It’s only natural to want to look perfect on your wedding day. From the moment we become engaged we trawl through wedding mags and online directories searching for the knockout look for our big day that will blow everybody’s mind. We want to be our very best versions of ourselves, and look better than anyone thought was possible, right?
Of course, you want to be your best wedding self, but it might be better wedding goals to aim to be the best genuine version of you, rather than what we get taught the perfect bride should be.
What are some great wedding goals to aim for?
Aim for things that
- make you happy
- make you relaxed
- will allow you to be present on your wedding day and enjoy the moment
- make you feel like yourself, and
- that you can look back on fondly later.
Your wedding goals should not be ‘Be the most beautiful bride’ but ‘Be the best you’
Shredding for the Wedding
So many brides (and more than a few grooms) decide to get in shape for their wedding day. This can mean losing weight, building muscle, or maybe toning arms and shoulders to be able to wear that spectacular backless dress.
Somewhere around 80% of brides (and around half of the rest of the people attending a wedding) will try to lose weight for the big day.
The closer us brides get to our big day, the more likely we are to succumb to fad diets or fasts to try to drastically drop kilos that are still stubbornly hanging on to our womanly bodies.
Dieting and exercise are awesome wedding goals. But keep in mind you are trying to find your best wedding day self, not take on a lifestyle that makes you unhappy or unhealthy.
So, aim to exercise several days a week for a minimum of 30 minutes, and look for activities that you enjoy. Get dancing, walk and gossip with friends, check out Zumba, anything that interests you and that you can stick to long-term.
Make eating a reward
Many of us find it easier, instead of denying ourselves food groups, to try to adjust our overall attitude to food. Dieting is not supposed to be painful or torturous, the same way that food is not supposed to make us happy or sad (although we know it does!).
Use food for nourishment. So, fill up with fresh fruit and vegetables, lean proteins, healthy fats, wholegrains, herbal tea and water first. You will not only not be sad or hungry, but you will have more energy and your skin will glow as well!
Your wedding day look
In the aim of looking incredible, we can very often give up comfort and practicality. Now, no one wants to be described on their wedding day as ‘a really comfortable and practical bride’, this kind of conjures up images of rocking down the aisle in mum-bun, sweats and Uggs.
Still, aim to look stunning, but maybe don’t go to painful lengths to achieve this. And although brides are very made up, if you never wear make-up or skirts or heels, then you don’t have to go to extremes on your wedding day just because that’s what brides do.
Here are some hints:
- Get your hair styled in a way that is the most beautiful version of your favourite look. Wear it mostly down if you love that, or in a pony, or half-up or however, you always felt most pretty.
- Don’t wear styles that stick a bunch of pins in your head or give you a terrible headache
- Wear make-up that you are comfortable in. There is a certain amount needed for the photos, but you should still feel like yourself. Talk to your make-up artist about what colours you feel best in and what features you want to play up.
- Wear heels that you still feel you can walk in and won’t fall over (and perhaps not tower over your partner). If you want to go super high, super sexy heels for the ceremony then do it, but if they make you uncomfortable, have something else to change into for the reception.
Think: what does my partner love about me?
One sure fire way to learn to love ourselves better is to see ourselves through our partner’s eyes. We are never more beautiful than when reflected in their eyes.
Get some ideas from them about how you look your best. You might like to ask your partner how they most like your hair – this could surprise you! Consider how much make-up your partner normally likes you in as well.
Consider when they see you for the first time on that day, you want to be the you they love the most.
Wedding Photos
Talk to your wedding photographer about how you feel most comfortable. Choose a photographer based on how good their portfolio is, but make sure that their style fits you and your partner. If they are all drama and poses, and you are more boho and relaxed, then choose one that fits.
Choosing a photographer that makes you feel relaxed on your wedding day is also incredibly important. The last thing you need is someone in your face telling you to pose unnaturally when you have a billion other things to think about.
Again, think about who can make you look like the best version of you, while still feeling happy and relaxed on the most important day of your life.
Your wedding dress
The single most difficult decision of your wedding day can be the all-important dress. So much emotion and power and meaning needs to be conveyed in that one dress.
The women in bridal magazines are beautiful no doubt. But when you are looking for your dress, keep our mantra in mind – choose a dress that reveals the best version of you.
Play up the parts of you that you love and play down the rest. If you don’t like your arms or shoulders, choose illusion sleeves or pretty cap sleeves – don’t feel that you have to wear straps.
Choose a length that you are comfortable in, a style that you can breathe in, sit down in, eat in and dance in.
If you are a boho bride, don’t choose a dress that’s glam and dripping in crystals. If you are not a girly girl then don’t choose lace or tulle. The dresses may look breathtaking in the magazine, but ask yourself, does that look like me?
Look for a dress that is not just bridal magazine dress; it is a real dress made to make real women look and feel amazing. Aim to reveal the very best, and happiest, version of you.
Resources
https://www.fitnessmagazine.com/weight-loss/plans/wedding/get-in-shape-for-your-wedding-day/
