Wedding Wednesday: Spring Pastels, Outfit Inspiration for Bridal Showers by Asheville, NC Wedding and Portrait Photographer

I am in love with these pretty pastel colors for Spring!! Right now outside the wind is blowing and another cold spell is blowing into Asheville...definitely not Spring weather. I am SO ready for Spring to be here for good, but until that time comes I thought the perfect Wedding Wednesday post would be some inspiration on what to wear to all those bridal showers! I had so much fun putting these outfits together on polyvore. Polyvore is like window shopping, except online. 

I am a girly girl who loves nothing more than a feminine dress and dainty accessories! Before Stephen and I got married I had such a wonderful time shopping for outfits for bridal showers and for our rehearsal!!  I hope you enjoy these outfits I put together and maybe they can serve as inspiration for you as your planning your various wedding outfits! 

To Purchase The Different Spring Pastel Looks, Check Out The Sites Below:

Spring Pastels by gabrielle-joy-von-heyking featuring kenneth cole jewelry

TFNC cotton dress
$80 - houseoffraser.co.uk

Tevolio green dress
target.com

Alexander McQueen mini dress
matchesfashion.com

Forever New light blue dress
$45 - forevernew.com.au

Rachel Zoe leather shoes
6pm.com

L'Autre Chose leather sandals
$505 - shoescribe.com

Jessica simpson shoes
$93 - debenhams.com

Dorothy Perkins black pumps
dorothyperkins.com

Accessorize crossbody chain purse
accessorize.com

L K Bennett envelope clutch
$325 - lkbennett.com

Kenneth cole jewelry
macys.com

Wet Seal statement necklace
wetseal.com

FOSSIL rose jewelry
fossil.com

ALDO earrings
aldoshoes.com

Rose gold jewelry
astleyclarke.com

Finn rose gold jewelry
modaoperandi.com

Orelia gold jewelry
$17 - johnlewis.com

Forever New beaded hair comb
$12 - forevernew.com.au

The Treasure of Life by Asheville, NC Wedding and Portrait Photographer

Typically Mondays are reserved for music or book reviews on my blog, but today I felt like writing about something a little bit different and since it's my blog I can kind of do what I want :) 

When I had my accident in November it was terrifying and life-changing all at the same time! It sounds so cliche, but when something like that happens to you, your world view instantly changes. All of the sudden I saw life through a clear lens and lined up in front of me were the things that I truly treasured more than anything in the world. I can tell you right now that among those things there weren't any worldly goods....there were only people, precious irreplaceable human beings. 

I am convinced that what I don't need is more Facebook, more notoriety, more instagram, more money....NO, no, what I need more of is princess song dance parties with my niece, running outside soaking up the last bit of sunshine, zumba dancing with my sister in law and looking like a fool while doing so, laughing over inside jokes (that noone else would find funny) with my husband for the thousandth time, sitting around the dinner table surrounded by my family and good food. Really at the end of the day we don't need more of what the world tells us we need to be fancy and important. All we really need is the ability to find the joy in the small, inconsequential moments that God has placed in our paths! I think that if we focused more on those moments, we would come to find that really those moments are the biggest, grandest moments of all. Those moments aren't to be discarded and thrown away likes pennies, they should be caught up and treasured like the precious gems they are. 

I guess what I am trying to say is, the treasure of life isn't found in possessions, the treasure of life is found in moments spent with people and in the presence of God. Plain and simple. 

Matthew 6:19-21,"Don't store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will be also." 

Wedding Wednesday: Shedding for the Wedding, 3 Simple Ways To Lose That Extra 10 lbs. Before Your Wedding Day by Asheville, NC Wedding and Portrait Photographer

Recently I embarked upon a journey to get healthier and to lose some extra weight I had put on since getting married to Stephen. Disclaimer: I am not a health expert, or a doctor, all I am going to do is tell you what worked for me, please realize though that if you are going to be undertaking a major journey to get healthier and lose weight, you NEED to check with your doctor first as they will know the best route for you to take.

Prior to Stephen and I getting married I was eating really healthy and only drinking water and although I wasn't working out at all I did manage to lose a few extra pounds before our wedding day. Don't hate me for saying this, but genetically I have always been small and of a petite build (although I must say I do have a "curvy," petite build), in my teenage years I worked out very sparingly and pretty much ate whatever I wanted with no consequences. Then fast forward to getting married, I was very happy and eating whatever I wanted, I was trying out new recipes for my new groom, and really just not watching what I was eating AT all.  In nearly 4 years of marriage I put on an 20 extra lbs.! Now to some that may not seem like much, but on someone of my height and build I was getting to a point where my BMI (body mass index) was in a range that I wasn't comfortable with.  Diabetes and high blood pressure run in my family and even though I am still young, I know it is in my best interest to stay in a healthy weight range for my height and make smart eating and exercising decisions.

Stephen has been away working this winter since December and I thought while he was away would be a great time for me to try to lose the extra weight I had put on and retrain my brain when it comes to my eating habits! You are beautiful just the way you are, but if you are anything like I was on my wedding day, you may want to lose a few extra pounds!

