Utterly Engaged } The 1st Online Wedding & Bridal Magazine. Inspiring Brides with Style.

Happy Friday! Last Tuesday, we hosted a giveaway for Bridal Babe Boutique where a bride and her bridal party can win a set of hot tank tops for their bachelorette night out along with a sexy marabou garter and a chiffon party veil for the bride. It’s been very exciting to see the entries rolling in all week and now WE HAVE A WINNER! Congratulations to ASIA GREGORY! You’re our lucky winner!!

As a thank you to everyone for entering the giveaway, Bridal Babe Boutique is offering our readers an exclusive discount! Use code “RUNNERUP” for 10% off your entire order, now through Feb 1. And don’t forget to enter a picture of you and your girls rocking their tanks in the Hall of Babes photo contest and claim that coveted spot!

At the beginning of every new year, people tend to go into ‘feast or famine’ mode and take on drastic diets that are just not sustainable. It’s tempting to do, especially if you need to fit in that dress! But it’s important to remember that the best way to stick to any health related resolution is by making small changes that are easy to maintain. And get your bridal party together and resolve to be healthier as a group! We’re excited that popchips (a sponsor from our last year’s new year party!) have teamed up with celeb health and wellness expert, Jillian Michaels for the new year to share with you some of her health tips!

JILLIAN’S HEALTH TIPS

• Avoid fried foods at all costs.

• Eat three balanced meals a day every four hours with a snack in between lunch and dinner.

• Eat no more than 6-8 teaspoons of fats and vegetable oil per day.  Choose oils that are mostly unsaturated such as olive oil.

• Opt for cooking methods that use little or no fat such as steaming, grilling, baking, broiling or roasting.

• Purchase healthier alternatives when given a choice (popchips vs. fried chips, grilled vs. fried chicken).

• Curb salty cravings with tasty snacks such as popchips, almonds or dried cranberries.

Hope these tips will get you started on your health goal this year! From now until March 15, you can enter popchips sweepstakes for a chance to win a 3-night escape to The Venetian in Las Vegas as a reward for keeping those new year’s resolutions! And to make things even more delicious, popchips just released their new flavors – jalapeno, chili lime, sweet potato and parmesan garlic! Who knew eating healthy can be so yumm!

courtesy of popchips

Every issue that we’ve worked on, there are only a limited number of images we could use to fill our pages. Because of that, a lot of beautiful photographs never get shown. So we thought, let’s start sharing them with you! It’s a shame to keep them to ourselves and hidden in our hard drives. So one of our many 2012 goals was to show you more! Let’s start with our latest January issue and cover.

This cover and editorial feature is outrageously beautiful, isn’t it? Thank you to Kat Harris of Mike Colon Photographers, Jacqueline Weppner of Merci New York and her artistic direction and styling and Jupiter Jewelry for letting us feature their amazing jewels. Scroll down, because we have a lot more eye candy for you below. Enjoy!

In the next few days we’ll be sharing more, so be sure to check back here. We hope this will inspire you to think outside of the box when you’re planning your wedding day!

Credits: Photography Kat Harris, Mike Colon Photographers /  Art Direction & Styling Jacqueline Weppner, Merci New York /  Jewelry from Jupiter Jewelry /  Location  Metropolitan Building /  Model Kira From Fenton Moon  /  Makeup Artist Sharon Becker, Facetime Beauty Concierge /  Hair Stylist Maysoon Faraj, Facetime Beauty Concierge /  Floral Design Lori Meigel, Avaflora /  Wardrobe From Gabriella New York Bridal Salon, Rent The Runway, And Merci New York’s Style Shop On Newlywish /  Designers Pulled  Anne Maier-Ulla Maija, Badgley Mischka, Reem Acra, Vena Cava, Jannie Baltzer

There’s a certain charm to San Francisco that everyone loves. For this particular couple Kelly and Joel, San Francisco is more than just a lovely city with charm. It’s the place where they first met and fell in love. During their short distance relationship (living only 5 blocks away from each other in the lively Cow Hollow neighborhood), they had created many great memories within those city blocks. So naturally it’s the perfect backdrop to their engagement session and a perfect reason to walk down memory lane.

Photography by Heather Scharf Photography via Two Bright Lights

Calling all brides and bridesmaids! Wanna look hot on your bachelorette night out? Bridal Babe Boutique, an online retailer of bridal and bachelorette party apparel and accessories has all the right stuff for you! Their recently launched exclusive Bridesbabe™ and Babe of Honor™ clothing line is perfect for the modern bride and her posse. This line of apparel gives brides a fresh, sexy alternative to the traditional ‘Maid of Honor’ and ‘Bridesmaid’ titles (which date back to the Middle Ages! *gasp*). Their unique, fashion-forward tanks are perfect for wedding day, bachelorette parties, bridal showers or bridal party gifts.

And when you’ve rocked their tanks, make sure to enter a picture of you and your girls in their Hall of Babes photo contest on Facebook and claim that coveted spot!

Are you feeling lucky? Enter the Brides and Babes Bachelorette Party Giveaway for a chance to win:

• A complete set of Bridal Babe Boutique’s exclusive Bride, Bridesbabe™ & Babe of Honor™ tanks for ONE lucky bride and her bridal party

• Bachelorette Accessories: Chiffon Bachelorette Party Veil and Marabou “Something Blue” Garter

The winning bride chooses a tank from any of their collections for herself, her maid of honor and bridesmaids*. Note: You do not have to be the bride to enter, family and bridal party members can enter on behalf of the bride as well! The more entries, the better your chances!

*Maximum 10 shirts. No exchanges or returns for cash value. Package will be shipped to a single destination provided by winner.

HOW TO ENTER:

1. Like Bridal Babe Boutique on Facebook. Enter using the Utterly Engaged Giveaway Tab.

2. Leave a comment below and let us know that you’ve done so!

FOR AN EXTRA BONUS ENTRY:

1. Follow @BridalBabeShop on Twitter and Tweet: “I just entered to win the Brides & Babes Bachelorette Party Giveaway from @BridalBabeShop on @utterlyengaged blog!”

2. Leave a comment below and let us know that you’ve done so!

We’ll announce the lucky winner on Friday, January 20. Good luck!