If you don’t normally tan, please, please don’t start doing it two weeks before your wedding. Odds are this is going to blow up in your face. Or, more accurately, on every bit of visible skin. You will be like that girl at prom who just didn’t want to look pale — and ended up ferociously clashing with every inch of her dress. Maybe you were that girl, and if so, we sincerely hope you’ve learned your lesson. Trust me, it’s much easier to adjust lighting to make you look less washed-out than to color-correct your burnt-lobster orange arms after the fact.
Even if you’re not the tanning type (and hey, we sympathize. Those booths are perfect torture chambers for claustrophobes), these words of wisdom still apply to you. Now is not the best moment to attempt walking in five-inch stilettos for the first time or to see how coral lipstick looks on you, just for funsies. The potential for appearance disaster aside, you want to be comfortable when you glide (not stumble) out onto the floor for your first dance. You don’t want to devote time to fretting about whether you really do look better as a brunette, or if your stylist was just blinded by the light reflecting off of your engagement ring.
A Surprise? Or A Shock? There’s A Difference.
Here’s the thing: you know what works for you, and you’re obviously good enough at what you do to have someone in love with you – so please, don’t mess with the formula. You’ve got the rest of your life to confuse – I mean, surprise! — your spouse with new haircuts. How about saving the age of experimentation for after (or during…) the honeymoon?
I Just Want It To Be Perfect 
I had a bride who had botox done a few weeks before her wedding. She was told it would be fine by the big day. Well…it wasn’t. She had the “surprise look” because her eye brows were pulled up. I managed to pose her in such ways that it didn’t really show too bad. Please brides – don’t do anything radically different before your wedding.
p.s. tanning bed cause skin cancer and make you look old.
What a nightmare! At least the faux suntan goes away after a while. I don’t know that they make a Botox plug-in for Photoshop, but maybe there’s an idea for a new product.
LOL – loved the video! I guess I am just extra cautious, but I never have understood why people try out new things before a big event. Like foundation for one. Why would you try out a brand new foundation on the day of your wedding? Use the stuff that you know works! Experimentation is supposed to be the preparation for the big event. 😛 Same with running. I don’t understand why people decide on race day that they are going to wear new shoes/eat something new for breakfast. WHY?
Thanks for writing! There’s an old bit of wisdom that says you should never make more than one major change at a time, and it seems to me getting married would pretty much take any other changes out of play for a good while. And there’s that “surprise” factor too: I wouldn’t want to meet someone I didn’t recognize when I get to the altar.
Lol. This was a funny post. Hope people heed the advice. Considering doing my own make up at mine as I know what works for me!
Thanks for writing. I would definitely recommend doing your own makeup. I’ve seen so many lovely brides transformed into something from a wax museum when they looked wonderful to begin with. And the overzealous makeup artist usually says the reason for the heavy doses of foundation and liner and mascara etc. is: “It looks great in the photos!” From where I stand, I can see that someone who looks over-madeup in person looks that way in the pictures too. Go with what you know, and look wonderful!