I’ve never been married, but I was practically handcuffed to my sister during the six months leading up to her wedding. As her maid of honor and ceremony officiant, I happily joined in on every cake tasting, dress tailoring, and makeup trial for moral and sometimes even physical support (in photos you can see the whites of her knuckles from how tightly she held onto my arm). Because of this, I do feel as though I was granted an intimate look into the intense pressure placed on brides for everything, and I mean everything, to be nothing short of perfect on that special day.
This obligation extends beyond the traditional wedding tropes like finding the elusive, fits-like-a-glove dress and breathtaking venue—a lot of it centers around looking your best. There’s a widely adopted belief that on your wedding day, you are to show up as the most radiant and elegant version of yourself. This pervasive pressure explains why so many brides panic during their search for pre-wedding skin care; it’s also why early on in aesthetician school, we were taught that brides-to-be are our most reliable customers.
