I am so excited to be the contributor for “Fit Bride Friday” and I can’t wait to share my favorite workouts, healthy recipes and fitness companies with all of you. Healthy living is a huge part of who I am and always helps me feel my best.
I grew up exercising quite a bit—between competitive dance, gymnastics, cheer and pageantry I kept an active lifestyle. I’ve always known health is important, but I became especially fascinated with health during high school and have spent the last few years researching, testing and evaluating several health theories. I love eating healthy and living an active lifestyle and I’m eager to share what I’ve learned with you.
To find out more about me, take a look at my personal blog, “Build Your Beautiful.”
And now, without further ado, I introduce my first “Fit Bride Friday” feature. Enjoy!
I love yoga because it can be an amazing workout and, as odd as this may seem, I always feel a sense of peace when I’m finished.
I enjoy stretching my body in new ways while building muscle at the same time. Feeling the need to challenge my usual yoga practices, I searched online for the perfect way to do so. That’s when I found Plexus Co.—a company that focuses on “pushing limits, discovering what lies within each of us, and promoting inner peace, all while getting a good sweat.”
To be honest, when I first saw the Plexus Yoga Wheel I was a little bit skeptical.
How much can a wheel really change your yoga experience? It can only push you so far, right? I was SO WRONG. This wheel is killer! Within a matter of a couple minutes I begin sweating bullets and pushing myself in ways I really didn’t know were possible.
The Plexus Co Yoga Wheel has completely challenged my yoga experience. The yoga wheel helps to open your hips, shoulders, chest and back. The wheel is used to create a more intense yoga practice and acts as an aid to most poses. I notice it takes a lot more effort to balance certain poses and my stretches are pushed to the limit.
You can find more ways to use your yoga wheel here.
Pictured is the 12” standard wheel in the color “Aurora”, but there are four different size options as well as four different color options.
All quotes used in this post are from the Plexus Co. website.
Because the most striking beauty ideas defy practicality
When your big day draws near, there’s an impulse to switch into high gear and embrace an exaggerated beauty makeover.
(Over)plucked brows.
Hyaluronic-drenched skin.
Pearly-white pearly whites.
Not so fast.
A subtle beauty reboot can be just as effective in terms of wedding day transformation.
Which brings us to MILK, a beauty brand that embraces the “less is more sexy” approach and offers a wide range of “high concept, low maintenance beauty essentials.”
These aren’t your average compact bronzers and lipsticks, folks.
Instead, MILK focuses on creating natural, eco-friendly products with guilt-free ingredients (think sunflower and coconut wax) for laid-back women—or, in your case, brides—with an ingenious, albeit laissez-faire, approach to beauty.
Think emphasized freckles, high-shine lips and splashy cat eyes.
Your groom may want to watch out. This is a match made in heaven.
Bare skin and full-color lips: the OG of beauty.
Laid-back and sun-kissed, courtesy of the perfect trifecta (i.e. tint, bronzer and lip cheek).
Use a little eye pigment, or a lot. It’s your call.
I’m crazy for you Touch me once and you’ll know it’s true I never wanted anyone like this It’s all brand new, you’ll feel it in my kiss I’m crazy, crazy for you
Nothing screams summertime quite like outdoor weddings do.
When it comes to outdoor weddings, the first order of business is to desperately plea for beautiful weather; the next step revolves around finding the ideal decor.
For a wedding that is set in a charming backyard or a clearing in the woods, it’s important that the details match the setting—along with wooden tables and cushioned chairs, the table scape should include dreamy details: like this over-hanging lace cloth accented with handfuls of white blossoms.
Guests are easily impressionable, so get to work creating a magical scene that will be impossible to forget.
Growing up, I watched both my parents excel in the television industry and always knew it was something I wanted to be a part of. I graduated from college with a degree in Broadcast Journalism and jumped right into a career at a media consulting firm, where I moderated focus groups for various media companies—something I continue to do today on a freelance basis.
As much as I love working in television, it doesn’t quite satisfy my yearning for a creative outlet. I’ve always had a passion for baking, and making and decorating cakes has kind of come naturally to me.
A few years ago, I really started to take the time to teach myself the tricks of the trade and make the best tasting cakes around. Before I knew it, my hobby took off and a year ago I launched Cake by Courtney, a website and Instagram account where I share my favorite recipes, offer tips for making and decorating cakes, produce cake decorating videos, and showcase my creations.
