Tan Lines & Tattoos

Since my last post I have been a busy little bride to bee!  The services for my grandfather were last week and it was so wonderful to be able to spend that time with my family.  Even though the circumstances were not what any of us wished, it was still nice to come together and celebrate a loved one’s life. 

Wedding planning to date is on a roll – working out the contract with the venue; waiting on quotes for catering, bartender, cake and rentals; found a photographer and started my wedding website!

On Saturday Fletch & I met with an eco-friendly florist in the morning and we liked her a lot.  Then in the afternoon, my fantastic maid of honor and I went on a six mile hike while we chatted about the wedding the whole time.  Exercise, good company and wedding planning all wrapped up into one – can’t beat that! 

For the hike I decided to wear my strapless bathing suit top, even though I looked a little “hoochie” in it – it’s not exactly what I’d normally wear out on a hike.  The reason being that later this summer I will be in a wedding where I will be donning a strapless evening gown.  Up to this point I have tan lines that reflect tank tops and my racing swim suit, complete with a big “X” on my back!  These tan lines would not really suit my overall bridesmaid look.  Therefore, I decided to take matters into my own hands and try to even out my tan lines by looking like a “hoochie” for the hike.  This got me to thinking about weddings, wedding photographs, tan lines and tattoos.

In my experience, weddings usually have a formal air to them, hence, tuxedos/suits, and evening gowns/dresses.  In that case, it makes sense to me that if you are spending money on a dress, possibly shoes, getting your nails, hair and make-up done, that you would also want to make sure that your tan lines match the outfit you are going to wear, right?  Along the same lines (get it?!), weddings are highly photographed events, not only does the couple usually hire a professional photographer, or two, most of the guests bring cameras as well.  So, why then are there still bridesmaids out there who do not take this into consideration?  Hence the picture below:

A couple thoughts about the tan lined bridesmaid: 1) her lines are distracting to the overall look of the picture, 2) her lines make it look like part of her dress is missing, 3) by the looks of this wedding party, it appears that she picked out her own dress 4) not sure if the photographer didn’t know how to take care of the problem with Photoshop, but even if they did, every picture that the tan lined bridesmaid was in would need to be touched up pretty significantly (read time consuming and possibly an extra expense for the person paying for the photographs)

Some ideas on preventing tan lines: 1) sunscreen, 2) wearing outfits that are the same silhouette as the bridesmaids dress, 3) cover up with a big shirt or a big hat, 4) carry a parasol

Some ideas on fixing tan lines: 1) try to even it out on your own (may be risky as in you could have multiple lines), 2) use make-up, bronzer or self-tanner to cover, 3) get a professional spray tan or airbrush treatment

What do you readers think?

Also in thinking of the overall look of our wedding and what kinds of photography styles we like, the topic of tattoos came up.  Neither Fletch nor I have tattoos, but we are part of the minority.  Out of our ten person bridal party (five bridesmaids and five groomsmen) I think only two do not have a tattoo (but for all I know they may have one hidden somewhere!).  For the groomsmen it probably won’t be an issue since they will most likely be wearing suits of some kind.  For the bridesmaids though there will definitely be more opportunities for skin to show (since I’m not into long sleeved dresses), and could lead to some visible tattoo action.  I’m not saying that this is a good or a bad thing, more that it’s something that I’ve noticed in wedding photos and that inevitably will play a part in my wedding day and photographs.  Just like in the picture above; I see six tattoos, including one on the bride.  This bride did not want all of her bridesmaids dressed exactly the same or with the same hairstyle or dresses or even color of dress.  The only thing I see that is the same on all of the bridesmaids is their shoes.  I’m not sure exactly what style I want for my bridal party yet, but I know that I do want them each to stand out as an individual and part of what makes someone who they are is what they choose to put on their body.  While I do not intend on asking my bridesmaids to cover up any visible tattoos, I have seen some pretty crazy requests from brides on TV and on wedding boards doing just that (not just about tattoos, but diets, hair color and other ways of being strict and controlling).  I want my bridesmaids to be comfortable, to be themselves and to dance the night away.  I picked each of my girls for a reason, because they are all important, special women to me and I want their individual beauty to shine through.  I want to look and feel spectacularly beautiful on my wedding day.  I also want the best pictures possible, after all, why would I spend so much time, energy and money on an event and on a photographer if I didn’t care about what the photos would look like? 

Would love to hear some opinions and thoughts, brides or bridesmaid perspectives, how you would handle things like this, experiences, etc.

Future Mrs. Fletcher