Q. “I need some easy but healthy lunch ideas. It’s always the meal I have trouble with.” —Jessica W.

A. I am a big fan of eating a balanced meal. This means it includes lean protein (chicken, turkey, low-fat dairy, and beans), carbohydrates (whole grain breads, brown rice, and vegetables), and fat (avocado, olive oil, and nuts). Despite what you’ve heard, eliminating anyone one of them is never recommended. Lots of brides think they have to give up carbohydrates, and it’s just not necessary. Give up the carbs and you may not have enough strength to walk down the aisle!

Photo Credit: Heart Love Weddings via Lover.ly

Enjoy some of my favorite lunch ideas:

1. Turkey burger in ½ a large whole wheat pita pocket with romaine lettuce and tomato slices.

2. Egg white omelet with vegetables and a slice of Ezekiel sesame bread (a bread with no sugar found in the refrigerated section in the supermarket).

3. Mixed green salad with grilled shrimp or chicken. I use balsamic vinegar dressing and sprinkle a little parmesan or feta cheese on top.

4. Turkey chili over a small baked potato or brown rice.

5. Seared Ahi tuna on top of mixed green salad with avocado, water chestnuts, shredded carrots, and sliced almonds with a low-calorie sesame dressing.

Hello, amazing BG readers! This is my first post as a Real Bride Blogger and the first formal announcement of my engagement to the world, so it's an exciting day for me.

First, to all of my fellow engaged ladies out there — CONGRATULATIONS! This is truly going to be one of the most special times in your life. Make sure you take a deep breath and enjoy every minute and aspect of planning. Don't settle and most importantly, don't freak out. Everything will come together and your big day will be more magical than you ever imagined possible.

So, who am I? I love weddings; it's what I'm good at and it's what I do for a living. I'm a professional wedding designer and planner for my own company, Davia Lee Events, which is based in Santa Ynez, CA. At work, I tell it like it is and I have a special knack for bringing a bride and groom's vision to life. I've planned stunning weddings that we all dream of having, and I've planned weddings that are sweetly simple and unique. I've dealt with screaming kids, hilarious drunk groomsmen, and unpredictable Mother Nature. I also pride myself on creating awesome pros-and-cons lists to help couples make decisions.

But beyond all of that, I'm a bride, too. I have dreams, hopes, and endless ideas for my wedding, but I also have a budget and challenges just like anyone else reading this. I am beyond excited for this opportunity to share everything wedding-related with all of you throughout my journey: the good and the bad, as well as the glamorous and not-so-glamorous. Yes, my POV may be slightly different because I have years of orchestrating nuptials under my belt, but this time, it's my turn to walk down the aisle, so emotions will run high!

BG brides, not since The Royal Wedding has a celebrity's wedding cake received as much fanfare as Kaley Cuoco's! And with good reason — The Butter End Cakery fulfilled the Big Bang Theory star's wish for something "over the top" with their upside-down chandelier cake. Thanks to custom rigging, sandbags, and clever engineering, the blinged-out confection miraculously stayed in place for her entire reception on New Year's Eve.

Unable to get these magical (albeit outrageous) images out of my mind, I did some digging and it looks like the new Mrs. Sweeting might be on to something. Cakes are soaring to new heights at non-celebrity receptions, too. Check out some of my favorite editors' picks below!

Cake Design: The Butter End Cakery / Photos by: The Butter End Cakery (left) and Kaley Cuoco / Twitter (right)

If you've ever looked up engagement photo inspiration, you've undoubtedly seen some of the same types of pictures over and over — couples posing in a way that not-so-subtly shows off the ring, a bride-to-be gazing adoringly at her fiancé as he stares off into the distance, the fairytale "foot pop" while kissing, and couples tossing leaves, to name a few. 

After getting engaged, Marian Schembari and her fiancé, Elliot Speed, didn't originally plan on taking engagement photos, but when they kept seeing these types of pictures pop up on Pinterest, they decided to do a spoof shoot, where they swapped the traditional gender roles or did extreme versions of the stereotypical images. Their close friend, wedding photographer Malia Moss, followed the couple around San Francisco snapping the hilarious photos. "It was the most fun I've had at a photo shoot in my entire life," Moss told Yahoo Shine. Check out the results!