Archive for November, 2012
With a HUGE thank you to all our donors, brides to be and volunteer staff, I am absolutely tickled pink to report that we donated just over $100,000 in 2012. This is absolutely incredible, and a milestone that would be impossible to achieve without the contribution of so many people.
This year our donations supported Camp Quality, Relay for Life (Canadian Cancer Society), Gilda’s Club, Wellspring, Prostate Cancer Canada, the Terry Fox Foundation, the Weekend to End Women’s Cancers (Princess Margaret Hospital) and the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. Needless to say, we plan to continue this support in 2013. Thank you, thank you and THANK YOU for your tremendous support!
Helen Sweet (founder)
Ever looked at a wedding dress and thought “I love it, except for…”? Well, you’re in luck. There is a lot that can be done for a dress with one element you don’t like. A seamstress can take a dated design and make it modern and one of a kind!
Often when we get dresses with a lot of hidden potential, we’ll give them to a seamstress to go all out and turn a dated gown into a lovely, unique dress. We get some amazing results back!
These redesigns by Samantha of Sparkle & Pomp have sold exceptionally quickly (the lace one is still available as I write this), but we wanted to show you some examples of the miracles that can happen when a seamstress gets creative with an outdated dress.
Before: 1980s puffy sleeve ballgown
After: 1950s-inspired charming tea-length gown
Before: 1970s with a whole lotta lace
After: Modern lines on a summery or destination dress
After: A chic, elegant gown with a touch of colour
Our team of shop volunteers are a pretty fearless bunch. So when it comes to donning a hairy upper lip for the purpose of fundraising for Prostate Cancer Canada, we jumped right in! Here are a few more of our lovely ladies with some sexy moustaches (though, just like a mascara commercial, perhaps we used some falsies for emphasis!)
Madeline ‘grew’ a grandfather-of-the-bride moustache (and if you can get your grandfather in a veil like this, please send pictures!)
Julie dons the ‘stache to complement one of our most extravagant gowns
Carol channels Charlie Chaplin
Barbara is ready to paint the town red!
This is a guest post by Sarah Ramsden MA CNP NNCP.
Your wedding day is sure to be one where looking and feeling your best is most important. Preparing for this day and your lifetime ahead 0f you with your partner. Take a natural approach with these tips!
Weight Loss
We are all unique. Learn how to lose weight effectively, sustainably, and healthfully in a way that works for YOU. Your wedding day might be your motivator, but long-term health should be your ultimate goal.
- Eating low fat to lose weight is a myth. Eating healthy fats such as olive oil, coconut products,avocado, or nuts & seeds with quality protein at every meal will make you feel full longer.
- Choosing low glycemic foods helps keeps blood sugar low, which in turn keeps the “store fat” hormone (insulin) low, and the “burn fat” hormone (glucagon) higher.
- Your body expects nutrients to come from food. When they don’t, it sends a signal to tell you to keep eating until it receives them. Eat whole, un-processed foods to maximize nutrient density.
- Lifestyle factors such as stress and lack of sleep can hinder weight loss efforts.
- Underlying health conditions can make it harder to lose weight.
Glowing Skin
There’s only so much a facial and a make up artist can do—truly glowing skin comes from the inside.
- If your digestion is not optimal, your skin is going to show the signs. Indigestion, constipation,and poor absorption of nutrients all need to be tackled to get glowing skin.
- It may sound clichéd, but you actually ARE what you eat. Eating nutrient dense, whole foods will provide your skin with the building blocks it needs to build healthy skin right down to the cellular level.
- While eczema, psoriasis, and dry skin can be tackled topically, you will get the best results by working from the inside out. This starts with optimal digestion, and the consumption of healthy fats and probiotics.
- Factors that contribute to acne are oily skin, hormonal imbalances, menstruation cycles,candidiasis and medications.
- Food sensitivities and allergies can contribute to skin problems. An elimination diet can help you discover what those might be.
Steady Energy
Learn how you can have steady energy throughout the day by making the right food choices.
