In the lead up to their wedding day, many brides will attempt to eat healthy and exercise in order to lose weight for the big day. While there is nothing wrong with this process, it can all go wrong. Many brides try this and find they go off track because the wedding planning gets in the way of their health regime. So instead of feeling trim on their wedding days, they end up feeling disappointed that they weren’t able to stay on track. This, in turn, can lead to feeling more self-conscious than they would have originally.
To avoid these negative feelings, how about we try a different tactic. Instead of trying to lose weight for the wedding, how about trying to accept the body you have right now? I know it may sound crazy if you’re someone who suffers with your self-confidence but it’s possible. Anyone can conjure up self-confidence. And here’s a little secret: literally every bride looks beautiful on her wedding day no matter what size or shape she is.
So here are our tips on how to embrace your body and love it in your wedding dress.
Accentuate the bits you like
No matter how low your self-confidence, guaranteed there are at least one or two parts of your body that you like. Everyone has something. It could be your eyes, your hair, your shoulders, hands, bust or curvy hips. Everyone loves something about their bodies and if you’re struggling for inspiration, ask your spouse-to-be. They’d love to tell you what they love about your body. Sit down, either alone or with your partner and write a list of features that you love about yourself. This will help to determine what kind of dress you’re looking to highlight and accentuate on your wedding day. If you love your hair, then consider wearing it down to show it off. For ladies who love their waist, wearing a nipped in dress at the waist that flares out at the hips will showcase this feature beautifully. Really think about what you love and focus on showing those features off. It’ll make you feel super confident and beautiful.
Talk to professionals
If you’ve decided on what features you like, you’ve likely also discovered those that you don’t. Sometimes you want to improve a feature yet you don’t know how, so here is where talking to the professionals comes in. If you’re someone who freezes up when they’re posing for posed photographs, then discuss this with your photographer and make sure they work in a predominately candid style. For your hair and makeup, talk to the professionals you’ve hired about flattering your face shape and ways to highlight your favourite features. If you love your eyes, ask about ways to make them stand out with make-up.
If you’re buying from a designer or from a wedding dress store, utilise these professionals to help you. Find something that works for your body shape and ask questions if you’re lost about what looks good on you.
Be flexible
When it comes to your styling, try to remain as flexible as possible in order to love yourself in your wedding attire. You may be completely attached to the idea of a fishtail wedding dress, but when you try it on you discover that this style doesn’t suit you at all. Because many of us have never tried on a wedding dress before, you’ll likely have no real idea about what styles are flattering for you and what styles are not. Even though you love a fishtail dress, if you feel self-conscious in it then perhaps leave it on the rack and go for something that makes you feel confident and amazing.
So be open to trying on different styles and even colours. Keeping flexible will allow you to find your perfect dress easily.
Dress to flatter those features you’d rather not feature
We’ve talked about finding a dress that will flatter you. It’s also important to find one that will help flatter or hide parts of your body that you’re self-conscious of.
If you don’t like your arms, then wear a dress with sleeves or wear a shawl or bolero. If you don’t like your legs, then a floor length dress might suit better than a tea length one. The idea is to get you feeling the goddess you are. Accentuating your favourite features and hiding your least favourite ones will help you get there. No one wants to feel self-conscious on their wedding day so make sure you feel like a million pounds in your chosen dress.
Dress comfortably and to suit your personal style
Often with wedding dresses, it’s easy to get caught up in the styles. It’s easy to lose track of what we were looking for and what fits into our own personal style.
If you love vintage clothes, then will you really be happy in a hyper-modern fishtail dress? If you hate tight-fitting clothing, then will you enjoy having your every curve hugged in a form-fitting gown? The answer is no. In order to love yourself in your wedding dress, you need to feel comfortable and you need to feel like you. Feeling uncomfortable in your own skin is a common problem. I often get it when I wear an outfit that doesn’t suit my personal style. You’ll likely get this feeling on your wedding day if you wear something that just isn’t you. This is where finding the perfect dress can be hard for some people who have a distinct style. You might look amazing, but not feel comfortable because it just isn’t you. Consider this when you go wedding dress shopping.
Practise self-love and self-compassion
For many women, looking perfect on their wedding day is the most important thing. But this is such a superficial path to take. If you feel good in your body but it’s not a super small size, then why mess with that? Our bodies are amazing things. For anyone who has been through an illness, you would know how hard our bodies work to keep fighting. They fight for health every day and that’s a beautiful thing. If you think about how much your body does for you, then perhaps you might think less about how perfect it looks. Feeling good about yourself is more important than how you look. If you feel beautiful on the inside, you’ll look beautiful on the outside so practice these positive feelings and you’ll shine on your wedding day.