By Julie Jorgensen
HOORAY, you’re engaged! Whether it’s a grand gesture or the simplest of situations, giving your hand to another’s in the promise of marriage is a big deal, y’all - one of the biggest you’ll have in life. Once the exhilaration of the moment subsides, most brides get down to business with the planning...and the stress around looking one’s best on the big day. Well, get ready for a little well-intentioned tough love on that front ladies, because I’m about to blow the lid off of the “I have to lose ___ pounds/ look like a move star/ fill-in-the-blank,” nonsense.
It’s completely natural and expected, to feel pressure to look your absolute best on your wedding day. It, and you, will be documented a thousand times by your photographer, your wedding party, your friends and so on for all to see. Unfortunately for some, that pressure morphs and contorts into the insistence that one has to look like a different person, and to that I say, “no ma’am.” Your significant other fell in love with all of you; your features and your faults; you on date night and you in your yoga pants with the flu. There’s not a single thing wrong with readying yourself for that close-up on the day you say “I do,” but by no means should you feel like you have to torture yourself in the process. Don’t believe me? Well, I fainted two days before my wedding when I was getting a spray tan because I hadn’t eaten all day...or the day before that. Oh, and I was stark naked when I hit the deck. Lovely. I share this embarrassing story to hopefully serve as a humorous example as to what not to do in the name of looking good on one’s wedding day.
The effort to get fit and healthy before jetting off on a fancy honeymoon is to be applauded. Get after that fitness! That said, there’s a vast difference between “healthy” and “skinny.” If you’ve never been a size four in your life, there is no sense in trying to achieve this goal by your wedding day. Why not focus on exercising and eating to support that exercise? Trust me, the rest will take care of itself. And no red-blooded groom worth a hill of beans wants a lady who looks like a little boy. Throw out the scale. Stop trying to fit into a mold that wasn’t meant for you, beautiful bride. Fit and strong is sexy and beautiful. Focus on feeling your best, and looking your best will follow.
The same theory can be applied to your beauty routine as you gear up for your moment in the spotlight. A series of facials, spaced a few weeks apart and starting about six months before the wedding day, is a surefire bet to having baby’s-butt skin in pictures. But please, please resist the urge to dive into drastic changes to your appearance. Put down the Botox needle girl. Again, he fell in love with you. He didn’t propose thinking, “Well, she’ll be fine once she lifts those eyebrows, loses twenty pounds, has poutier lips...” If doing any or all of these things makes you feel like your best self, do it. But don’t do it because you suddenly feel like you won’t look good in that bridal portrait. Simply not true.
The bottom line is this: you’re most beautiful when you’re yourself, and when you’re happy. Your wedding day is the perfect time to do both. By the time you walk down that aisle, you will have put so much of your emotional and physical energy into making it a day to remember. Don’t waste any of that precious energy! Smile, you gorgeous thing. You’re already your most beautiful you! Cheers!
Love,
The Beauty Junkie
