6 Pre-Wedding Routines to Help You Look and Feel Your Best for Your Big Day

Let’s face it, every bride-to-be could benefit from introducing a few self-care routines in her life. Between choosing centerpieces, figuring out seating arrangements and shopping for bridesmaid dresses, there is a monumental list of things that need to happen before the big day arrives. To keep your sanity in check, carving out time to take care of yourself is just plain necessary.

Not only do pre-wedding routines help keep you calm under chaos, they can also make you look incredible on your wedding day. From radiant and glowing skin to a toned body, every bride wants to be the best possible version of themselves when they walk down the aisle.

So, are you ready to look and feel amazing on your wedding day? No matter how busy you are, here are the pre-wedding routines that are worth making time for:

Get on a Daily Skin Care Regimen

If you’ve been struggling with your skin for years, let your big day finally be the push you need to do something about it. Seeing a dermatologist is especially important if you’ve struggled with stubborn skin issues that have been bringing down your confidence.

Once you’re on a regular skin care regimen that works for your skin, it’s time to step up your game by getting a facial treatment a few months before your big day. If your skin reacts well to the treatment, schedule one a week before your wedding day to achieve ultimate hydration and glow.

Also, don’t forget to focus on areas other than your face. The elbows are a spot that are easy to miss. Get rid of dry patches by using an exfoliating scrub on your elbows, followed by a hydrating lotion.

Adopt a Fitness Regimen

While exercise won’t magically solve every problem in your life, it can do wonders for helping you deal with pre-wedding stress. Getting around 30-60 minutes of exercise three to five times a week is the sweet spot for reducing stress, according to a 2018 study published in The Lancet Psychiatry.

Getting your sweat on can also help you look and feel stronger when you walk down the aisle. To get toned and reduce stress, be sure to incorporate both strength training and cardio into your fitness regimen. Struggling to find time? Take a boot camp that focuses on building strength and getting your heart rate up. You’ll torch calories and fat while reaping the mental health benefits.

Get Your Daily Dose of Antioxidants

If you want to radiate health and wellness from the inside out on your big day, it’s time to rethink your diet. One thing you’ll definitely want to avoid are the pre-wedding diets that zap your focus and energy.

Instead, fuel your workouts and keep energy levels high by loading your plate with antioxidant-rich foods. Antioxidants that are found in plant-based foods such as fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds can boost skin health to help you achieve a radiant glow on your wedding day. They also enhance immune function and boost brain function, so you can stave off illness while staying hyper-focused on wedding planning.

By focusing on consuming more antioxidants, you’ll naturally eat more healthy foods that do your body good. Besides, this diet is one that you can easily stick to long after your wedding day.

Start Meditating

Feeling like you’re about to cave under all the stress of wedding planning? If a regular exercise routine isn’t quite enough to control your anxious mind, you may want to pick up regular meditation.

Making mindful meditation part of your daily routine can help you shrug off those pre-wedding jitters and calm your anxious mind. And with so many meditation resources available these days, it’s easy to get started. You can either pay for an app such as Headspace to help you train your brain or utilize the free meditation resources provided by colleges and universities.

Just keep in mind that while it’s easy to start, meditation itself may require a lot of practice. If it seems frustrating at first, just start small in five-minute increments before working your way up.

Bonding Activities with Your Bridesmaids

Doing fun and relaxing activities with your leading ladies is all part of the wedding planning process. After dragging them along to all your dress fittings and enlisting their help in choosing the perfect bridal accessories, they deserve to have some R&R!

Not sure what types of wellness activities you and your maids should do before the wedding? Here are a few ideas:

• Take a Yoga Class
• Refresh with a Spa Day
• Cook a Healthy Meal Together
• Go Dancing
• Host a Brunch
• Take a Weekend Trip

No matter what you decide to do with your bridesmaids, they’ll love spending time with you outside of wedding planning. Plus, bringing your crew together will also help them grow a tighter bond with each other.

Get More Sleep

Between your day job, taking care of the home, running errands and spending time with your future spouse, there are probably a million things you need to juggle on top of planning your dream wedding. It’s no wonder that so many brides stay up late into the night trying to get everything done!

Unfortunately, all that late-night scrolling on Pinterest as you search for wedding inspiration is wreaking havoc on your sleep cycle. Studies have shown that the blue light emitted from our cell phones, computers and tablets can disrupt the production of melatonin, a hormone which helps us fall asleep.

As difficult as it may be to step away from your phone, try to put it in a different room an hour before you go to bed. By getting better sleep, you’ll wake up looking and feeling more refreshed.

Say “Yes” to Self-Care Routines

Committing to self-care can be the hardest thing in the world for some brides. When you’re so caught up in wedding planning, it’s all too easy to forget to take care of yourself.

These pre-wedding routines will not only help you keep your sanity as you plan your wedding, they’ll also ensure that you look and feel incredible when it’s finally time to say “I do.”

Guest blog: Jane Davenport is the head marketing manager for The Dessy Group. They are a leading manufacturer of bridesmaid dresses, social occasion, flower girls and destination wedding gowns. Jane oversee all of the marketing operations with her team at the Dessy HQ in Manhattan.