Preparation
For Whitney Tingle, the co-founder of Sakara Life, an organic meal delivery service, beauty and health have always been linked. It should come as no surprise, then, that she took a holistic approach when preparing for her June wedding, which took place in her husband Itay Blasenheim’s native Tel Aviv. In the weeks leading up to the wedding, Tingle turned to Sakara’s plant-based meals to look and feel her best on the big day-which actually inspired the company’s new package just for brides.
Tingle definitely practices what she preaches, but she also committed to a bridal beauty regimen that helped her achieve her natural, radiant wedding-day look. Here, everything you need to know about pre-wedding fitness, better, brighter skin, and lustrous, photo-ready hair, straight from the newlywed health maven.
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“I used my wedding as an excuse to try to get into the best shape of my life. I started doing pilates with Annie Vernier at Le Petite Studio which helped me to create long, lean muscles,” says Tingle. To help balance stressful wedding planning and work travel, she turned to the digital wellness company Caravan to keep up with her workouts, and to practice yoga and meditation, which she recommends for managing anxiety. “It’s not just a great thing for my body, but it’s also really good for managing stress levels-which can creep up when planning a wedding!”
Skin is what inspired Tingle to create Sakara, so it was at the front of her mind during beauty prep. “I am obsessed with skin. I struggled with cystic acne for a decade and tried everything from Accutane to acupuncture, but none of it worked. For me, I know skin starts on the inside, so I was very focused on diet leading up to my wedding,” she said. “I also used our Sakara Beauty Chocolates, which contain phytoceramides that help your cells retain moisture and support collagen production so that you’re extra glowy (and very important for destination weddings because the flight can make your skin look dehydrated).”
For the outside? The entrepreneur turned to the pros. “I worked with Joie at JTav Clinical Skincare for custom facials based on my skin and specific needs. And I also did a Clear + Brilliant treatment with dermatologist Rosemarie Ingleton, M.D., and a few sessions of Skin Laundry that helped shrink my pores.” On the big day, she kept her routine simple and kept exfoliating to a minimum (with the exception of her beloved Biologique Recherche P50 Lotion!). “I let my skin be itself after all the prep that went into it,” she explained.
Tingle began working towards her desired hair color months before the wedding. “[My hairstylist], Marcy at Bumble & Bumble, recommends coloring your hair three-to-four times before the big day, with the last time you have it done being one-to-two weeks before the wedding so [the color] has time to settle in or change tone,” she explained. “I ended up with the perfect shade of natural blonde.”
Tingle describes her wedding day look as classic and natural. “I wanted to look very natural for my wedding day, so my hair stylist, Tiffany Fodor, styled it with loose beachy waves,” she continued. Her glam followed suit, but deviated from her typical low-maintenance routine. “Usually I go pretty light on makeup-some foundation, blush, a bit of highlighter and some mascara,” she said. “For my wedding I consulted my good friend and celeb makeup artist, Carmindy, on how to make sure I had good coverage for pictures but still look natural in person. She did my make up for my wedding and gave me a bit of black liner along the lash line to make my eyes pop, and a bright pink lip, which I loved.”
“I wore Flowerhead by Byredo,” Tingle said, on her wedding perfume. “It reminds me of a field of flowers. I wanted to smell youthful and feminine for my outdoor wedding.”
Tingle put a slightly-retro twist on a traditional nail look for the big day. “I did long oval shaped classic French manicure and white toenail polish,” she explained.
Start early, she said. “Give yourself time to make changes without doing anything drastic. You want to still look like yourself on your wedding day, just enhanced! If you can, give yourself a good six months to slowly implement diet and exercise changes.” As for what to eat on the morning of your wedding? “Greens! Add them to a smoothie or have a side with some scrambled eggs. Whatever you do, load up on those super veggies,” she recommended.
