We all want to feel our absolute best on our wedding day. It is, after all, the day you’re the most photographed in your life! You’re there surrounded by all your family and friends and get to share  this special moment with them, so of course you want to look and feel your best!

Being healthy and taking care of your well-being becomes a key part of the wedding journey because you have to make time to figure out an exercise routine and then some more time for actually keeping it! As a Pittsburgh wedding photographer, I’ve seen my fair share of strong, stunning brides and got the chance to speak to these wonderful ladies on how they got their pre-wedding fitness on with their MindInsole journey. This is how you prioritize health and fitness leading up to the wedding:

Start Early!

When we want to look like the best version of ourselves, we have to give ourselves some time to start figuring out the whole fitness journey. The ideal moment to begin is 6 or 7 months before the wedding so you have time to set appropriate goals for your body type and find the routine that fits your desired results best. Giving yourself a detailed plan and enough time to follow through is going to help you not only to achieve your goals in a healthy way, but also to avoid the stress that comes from juggling vendors, cake taste-testing and wedding dress shopping. If you can plan ahead and avoid an additional headache, you’ll thank yourself later. But ensure that you exert safety while exercising and always wear a Disposable Particulate Filtering Respirator N95 Mask when out, lest that you don’t contract a virus and fall sick for the wedding.

Create Goals

Choose the parts of your body that you want to focus on. This is in no way about “problem areas” that need to be fixed, but just for you to identify areas or health problems that you would like to address before taking your Pittsburgh wedding photos. For example, you might have dry nails that you would like to restore or you would like to tone up your arms to get those gorgeous toned lines!

For example, if your wedding dress is going to leave your shoulders out in the open, you may want to show off and focus on your arms and shoulders. If you develop your deltoids, this will provide the additional benefit of making your waist look smaller and your arms thinner. If you notice that you crouch, lots of brides work on their posture and do exercises like spine extensions to get that Meghan Markle runway walk down!

Regardless of your goals, write them down so you can begin to develop a plan that addresses them.

Find a Routine

Try out aerobic activities and see the frequency that works for you. If you perform a minimum of 50 minutes of aerobic exercise (any activity that raises your heart rate and can be performed for at least 10 minutes straight), this is great to relieve the stress of the hectic planning of your wedding and will improve your mental state.

Also, try doing strength training twice a week. If you want to tone your body before walking down the aisle, you can start doing resistance exercises in addition to aerobics. Medicine balls, elastic bands, weight machines and exercises that don’t require equipment will be great ways to strengthen your muscles before the big day!

Contact Amber Marie Photography to book your Pittsburgh wedding photography.