A wedding day can be stressful or hectic — people you may not have seen in a while, people you have seen who have different ideas of how your wedding should be, details to coordinate, vendors to manage, being emotional in front of people with your sweetie, and so many other potential stressors. A great way to set the tone for the day and bond with select people is to do a group (or even individual/couple) yoga before your ceremony!
We had a small destination wedding (19 guests) and our friendficciant's wife, Tracy, had led the first yoga class I'd ever attended (I'm now an addict). We requested she lend her talents to our wedding and teach a relaxing morning yoga class on the beach for all of us the day of the wedding!
We decided to not do the class on the beach in order to make a more solid surface for those who hadn't done yoga before. A generally unused porch area at our resort served to protect us from the hot sun.
Almost EVERY guest attended the pre-wedding yoga — even those who hadn't ever done it before! Tracy taught a general beginner class, and those of us more advanced added our modifications to each move.
I found the class to be a beautiful relaxing time where I got to bond with my friends and family. Nobody felt self-conscious about trying yoga for the first time (I did a verbal survey later), and Jon and I even got special bridal yoga attention from Tracy, who adjusted us specially during the class.
My body felt relaxed, my blood was flowing, and my mind felt prepared for the day. The class set the tone in a way I can't imagine anything else could.
If you don't have any friends attending who teach yoga, maybe you could work out a trade with a local yoga studio (offering some volunteer hours after the wedding or something) or even get a DVD and a projector so you can follow along with a group.
As an alternative for those less physically inclined, maybe do a group meditation time led by someone who can cater to those of different beliefs and practices in your group.
Yay!!! Photo from toomuchawesomeness.com, so much yes!!
I live in Denver and am getting married in June here. I have already spoke to my favorite yoga instructors at CorePower Yoga and scheduled my yoga classes in my wedding-prep week. The day before, me and my friends are going to take a class together.
Anne at Fannetastic Food wrote up how her and her friends went for the run the morning of her wedding.. http://www.fannetasticfood.com/2013/01/05/running-with-the-bride/
Yes! I teach yoga on Kauai and have done many private classes before weddings. Some go better than others (some people seem like they’ve been roped in) but each time the bride has been so happy and I’ve been happy to share in their special day. With the right teacher and space to practice it can be the best way to calm prewedding stress.
Total genius!
My yoga instructor opened up her class to anyone in town for our wedding the day before. It was perfect, and a great chance to relax with some of my favorite people. I highly recommend it!
That’s a great idea too! So were there non wedding related people at the class as well?
I love, love, love this idea. A good friend of mine is newly a yoga instructor, too! I wonder if I could use the ballroom at our hotel in the morning for a personal yoga class. Now you have me thinking!
One question: What did you do for yoga mats?
Great question. Actually the resort offered yoga classes, so we talked about borrowing their mats but eventually that didnt work out. Instead we just invited all our guests to bring their pool or room towels. It was definitely a little slipperier, and some of us ended up just on the wood floor, but it was an easy fox and something that everyone had. Maybe your hotel could give you some yoga specific towels for out of town guests? Or some hotels even have mats in the workout area you can borrow.
Wedding is six months away and we have the church, the hall, and … morning of yoga! It may or may not have been the first thing booked!
I did this for my wedding last year! I got all my bridesmaids personalized yoga mats as gifts and got my instructor to come to the hotel we were all staying at. It was AWESOME! Definitely what we needed to relax!
That is an awesome idea with the mats! Can you share the link for where you ordered them from? How cool and thoughtful!!
On Oahu, Hawaii… Beach | Sunset Yoga Hawaii offers beachfront and sunset yoga at the most breathtaking cliffs and secret beaches for wedding group parties….we also do jungle yoga hikes | retreats to tall pristine waterfalls and have found them to be amazing events for destination bridal parties to do some bonding and creating once in a lifetime memories over real nature and adventure. http://www.sunsetyogahawaii.com