I’ve never been married so I don’t know the angst of needing to get in shape for an impending final dress fitting for the most important dress of my life, in preparation for the most important day of my life. But I know the stress of wanting to tone up for an important event (albeit not as important as my wedding - double yikes!) in order to fit into a hot dress in my closet that somehow looks less hot than it looked when I bought it.

So, I imagine that if I multiplied that feeling times 200 million, that is what brides feel when they are not quite as trim as they wish they were in the months or weeks preceding their wedding.

I know all of you soon to be married readers know exactly what I’m talking about. None of us wants to be BIG on our “big day” and no girl wants to feel fat in her dress of all dresses! So with spring around the corner, with many weddings set to take place, I thought I’d stir up a little inspiration in a series I like to call *f.a.t. Bliss - as in marital bliss. (Keep reading for how you can win a romantic getaway!)

To get the motivation ball rolling, I am sharing the weight loss plight of my engaged friend and fellow blogger, Dana (whose bridal blog, Broke Ass Bride, is like Fit After Thirty but with a ring on its finger). Dana has three months to get her bod in shape for her walk down the aisle, and I think a lot of you will be able to relate with some of her struggles, while gaining wisdom from her approach! (See her video interview tomorrow!)

We’ll check in to see her progress over time, prior to her May wedding! I think her approach to view this as more than an attempt to look good in photos for a day, and rather a mindset to get healthy for a lifetime, is a healthy one. And since we’re so confident that she’s going to be able to look fabulous by May, we want to help her show off her bod in a bikini on a honeymoon in Costa Rica. She and her man are entered in a contest to win this trip, but they need our help to win! Help a *f.a.t. girl win a honeymoon and you can win a *f.a.t. gift certificate for your own romantic getaway for two, at the Paradise Point Resort! The drawing will be held on Valentine’s Day - February 14th!!!

Here’s what you do:

1. Go to The Broke Ass Bride link.

2. Follow the instructions for voting for the Green Wedding Contest at a separate link listed on her site.

3. Once you hit the submit button to enter your vote, cut and paste the url that appears in your browser into an email to suzy@fitafterthirty.com. Put *f.a.t. Bliss in the subject line. We will draw one lucky winner on Valentine’s Day! (You can vote tomorrow as well, but for each vote, you must submit (to me) a separate email with the new url from your vote submission screen. Tomorrow, new answers will be given on the Broke Ass Bride site so if you vote again tomorrow, you must go to The Broke Ass Bride site for the new answers, as the contest questions will be different. )

Now, for all of you whose brains are sluggish because you haven’t taken my advice on sugar consumption, let me clarify this. These are two separate contests. Broke Ass Bride and her groom are entered in a contest to go to Costa Rica on their honeymoon. For voting for them and attempting to help them win, YOU can enter in our Fit After Thirty contest to win a night’s stay at Paradise Point Resort in San Diego. But you must submit the url from your voting submission browser in an email to suzy@fitafterthirty.com, *f.a.t. Bliss in subject line, in order for your name to go in the drawing. Capiche?

Check back tomorrow to see Broke Ass Bride’s interview, and if you’d like to be considered as one of our featured *f.a.t. Bliss Brides on a countdown to get in shape for her wedding, email us with a short note of interest. (Nothing like being accountable to tons of *f.a.t. readers to motivate you to get to the gym!)