7 Best Garden Wedding Decorations and Accessories
Losing Weight For Your Wedding – Good Vs Bad?
Photography by MATT SOMERVILLE
I have been thinking about writing this post for some time now but have been putting it off as I wasn’t really sure how to go about it. You see, since we started Bespoke Bride we receive a lot of enquiries from companies asking if we would like to promote their latest weight loss solution. Both myself and Jess have always been against the idea of promoting weight loss on Bespoke Bride however it seems to be an issue affecting many of you. In the last few months I have been asking about friends and on Facebook trying to gauge a reaction about wedding weight Loss and all those I asked admitted they were trying to lose weight for their wedding. Now this by no means was a proper scientific test however I get the general consensus that whether we like it or not a lot of people (women especially) are concerned with losing weight for their wedding – so why is it so taboo and why are we not talking about it?
I have to admit I am one of those people that constantly feels the need to lose weight. Everytime I feel that I have got to a point where I am comfortable in my skin, something usually occurs to make me question my size. More often than not I am asked if I am pregnant (honestly this happens more often than you would believe) or I go shopping only to find that absolutely nothing fits me or looks as good as it does on those size 8 models in the magazines. In fact only yesterday I was flicking through a well known wedding magazine to find four pages dedicated to bridal bootcamps, how to get a model body and slimming success stories.
There is so much pressure on people to look good whether you are getting married or not but when planning a wedding the pressure to lose weight is exaggerated that little bit more. You don’t have to look too far to find endless weightloss tips and tricks, we never see anything bigger than a size 8 model gracing pages of magazines, not to mention bridal boutiques having sample dresses no larger than a size 12. I personally have had to face this embarrassment and I know how demeaning it is. So it is not surprising that so many women feel the need to lose weight for their wedding.
I am not saying the wedding industry is to blame for making brides want to lose weight however I do wonder if it would be better and more helpful for magazines and companies to promote being healthy rather than skinny? Of course I must also mention that not all weight loss is bad, I have had friends that saw getting married as the motivation they needed to change to a more healthy lifestyle and to this day are looking and feeling much better for it. Yet I have also seen friends become obsessed with weight loss to a worrying level only to gain all the weight they lost once the wedding was over.
I suppose what I am trying to say is that their are both good and bad points to losing weight for a wedding. If used as motivation for a more healthy lifestyle both for now and the future then I see no harm in it however if your goal is more short term i.e. just for your wedding day, then I would seriously suggest you ask whether it is actually worth it? Why would you want to be anything but yourself on such a special day?
I would love to hear your thoughts on this, are you a bride that lost weight for her wedding? Have you used your wedding as motivation for a more healthy lifestyle? Have you ever felt pressured into losing weight? How did you deal with it?
Lets help others who may be feeling the pressure right now!
Much Bespoke Love
Emily x
LOVE this conversation. I personally didn’t lose weight for my wedding. I wanted to look like the woman that my husband had fallen in love with and that is one with curves. Men find confidence sexy so instead of trying to lose weight maybe we should be embracing the shape we’re in and accepting all our beautiful flaws. And I totally agree it is important to be healthy, no matter what size you are. So I would always recommend eating well, moving your body & loving yourself from the inside out. What will make you look good on your photos is the radiance from within & the love in your smile.
Thanks for leaving such a lovely comment Jayne! I agree with you, a wedding should never be a reason to lose weight, we should be except ourselves for what we are as long as it is healthy 🙂
I agree that losing lots of weight just for one day is not healthy or the right thing to focus on in the run-up to your wedding. But for me, our wedding has been the incentive I needed to become healthier. I got engaged in June and we are getting married in November. Having such a short engagement really gave me a good kick-start to lose the weight I’ve put on since we moved in together a couple of years ago. I also bought my wedding dress a size down from what was recommended, knowing that having to lose an inch off my waist would keep me motivated. So far, it’s working and not only am I happier with how I look (and I’m definitely still me, just getting back to the me I was a couple of years ago!) but I feel much better, and I’ve broken some bad habits so I’ll hopefully stay in good shape after the wedding too.
Phew, now that’s a tough subject and one that will probably create a divided opinion. I am a, how shall I put this, woman of a certain size… ah, who am I kidding, I’m a big girl, a size 20 to be specific. I have been this size for some years now and, despite many attempts at dieting and exercising, I don’t ever seem to lose much weight. Sure, I could be fitter and yes, I could probably go without take aways every once in a while but, what can I say, I am a girl who likes her food.
When it came to our wedding (married a month today – woohoo!), I seriously contemplated the whole going on a diet to get into a smaller dress routine, particularly after my experiences with dress shopping. But then I found a dressmaker who could make the dress I dreamed of wearing to fit me (and for a quarter of the price!) and suddenly losing weight for the wedding was no longer an issue. I just didn’t think about it anymore.
So, how did I feel on my wedding day? I felt like the most beautiful girl in the world and that, quite honestly, is the first time in my 33 years that I have EVER felt like that. So, losing weight for your wedding? It’s really not necessary. What you need to do is find a way to become comfortable in your own skin, believe you are beautiful just the way you are and let your confidence shine through. That counts for so much more than dropping a dress size or 2 🙂
Hi Sarah!!
A huge congratulations on getting married and thank you so much for taking the time to read this post 🙂
I love your comment on how you said you felt like the most beautiful girl in the world on your wedding day, this makes me so happy! You are sooo right feeling comfortable in your own skin is way more important than anything else and I hope it is comments like this that will inspire so many other women to think twice about dieting for their wedding 🙂
Much bespoke love
Emily x