Have you ever heard the story of bride who was so obsessed with being tan on her wedding day, that it killed her? Here’s the Cliff Notes version of the story: A soon-to-be-bride decided she’d look a little better in her wedding dress with a little color, so a week before her wedding she went to a tanning salon. The staff at the tanning salon told her that for safety reasons, she couldn’t tan for more than 30 minutes in a single day, but after a 30 minute tanning session, the woman decided it wasn’t enough. She went to another tanning salon, but after a second 30 minute tanning session, she decided she still wasn’t tan enough. The bride then went to a third tanning salon and repeated the 30 minute tanning session routine, then decided she still wasn’t tan enough… and so on. The bride-to-be continued this for four days and although she became a little red, she kept her eye on the goal of being perfectly tanned on her wedding day. She didn’t make it to her wedding though because all that tanning burned up her internal organs and she passed away. Before you repeat this story as the truth to every bride-to-be you know, I should tell you this story is just an urban legend and is not true- in the slightest (if you want to know, it’s impossible to burn your internal organs by sunless tanning.) 

But, the moral of this urban legend is that many brides will do whatever it takes to achieve their idea of “tan enough” for their wedding day. The truth is that your dress color should only enhance your natural skin tone (not require that you change your skin tone) and natural brides are pretty. You don’t want to look like an oompa-loompa walking down the aisle (what a mental image, huh?) For that reason, spray tanning, laying out or doing any last-minute tanning before your wedding, is a veryyyy bad idea. You can’t fix a tanning disaster and you’ll have to live with it in pictures forever, so becareful with how (and more importantly, when) you tan prior to your wedding- if you must.

Not what you want for your honeymoon!

Natural brides, even those with paler skin tones, are beautiful. And you want to be beautiful, right? Just think of brides like Nicole Kidman and Grace Kelly. Women who play up the skin they were born with for their weddings posses the most breath taking, natural skin tones that none of us can forget!

Whether you decide to tan or not before your wedding, choose a wedding dress that plays up your natural skin tone and don’t do anything last-minute. Try any tanning methods you will use well in advance of the wedding to avoid any wedding day mishaps!