- If your energy levels fluctuate throughout the day, you “crash” at 3pm, or get irritable and experience uncontrollable hunger if you miss a meal, you may be having blood sugar regulation problems.
- Eating a diet of whole foods higher in protein, healthy fats, and fibre, and low in packaged, processed foods and sugars, can help you maintain constant energy.
- If you feel tired and heavy after eating a fatty or protein-rich meal you may be struggling to digest them. This can be aided with dietary changes and simple digestive supplementation.
- Caffeine, alcohol and tobacco cause large swings in blood sugar levels, which can ultimately cause drowsiness and fatigue.
Stress
Learn how to support your body nutritionally so you can be cool, calm and collected while preparing for your big day, and far beyond.
- Stress is not all in your mind. Long-term stress can tire out your body’s stress-management mechanisms and can cause deficiencies in the very nutrients that feed your body’s ability to handle stress.
- Fatigue, weakness, dizziness, excessive perspiration, food cravings, allergies, being startled by sudden noises, and exhaustion from emotional upset are all signs of poor physiological stress management.
- Refined carbohydrates in the diet such as sugar and white flour deplete many of the nutrients required for stress management.
- Lifestyle changes such as stress-management techniques, adequate sleep, and proper exercise that does not increase stress on your system are important strategies to adopt.
Are you interested in being a Healthy Bride? Holistic Nutritionist Sarah Ramsden MA CNP NNCP offers free 15 minute consultations to see how you can start on the path to looking and feeling your best for the big day, and healthy and vibrant for many years beyond. To book an appointment with her at the Liberty Clinic call 416-591-1123.
You can learn more about her approach to health at:
sarahramsden.com
facebook.com/HealthyRamsden
@HealthyRamsden
pinterest.com/healthyramsden
About Sarah Ramsden:
The Bride’s Projects mission to raise money to fight cancer through the sale of pre-loved wedding dresses is one that is close to my heart. A mere five months after my wedding in Banff, everything changed when I was diagnosed with a brain tumour. Luckily a meningioma is non-malignant and I recovered over several months from the surgery that removed it. Finding a new home for my dress couldn’t have been further from my mind at the time, but when I stumbled across The Bride’s Project I knew it was the perfect place for it.
This life changing experience led me down a different career path, and today I practice as a Holistic Nutritionist where I help others achieve their health goals through traditional food, and lifestyle choices. I believe there is more to health than just the absence of disease. You should feel energetic, alert, happy and confident. Everyone is unique, and whether you are feeling run down and not your best, want to lose weight, deal with stress better, or have a diagnosis you are not willing to let rule your life, you can do something about it.
We love to dress up for events at The Brides’ Project—after all, we do donate our time to hang out in a house full to the brim with white wedding gowns. Every November, TBP switches it up from our usual gowns and veils and don some ‘staches for Movember. This year we will be making a donation to Prostate Cancer Canada.
To get in the spirit, our volunteers got our moustaches on!
Allison went all out – mustache, goatee, and… fascinator?
Dawn gets shows some sass for Movember!
Sasha rocks the ‘stache and veil
One of the things we hear at The Brides Project a lot is that brides want to get their dresses from us because they’ve lost someone to cancer, or have a relative who’s going through treatment, or a survivor. We hear this far too often, and this is one of the reasons we’re committed to raising money for cancer charities.
Such was the case with Stephanie, who got her dress from The Brides’ Project for her September wedding, and sent along this message:
I just wanted to say thank you for my wedding dress! I felt absolutely gorgeous in it and everyone kept telling me how much they loved the dress. Sadly, my husband’s mother passed away just three short weeks before our wedding of cancer so buying it from The Brides’ Project had such special meaning for me. Luckily, I was able to show her a picture of the dress before she passed away and she gave it her wholehearted approval. I will be donating the dress back to The Brides’ Project and I hope the next bride who wears it enjoys it just as much as I did!
Thank you so much Stephanie, for the kind words and for the lovely photos!
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