. Upper echelon circles have considered it dishonourable. Either way, for those who may have thought that the kind of love worth sacrificing everything for is dead, it’s a story worth knowing.
The daughter of the Japanese emperor’s kin has made headlines for breaking the shackles of royal tradition in the name of not only love but also her independence – being the first female Japanese royal to do so.
Four years ago, the former princess and her college sweetheart, a non-royal, brought a real-life fairy tale into the world’s gaze. Many swooned over the kind of love so powerful it would cause Mako to willingly take on the harsh consequences of marrying a commoner. As the BBC writes, their smiles won over a country.
But the consequences were brutal as those within Mako’s social class frowned upon the former Princess’s decision. It would mean losing her royal status, forfeiting millions, and facing intense scrutiny at the sacrifice of her mental health – for years.
But to Mako, Kei Komuro was the sun, famously mentioning that his smile was as warm as the burning star.
The couple had met at a meeting of students planning to go abroad in 2012 and had become close as university students over five years, even when studying in different countries. Mako’s university journey was also largely her first symbol of abandoning tradition as it marked her leaving the traditional institution of study for royal Japanese family members.
While it may have seemed as though Mako was taking all the heat for a story films will no doubt be made about, Komuro too had signed up for mass public scrutiny. As VICE reports, intense questioning regarding whether Kumuro would cause Mako to struggle financially in the future came about in the past after an alleged money dispute to do with the young lawyer’s mother and her former fiance.
However, despite it all, the young lovers have stood by each other through and through and tied the knot yesterday, October 26.
In a highly anticipated live TV appearance, the former princess defended her marriage decision expressing that:
“Kei is irreplaceable for me,” she said. “For us, marriage is a necessary choice to live while cherishing our hearts.”
Mr Komuro also made vows to his love, stating the words that will be quoted by hopeless romantics all over the world:
“I want to spend the only life I have with the one I love.”
Originally posted on Cape {town} Etc
Picture: EPA