Every bride wants to look her very best for her wedding day. Some brides would like to lose weight, while other would like to just shape and tone their bodies. No matter which category you fall into, putting in the time to exercise especially while preparing for your wedding day will not only help you alleviate stress, but also make you feel better overall. With your overall mood being improved and you new toned look, you’ll be sure to turn a few extra head while walking down the aisle. Here are few easy and quick exercises to fit into your schedule while preparing for your big day.

Simple cardiovascular exercise gets your heart pumping and your body moving. Exercises like walking, swimming, jogging, or biking all are perfect exercises to get your heart rate up in order to burn calories. If you do not currently lead a physically active lifestyle, start off slow and at pace you can handle. Begin by fitting cardio exercises into your routine 3-4 days a week for about 20 minutes at a time. After a few weeks increase the amount of cardio you do to 4-5 times a week and increase the segment of time to about 30 minutes. Once you can maintain that for a few weeks or even for a few months, raise your cardio time up to 45 minutes. Getting your body moving will start to increase your metabolism and start to shed those pounds. What is so great about cardio exercises is that you can do them anywhere, no gym membership required!

By adding strength training exercises into your workout will not only add muscle, but also improve your overall flexibility and tone your body. Strength training exercises like push-ups and stomach crunches are perfect exercises to start with. Start with two sets of ten of each exercise. Do this for about 3 weeks, then increase your sets from two to three. Then you could incorporate other core exercises as squats and leg lifts. Remember just start of slow by completing two sets of ten and then slowly increase your sets.

Finally by incorporating light weights into your exercise routine, you will add muscle and define your body. We are not talking heavy weight lifting by any means. Simple 3 to 5 pound hand weights would be ideal to start with. Exercises that would be ideal to start with, would be bicep and tricep curls. Just like with strength training exercises, start of by completing two sets of ten and then slowly work your way up to three sets of ten. Another weight exercise to add in after a few weeks would be chest presses. Again, start off slow then work your way up.

As you can see, just by beginning with cardio exercises to get you up and moving then onto other forms of exercise, you can not only lose a few pounds but improve your overall look, by toning and defining your body. You’ll be looking healthy and toned in no time and be a stunning bride on your wedding day.

About the Writer: Amanda Cooper is a writer for Wedding Favours Kingdom, which offers one of the best selections of personalised wedding favours and wedding guest books on the web. From themed wedding accessories to other special occasion accessories, Wedding Favours Kingdom has it all. Amanda is a writer for other wedding and travel websites. When Amanda is not writing, she enjoys entertaining at home.

As a professional make-up artist I usually find most brides want to at least be recognizable on their wedding day. Brides hire a professional to help them look more polished, to have make-up that will last all day and look great for the photos, and they want the confidence that comes with having a  professional make-up artist take care of the details for them, but in the end they still want to look like themselves, only better. Incorporating a fashion make-up trend into your bridal make-up repertoire the rules of a good, balanced make-up will still apply.

image provided by Penny Sadler, all rights reserved

If you wear strong lips, don’t wear too much cheek colour or if you wear a lot of colour on the eyes then keep the lip colour soft. This spring, colour is a big trend as is, a very natural look. If colour is your thing a great way to wear it on your wedding day is to add colour on the eyes and keep the lips soft.

When it comes to colour for the eyes think contrasting complimentary colours.  If your eyes are hazel or green, shades of purple will make them pop. If they are blue you might actually try a bit of soft lavender or even a deep blue liner set with a blue shadow. If you have truly brown eyes go with what moves you and flatters your skin tone. If the natural look is more you, try browns, taupes, grey tones and shades of ivory, beige and peach on the eyes. Even a soft brick or burgundy can look like a neutral if well blended and complimentary to the eye colour. For lip colour a good rule of thumb is, if you have a pale or fair complexion stick with lighter pink or peach tones for lips and if your skin has more pigment you can use bolder, warmer tones. I only recommend very strong lip colours for the wedding day if that is YOU, and you must have it. Otherwise, think first kiss, eating cake, champagne toasts; softer lip colour will be a lot less maintenance, and the nude lip is still fashionable.

Of course if you’ve hired a professional make-up artist for your wedding day, which I recommend for all the above reasons and then some, you can relax,  you don’t have to know the rules…they will.

Cristina Balducci, expert make up artist at Efffetti Weddings in Tuscany, answers some questions about bridal beauty:

How to keep a perfect make up during the whole wedding day?

To maintain a perfect make up during the whole wedding day, it is fundamental that the bride takes care of her skin in advance, with specific treatments to reduce imperfections and normalize oily skins avoiding it to become too shiny and greasy, compromising the make up fastness..

What should a bride-to-be do then before the wedding to prepare her skin?

Meet her beautician months in advance and ask for a skin check up. Her beautician will evaluate with her the necessary steps and depending on the type of skin, season of the wedding and the time to the wedding. The result will be a beauty roadmap, which will include in salon treatments and will require a self care path at home.

Which are the trends you envision for brides in 2011?

There is an undisputed trend towards a never vulgar, but bolder and definite make up style, which is the same trend we notice in these years’ brides. In recent years, in fact, brides have turned from the common natural make up. Trends for 2011 are colours like grey, black and purple: bold colours, which stress an intense look, for an unforgettable bride.

Trends are also against a too sophisticated hairstyle, better to opt for a soft and smooth one, which looks very natural and reflects the bride’s character.

Which tricks would you suggest to a bride to maintain her make up for the whole wedding day?

It will be as easy as regularly applying transparent makeup powder and often renewing lip-gloss.

What would you suggest to a bride-to-be for the immediate day before the wedding?

Relax, get rid of any strain, and, to light her skin, apply a mask containing alginates for immediate results. And remember never to use new products the immediate days before the wedding and always test them months in advance to avoid allergy risks.