Written By Melissa Reardon
Photographs By Lucy Cuneo
A transplant from Virginia, Weston “Wes” McAfee vividly remembers the first time he saw his future bride-to-be. Charleston native Dana Elaine...
In addition to her wellness packages for brides, Ginny Leavitt also has options for anyone feeling Big Day pressure, from wedding parties to moms, and grooms, too.
For all you brides who are tightly wound over your pending nuptials, pending photos, pending gatherings, and all the pressures therein, Ginny Leavitt gets it. “Social media, especially Instagram and Pinterest, have created a lot of additional pressures for women,” says the wellness coach. “We’re constantly bombarded by ‘perfect’ images that have been edited, photoshopped, cropped, posed, etcetera, and it fuels the pressure.”
To navigate it all, Ginny came up with The Healthy Bride Experience (GinnyLeavitt.com; @theginnyleavitt), a health and nutritional coaching program. Offered in stints that range from a self-study option ($147) to four-, eight-, and 16-week sessions ranging up to $2,450, the custom courses hone in on what a bride is struggling with and give her the insight and solutions for a path to sanity–and serenity. With a mix of in-person meetings, support texts and emails, and assignments, Ginny, who has a masters in exercise physiology from the University of Virginia and is a certified health coach, along with her business partner registered dietitician Anna Burleson could rival your maid of honor for having your back.
The endeavor was born when Reagan Barnes of Events by Reagan approached Ginny and asked her how to help clients struggling with wedding planning stress. “I discovered that the primary programs available to brides focused on bridal boot camps and nutrition planning,” says Ginny. “Studies suggest that 91 percent of brides have a weight-related goal, with 70 percent of them wanting to lose an average 23 pounds.” (According to a 2007 Cornell University study, she says.) “However,” she continues, “about one-third succeed in losing weight, and they only average a seven-pound loss–about one-third actually end up gaining weight.”
“When I hear those statistics,” Ginny says, “I think about the bride’s mind-set, and how disappointed, stressed, or frustrated she is. She is probably not her best, most confident self when she walks down the aisle, and that’s a travesty! A wedding day should not be filled with resentment or self-consciousness, it should be filled with joy and elation.”
“I always tell brides,” Ginny advises, “‘What’s the point of losing 20 pounds if you’re miserable, self-conscious, tired, stressed, and afraid you’ll put it all back on? I’d rather help you focus less on the number and more on feeling confident, amazing, and equipped for a healthy marriage.” Amen to that.
Image courtesy of Ginny Leavitt
