Sent out the invitations? Check. Booked a caterer? Check. Picked a dress? Check. Finished 15 real push-ups in under 30 seconds? Ouch.
A new class at the Eden Prairie Community Center is looking to help brides-to-be get in shape for the big day. But the goals of "Bridal Boot Camp" may be more about stress relief than extreme makeovers.
Class instructor Holly Busse has trained a lot of brides through her work as a personal trainer at the Community Center, she said.
"They come to me and they all say the same thing: 'I need to fit in my dress.'"
Instead, Busse thinks, "Oh honey, we just need to get you healthy for a really good start and a new life."
Busse wants the brides to forget the dress and instead focus on healthy habits.
"It should be so much more than about a dress, it really should be," she said. "And it should be so much more than just about that day. This is about a lifestyle."
Andrea Ploszay is one of the first to try out the class, which runs for eight weeks this spring.
Ploszay doesn't necessarily have a set goal for Bridal Boot Camp; she just wants to feel the best for her wedding day.
"Obviously not to have flopping arms either," she adds, with a laugh
Ploszay, who works at the Community Center, said her fiance likes to run.
"I think he's excited for me to find something that I can do to exercise that I'll enjoy."
She's not into working out, so she wanted to take a class where people were going through the same thing. Ploszay brought her mother and sister along for the ride.
"We were all kind of looking for a way to get a good routine," she added.
Ploszay said that there are high expectations for weddings.
"You obviously want it to be a day that you'll remember the rest of your life," she said.
"I think there's an expectation that you want to look your best."
First class
The first class of Bridal Boot Camp starts off with less drilling, more instruction. Ploszay, her mother Kiki Pozniak, and sister, Alyssa Ploszay, along with two other brides, curl up on mats and listen to advice from Busse. Everyone wants to tone up their arms, so first on the menu is how to do real push-ups - a lot of groans and giggles emerge from the bemused participants. The pushups will be just some of the homework they can try after class.
Busse offers advice on healthy eating. The key is to be prepared so you're never famished and dive into junk food.
"Figure out your eating habits and why you eat," she tells the class.
"It really is about planning and making good choices."
Busse advises the students on finding their intention - the real reason for taking the class.
You have got to have an intention - that's why they're not talking about the dress, she adds.
"That's not going to get you there."
She tells the participants to go back and look at their intention.
"It's easy to forget when you're in it ... kind of like being married."