Breaking a sweat to say ‘I do’

Our day kicked off at a beauty spa, where our nails, hair and make-up were done.

Like any girl, being pampered and groomed made me feel really graceful and special and I can understand that women should go the extra mile to feel good about themselves on their special day.

However, I cannot imagine that going to the lengths that some of these brides do are as pleasing as they seem externally.

All my treatments were performed beautifully by these talented beauty therapists, but they were very much unlike what my body was used to.

I had so much make-up on; it felt that if someone would bump me on the back of my head, a mask would fall off from my face.

A set of false nails was applied to my fingernails, which were beautified with an acrylic manicure treatment.

They were so long though, that I could not push the button on my remote to open the gate of my house when I got home.

My hair was curled and done up in a beautiful bridal style and sprayed with so much hairspray that my colleague started coughing.

After this we headed to a bridal gown store where I got to pose in the most beautiful wedding dresses.

These were perfectly tailored and truly beautiful, but so heavy, warm, expensive and I had to focus not to trip.

It felt like I saw a ghost when a colleague lifted the label of one of the dresses I was wearing and I saw it was R6 000 and this was just a rental.

No wonder some brides cry walking down the aisle.

Talking to the beauty therapists had me understanding that numerous brides stress themselves out over perfection on their wedding days.

Ranging from their appearances to their venues, everything has to be perfect.

I hardly believe that a wedding will be a disaster if one of your flower bouquets is bigger than the other.

I believe the day is about making a commitment to another person, and if they truly love you, you will look like the most beautiful woman in the world anyway.

It remains, however, each bride’s wedding day, and in fact her choice to go to whatever extent she needs to, to make it special and maybe one day.

Nonetheless I had a lot of fun and feel very blessed to have had this opportunity to play bride.

Perhaps if I ever get married, I will understand the fuss, but for now my mind is pretty much made up that I would like a simple wedding and rather use the excess funds that could have been spent on dolling the day up, to have an even better, or longer honeymoon.

After all, my husband asked me to marry him before all the trimmings; surely he would marry me the same way.

I picture my wedding day to be something like the illustration below. TB