Style
I moved around the country quite a bit in my youth and have had many opportunities to travel as an adult as well. I’d like to think all of those experiences have had a hand in developing who I am as a person, which in turn has helped me define and cultivate my personal style.
I’d say my style is more on the classic side, but I love to infuse bohemian and preppy elements. On a typical day, you’ll find me wearing skinny jeans, slip-on vans or ankle boots, and a soft button down shirt, like the Courier Shirt from Madewell. In full disclosure, I actually own five of those shirts in different colors and prints. It’s my go-to. It puts a modern twist on an old classic, and who doesn’t love a good button down? I also love that this shirt makes me feel put together, even on my most disheveled days.
Beauty
I’m fairly new to Utah, having moved here less than two years ago from California. Needless to say the dry climate has been a huge adjustment for my skin. I’ve had to completely up my hydration game, particularly for my face and neck. My favorite moisturizer is Burt’s Bees Intense Hydration Cream. I use it morning and night and have seen a big improvement.
I also can’t live without Benefit’s “They’re Real” mascara for my naturally blonde eye lashes, Georgio Armani’s luminous and maestro foundations for creating an even skin tone, and Maybelline’s Baby Lips moisturizing lip balm in “Cherry Me” for a subtle hint of color.
Off-Duty
When I’m not on the road for work or in the kitchen baking, you can find me with my children: seven-year-old Westin and three-year-old Avery, and husband, Ryan, looking for a good time. We’re big sports fans and attend as many live events as we can (it was hard to leave our LA teams behind). We also love traveling and exploring new places together, especially if there’s fabulous food involved.
Living in Switzerland and eating our way through Europe for a summer will forever be one of my fondest memories. To balance all the sweets in my life, I love to stay active and am always looking for a new and challenging workout. My current loves are TRX, Barre, and High Fitness. Although, truth be told, dance parties with my two littles bring the best kind of sweat, the kind that comes with lots of giggles and hugs.
As told to Utah Bride & Groom.
Follow Courtney on Instagram for a daily slice of sweetness.
It goes without saying that wedding prep requires a lot of work and—more often than not—a lot of stress.
Every bride shares one dream: to look and feel beautiful on her wedding day.
In order to avoid the stress of bridal beauty prep, we’ve come up with five ideas to lighten the load of wedding day mania, which will hopefully aid in your quest to look absolutely lovely.
After the dress is purchased, the next item that must be considered is jewelry.
We’ve enlisted Katie Waltman to help us out. These 14kt gold Zirconia round earrings are the perfect accessory to accompany any wedding dress. If your dress is detailed with jewels, hair is up or hair is down, these earrings are elegant, yet simple enough to make any bride feel stunning.
To go hand in hand with your diamond earrings, why not consider diamond studded bobby pins?
These Anthropologie beauties are a flawless hair accessory to string through your curls, waves, braids or updo. The subtle sparkle will create a luminous look that will catch the eye of every guest.
Speaking of hair, we’ve got to introduce you to h2blow.
This local blowdry bar and makeup salon is the ultimate spot to prep for your big day. They are willing to accommodate an entire wedding party, not only doing the bride’s hair and makeup, but even the bridesmaids and flower girls. Leave your bridal glam in their capable hands and I guarantee they’ll leave you and your bridal party absolutely glowing.
To say this is the mecca for wedding day prep would be an understatement. Not only will this salon provide you with a pristine wedding mani and pedi, but also with anything else you can think of: waxing, facials, peels, lashes, teeth whitening and tinting. Hurry over to enjoy a day of pampering from people whose goal is to make you look nothing short of ravishing.
Last, but most definitely not least, we’ve got to consider shoes.Though often hidden under layers of tulle and ruffles, wedding shoes are still important. Photographers love to catch a good shot of the bride and groom’s shoes. That being said, it’s crucial that they are comfortable—no bride wants to squeeze her toes into five-inch heels for hours on end.
These J. Crew blush heels check-off the first necessity: a reasonably sized heel. The blush tone embodies class, but also a little glam with the gold-glittered heel (not to mention they are a dream shoe to photograph). Find a variation of this shoe and you’ll be well on your way to achieving your goal of bridal brilliance.
Well, there you have it. You’re a few steps closer (cue the jewelry, hair, nail and shoe fairies throughout the valley) to obtaining the bridal beauty look you’ve always been dreaming up since childhood.
