Friday, July 9, 2010

The Food Fight

Make no mistake, I love to eat! In fact, the hardest part of my fitness routine throughout the past year has been taking a pass on my favorite cookies, chips, and all of the other salty or sugary confections that seem to beckon from the cupboard on a nightly basis.

So, as you can guess, I went into my wedding day ready to chow down! From the Mexican food to the sangria to the Oreo-cream cake, I was more than ready to stuff myself full.

The only problem? I couldn’t! Yes, even me, the bottomless pit of junk food delight, joined the ranks of brides who could hardly eat more than a couple bites on the wedding day.


Don’t get me wrong. It wasn’t all bad. Before things got too crazy during our “getting ready” phase, I was my usual self, first eating couple waffles for breakfast, followed by a small Starbucks green tea blended drink. Then, for lunch, I also drank a mini Jamba Juice smoothie, and munched on a small dish of pasta that was leftover from the rehearsal dinner.

But things definitely went downhill from that point, at least food-wise. By the time we had arrived at the church, the combination of adrenaline and nerves left me without an appetite and even feeling a little queasy. Then, later, once I did feel slightly hungry, I just couldn’t bring myself to stomach much food.

What did I actually manage to eat and drink? Here’s the breakdown.


Cocktail hour? I drank a glass of Sprite while Stephen and I relaxed in the bride’s room. No alcohol or appetizers for me.

Dinner? Between guests coming to our table and my finicky appetite, I ate half an enchilada and a few bites of Mexican Caesar salad, along with several spoonfuls of rice and beans. I also managed to enjoy a couple sips of our signature sangria and our wine. But the fajitas and black-bean shrimp salad? I never touched them.

Dessert? I manage to squeeze down a couple bites of cake, from which I’d been given one slice of each flavor, but definitely couldn’t eat more than that. Luckily, our coordinator boxed them all up, and my mom froze the slices for me to enjoy after we got back from our honeymoon. I drank a sip or two of champagne during the toasts and cake cutting, but that was about all I could handle.


LESSON LEARNED: Even if you expect to eat at your reception, don’t go hungry in the morning or afternoon. Try to eat small, healthy meals leading up to your ceremony, and be sure to drink plenty of water, especially if you’re going to be spending a lot of time outdoors. If you find that you’re too nervous to eat or don’t feel well, don’t force it. Just ask your coordinator or the venue staff to wrap some food to go for you. In the end, it’s better to miss out than end up sick for the rest of the evening. In my case, nerves and emotions affected me much more than I expected, so be prepared in case this happens to you.

Do you lose your appetite when you get nervous or excited? How do you think you’ll fare on the wedding day?

(Photo Credits: Personal Library)

7 comments:

  1. This is really good advice. Although I LOVE to eat and planned on eating a ton at the wedding ... I definitely didn't try 80% of the food we had.

    To make sure the bridal party (who pointed out this concern months before the wedding - it seemed like they had some bad experiences) was well fed I had a friend deliver Panera for breakfast to the salon and for lunch to the hotel. This was one of the best things I could have done as it was pretty cheap (maybe 100 for both meals?) but it guaranteed that EVERYONE ate and no one showed up hungry.

    The girls really appreciated me with that one and I'm not sure I would have made it through the day without staying hydrated and well fed.

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  2. As you already read I barely ate anything at the wedding, in fact I barely ate anything Friday and Saturday which just made my dress even looser (not a good thing!) Fortunately by Sunday my appetite was back and I was able to eat the leftovers.

    Glad to see I'm not alone!

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  3. Good advice. I never lost any appetite at my wedding, I even asked for seconds...but of course, I was 6 months pregnant...lol

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  4. Great advice. Finding the time to eat will be a challenge for us, since we need to greet upwards of 350 guests at the reception!

    Your bouquets look so pretty lined up on the table. Great way to make your flowers work double-time :)

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  5. I do not eat when I am nervous or stressed. Hopefully that will not be the case. Ps thsnks for the kinf words hugs*

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  6. I kind of lost my appetite early on but was made to eat by my mum since we were getting married at 1pm and needed to eat first!

    We missed the canapes while getting photos taken but I did eat all my dinner; guess by then all we had to do was cut the cake and dance and i wasnt nervous about that really!

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