When we heard that Liz of Sprouted Routes joined the “engaged ladies” clubs, we felt a celebration was in order. The type of celebration that begins today as we welcome this health food blogger into the Blogger Bride family! Follow along as she’ll be sharing her journey down the aisle with us, starting with her romantic e-sesh waiting for you in THE VAULT!
From Sprouted Routes…My name’s Liz, and I’m so so excited to be Style Me Pretty’s first ever food blogger bride! Over on my blog, Sprouted Routes, I’m all about easy paths to a healthy, beautiful life, whether I’m sharing natural stress relief tips, easy secrets to gorgeous hair or delicious, secretly healthy recipes like Creme Brulee French Toast, Creamy Pumpkin Risotto or Caramel Apple Crisp.
When my fiance and I got engaged this past summer (more on that in a sec!) we knew we wanted our wedding to reflect that same ethos: we wanted it to feel like an effortless, fun party for all of our closest loved ones, with amazing food (of course!), a natural, organic feel and – most of all – no stress or anxiety. We want to throw away the mold for what a wedding is supposed to be and create a wedding that truly feels like us, and I’m so excited to have you along for the journey!
My fiance, Zack and I met when we were both still students at UC Berkeley. I saw him from across a crowded bar, and aided by the strength of a few glasses of wine, I found the courage to approach him. He somehow saw the charm beneath the Chardonnay and soon, we were inseparable. After a year and a half, we moved across the bay to San Francisco together.
In the almost eight years that we’ve been together, we’ve also lived in New York and London; we’ve traveled together to Sicily, St. Lucia, Colombia, Paris, Zurich, Berlin, Prague and many others. We’ve eschewed comfort and stability for crumbling apartments and getting lost in foreign locales, but whether I’m sitting next to a woman holding a live chicken in her lap on a bus in the Amazon or drinking Pimm’s Cups in the British summer sunshine, I’ve been so thankful to have him by my side. Having a partner that’s stable and solid and provides the comfort for having the rest of our lives be on the crazier, more spontaneous side.
This past August, we went on a trip with two of our friends to Banff and Jasper National parks in Canada. We stayed in tents and little cabins where we did Chopped-style cooking competitions; we hiked to mountain-top tea houses and paddle-boarded on lakes so blue they seemed Photoshopped. And then, on a Wednesday framed by our two nicest hotel nights of the trip (well played, sir), he took me out on a canoe ride through Maligne Lake. The snow-capped mountains were overhead, the air smelled lightly of pine, and the sun was warm and lovely.
He rowed us over to a small private beach, where he got down on one knee and opened a box to reveal the most beautiful ring I’d ever seen. Little did I know, he’d been designing it with Mociun, my favorite Brooklyn jeweler, for over 7 months! We kissed and embraced (our friends, who were out on their own canoe, snapped an amazing Polaroid of us in the moment just after I said yes that I’ll cherish forever). That night, we celebrated with Champagne and a solid victory in our Chopped competition.
We did our engagement shoot in Point Lobos State Park, which is just south of Carmel on the California coast. Zack’s family has spent their summers there since his mom was a child, and in the last seven years, I’ve absolutely fallen in love with the place – it’s actually where, during our annual week there over the summer, he asked my dad’s permission to marry me.
I’m so excited to embrace the tradition and the novel with our wedding – over the next few months, I’ll be using my wellness knowledge to share ways to make wedding planning awesome, from what to eat to look and feel your best, to tips for creating perfect signature cocktails and choosing wine that’s affordable and wow-worthy, to easy, natural stress busters that you can use yourself or send in an anonymous email to your mother. And I’d love to know what you’d like to talk about! What snags have you run into when planning your wedding? Do you have any awesome tips for making it feel like it represents you and your fiance’s style? Share them in the comments – we’re all in this together.
Photography: Christian Reinna | Ring: Mociun | Venue: Point Lobos State Natural Reserve | Blog: Sprouted Routes