1.) My number 1 tip for losing weight and toning your body is to workout! If you are anything like me....you DO NOT enjoy working out.  I have always been semi-athletic, but ever since I've been a teenager working out has always seemed like a chore to me. Figure out what sort of workout appeals to you and then go for it!! For me, I am an extrovert, so working out in a group setting or having a workout buddy to keep me accountable is HUGE! I also get bored with doing the same workout over and over and just walking on the treadmill by myself, so switching it up and doing different kinds of workouts keep me from losing interest and just doing nothing. Around the 2nd week in January to jumpstart my non-working-out-self I started a 4 week workout bootcamp by Well.Fit.Avl with Teah Boswell. We met three mornings a week at 7am in the morning and Teah walked us through different circuit training exercises and TRX training. Teah was really wonderful because she was patient with the level of fitness I was at....which let me tell you right now, wasn't very high :). I went from not working out AT all to trying to do a workout bootcamp. For me, doing the bootcamp was the perfect way to jumpstart getting in the habit of working out and making it a daily part of my life.  After the bootcamp ended I have continued my habit to workout Monday-Friday! For working out now I do T-25, Jillian's 30 Day Shred, Zumba class on Thursdays, and running outside when the weather permits! There are days when I absolutely don't feel like working out, but when I push through those feelings I feel SO much better that I stayed committed and followed through with my workout.  It feels amazing to be able to do certain workouts now and not feel completely winded afterwards, my fitness and endurance levels have went up so much since I started working out on a daily basis and having a flatter stomach and toned arms and legs doesn't hurt either!

2.) My 2nd tip for losing weight and getting your eating on track is to eat healthier and make choices to fuel your body vs just trying to satisfy a passing craving! It may seem like a simple thing, but making better choices when it comes to food isn't always easy. So far what has worked for me is eating mainly vegetarian Monday-Friday and then allowing myself some meat on the weekends. I cut out most bread, except for ezekiel bread, replaced juice/soda/milk with water or sparkling water, and cut out snacking on chips/crackers and cheese/cookies in between meals, etc... A typical day of eating for me usually goes like this, breakfast: one over easy egg, fruit salad and water to drink lunch: a salad with bragg's vinegarette and a boiled egg snack: 3 or 4 trader joe's chocolate covered almonds and a cutie's orange or pink lady apple dinner: sweet potato with blackbean salsa.  Now when I am hungry in between meals I grab a piece of fruit or try to have a sparkling water to see if the maybe I am just mistaking thirst for hunger. Eating healthier has been fun too because I have discovered some new foods I really love like KALE! don't even get me started on kale, I love it and could eat it every single meal and it's a superfood, which is an added bonus.

Here are some of the delicious foods I eat!! 

3.) My last tip that really helped me lose the weight I was wanting to use, was using the My Fitness Pal App! My Fitness Pal is an app that you can download on your phone and what you do is you put in your goal weight and how many lbs you want to lose and it basically tells you how many calories a day you can eat if you want to reach that goal weight. You then use it like a food journal and track how many calories you are eating on a daily basis! Using the My Fitness Pal App is not for the faint of heart, it does require a lot of calculation and a little bit of time to sit down and track everything that you've been eating, but if you are really wanting to see how many calories you are eating, etc... My Fitness Pal is the best way to do it! I use in Monday-Friday and then on Saturday/Sunday I give myself a break from it! I don't go crazy with what I eat on the weekend, but I also don't restrict myself so much that I never get to eat anything like chocolate, Chicfila :), etc....

Here are some before and after photos :) I show you these not to show off, but just to show you some of the progress I've made :)

These were taken after two weeks of working out!

These were taken after working out for over two months!

These are my top 3 tips and the things that have worked from me! I started tracking what I eat in mid-December and working out in January and since I've done that I have lost a total of 15 lbs.! I started my journey not with the mindset of  "oh I want to be the skinniest person in the world," I started it out wanting to get my BMI in a healthier range for my weight, improve my physical fitness level, and learning how to eat healthy and fuel my body to have energy throughout the day! I hope that maybe some of the things I've shared, can help you too in the process of preparing for your Big Day! :)

Music Monday: Family of The Year Band Review by Asheville, NC Wedding and Portrait Photographer

Last Monday I started my new series on here "Book Review and Music Monday!" I am a photographer, but I am so many other things than just a photographer! A huge part of my daily life is music...for whoever doesn't know my husband, Stephen, is a songwriter and audio engineer! Ever since the day we said I do (and even before then lol) I have been listening to him working on different song projects and mixing songs into the wee hours of the morning. 

I grew up in a musical family, I as well as my three other siblings all sing and songwrite. I started whistling at the age of 6 after hearing a family friend's bird singing and I began singing at the age of 11. I wrote my first song around the age of 12 or 13...writing has always been a huge outlet for me and connecting two of the things I really love, writing + music, just made sense. 

Stephen and I's daily life is filled with music whether it's him working on a new song, or showing me a new band he's just discovered, both of us are incredibly inspired by music and it's ability to transform an ordinary day into something special. 

I was super excited when I stumbled upon the band "Family of the Year." I first heard their song "Find It," on a tv show and then heard their song "ChugJug," on a commercial and my interest was piqued! Stephen's songs are often featured on various tv shows and commercials and because of that is has made me much more interested in looking up other songs that I hear on tv; I challenge you to do the same....you will find that there are a lot of amazing bands out there who aren't necessarily being played on mainstream radio yet. 

Family of the year is made up of four band members, two of which are brothers! They were formed in 2009 and since then have released three ep's and two full-length albums. Their music has a folk quality to it with harmonies that are out of this world!! I grew up listening to The Beach Boys thanks to my dad's wonderful music taste and the harmonies on "Find It," are harmonies that the Wilson boys themselves would have been very proud of. When I feel like relaxing and winding down while listening to some beautiful harmonies I listen to Family of The Year! 

I thought this photo my friend Faith Teasley took of Stephen and I last Spring would be the perfect image for this post!