black diamond

from Fall/Winter 2016 Issue

emerald

PHOTOGRAPHED BY CARMELA SAGULA PHOTOGRAPHY

Layered metallic golds and fresh roses and calla lillies are combined with black charger plates and black TRENDING T diamonds for a Phantom of the Opera-esque Bride.

get the look

FALL BRIDE 1. SHOE- SPIRATION

With the changing season, your gown silhouette and colour choices for wedding shoes will change. To help you select the perfect pair, we rounded up our favourite fall shoes from the runways of Paris, Milan, New York and Toronto that can take you from ceremony through reception and beyond in style. They will ensure you party like 1999 in comfort!

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1. Ch el sea Paris • "S nakeskin" A da St rapp y S andal s | $645 | barneys.com.

2. S ophi a Webst er • "Lili co" fl ow er-embelli sh ed pat ent -l eath er sandal s | $550 | mat ch esfashi on.com.

3. DS quared2 • S nakeskin eff ect l eath

er sandal s | $940 | farf et ch .com. 4. S ch ut z • "E nida" suede sandal s | $170 | farf et ch .com. 5. A quazzura • "Mill a" cryst al -embelli sh ed met alli c l eath er sandal s | $1,695 | net -a-port er.com.

6. St uart Weit zman • "Gilli an" fl at s in whit e sati n | $398 | st uartw eit zman.com

Do's & Don'ts of Wedding Dress Shopping

Selecting your wedding dress is easily one of the most exciting parts of the wedding planning process, especially if you are a die-hard "Say Yes To the Dress" fan! A s cliché as it may sound, your wedding dress is the most important, and probably the most expensive, garment you will ever wear. As fun and exciting as dress shopping is, you can easily feel stressed and overwhelmed when it comes to budget, fabrics, silhouettes and so many more options. To make things easier, we've compiled some dress shopping do’s and dont's to help every Bride have a great dress shopping experience.

Do: Get An Idea of What You Like

Look through magazines and websites to get an idea of the styles and designers that appeal to you. It’s also a good idea to have pictures on your phone to show your consultant.

Do: Bring Supportive Friends/Family

This can be a major bonding moment for you and your mother, mother-in-law, and bridesmaids. Bring people that you know will be supportive, fun, and thrilled to help you pick out the perfect dress.

Do: Be Honest With Your Consultant

Your consultant wants to help you find the perfect dress. If you love a dress from another store or have a tight budget, be honest! If your consultant is pulling dresses you hate, kindly explain that they aren’t right for you.

Do: Stand Up for Yourself

If your mother keeps picking out lace dresses and you hate lace, be gentle but firm in your explanation. It's your wedding day so there is no point wasting your time trying on styles you can't imagine walking down the aisle in.

Do: Arrive Happy!

Wedding dress shopping is fun and exciting and the experience will be best for you and your stylist if you arrive in a positive mood.

Don’t: Get Discouraged

Dress shopping can feel overwhelming. If brides don’t feel great in the first few dresses, they can easily be discouraged. Remember, this is a once in a lifetime experience! Enjoy it.

Don’t: Try On a Dress Over Your Budget

Unless have a little wiggle room, don’t try on a dress over your budget. Falling in love with something you can’t afford will only cause you (and your consultant) major heartache.

Don’t: Bring A Massive Crowd

Bringing too many people can be problematic. Some bridal shops are too small and busy to properly accommodate everyone. Too many opinions can be confusing and overwhelming. You don't want to spend an hour listening to your relatives debating over the first dress!

Don’t: Be Close-Minded

While your stylist will be happy to know you have ideas, don’t be close-minded when it comes to different styles or silhouettes. If you’ve tried on five mermaids and are not liking what you see, don’t be afraid to try on a ball gown or sheath dress. Sometimes what you originally loved does not give you the same feeling once it’s on.

Don’t: Don’t Settle!

If you aren’t sure whether you have that “wedding dress” feeling, you probably don’t. Wedding dresses are costly and it’s better to take some time to think about it than be pressured into a purchase you fear you might regret.

Physically Fit

Dress shopping can be a pain. In fact, you may never 1. Difficulty have had to stand in front of a 360° mirror before, showing off all your curves, inches, and well, everything In order to continuously improve, you are going to need else! You take the time to find that perfect dress that will to find more difficult movements as you progress. If be make you feel like the Bride of your dreams, but what you are using weights, you simply use more weight. You happens when you still don't feel like you fit the dress? don't have the same luxury with bodyweight exercises so They're simple, easy and often no equipment required - push-ups, try side to side push-ups, or even one arm we are talking about bodyweight exercies. These effective push-ups. The idea is to find something that causes you exercises can help take your body from flab to fab and to fail in a reasonable amount of time. tone those areas that will be highlighted while wearing your dress. This is perfect for those who have difficulty 2. Balance setting aside time for the time. Yes, it's possible to sculpt a lean, mean, strong body without bench presses and Instability is another way to add resistance without bicep curls. Just look at gymnasts - they have some of the weight. Movements that force you to balance cause you most athletic bodies yet many don't even use weights. to use a larger number of muscles, giving you a stronger How does this work? That's the power of gravity. R ather fitness base. This can be done using an unstable platform, than using weights to create resistance, you can use your "These effective exercises like a stability ball, or by doing exercises in a balance-challenged own bodyweight in a functional manner and get fit. can help take your body position. Lifting a leg or an arm off the ground during almost The Pushup - Your New Best from flab to fab and tone any movement makes it tougher. Again, your goal for resistance Friend those areas that will be training is that point of failure. You probably avoid these highlighted while wearing 3. JUMP! because they are hard, but they are the most epic, versatile and your dress." Plyometric training allows you to underappreciated body weight make the most out of gravity by exercise there is! They are really just an inversion of a going airborne and is therefore super effective. Often bench press and work muscles in your chest, shoulders called jump training, it's basically anything that forces and triceps. As long as you have good form, push-ups you to explode on takeoff and then land after a period are fantastic for using your weight to tone and build of being airborne. Why is it so effective? It forces change upper body muscle. For perfect form, make sure your in muscles faster than non-plyometric movements and elbows stay in close to your sides, your core is tight and forces your muscles to work in a different way. These stabilized and your chin or chest touches the ground. muscular contractions cause your muscles to lengthen Trainer Tip: Do yourself a favour and stay off your knees. forces you to respond almost like a braking system One pushup on your feet with perfect form is better would on car. than 10 sloppy pushups on your knees. It it supposed to you need to be a little more creative. If you've mastered while under load which is important in real life, and be hard and that's why it's called working out! Whether you are trying to lose weight for your wedding There are three things you want to keep in mind while or just add tone to your body, follow these tips for performing these bodyweight exercises: D ifficulty, putting together an at-home workout for simple and Balance and JUMP! effective results.

BY HEATHER NEDHAM