A Pale Bride

On a normal day I am pretty pale. I’m a redhead and I have very fair skin. I’ve always sort of hated being pale. Over the years I have definitely been suckered into the tanning craze. Unlike some redheads, I do indeed get tan. But, before I get tan, I get extremely red. For many redheads the red fades back into white, but if I stick to it I do indeed get brown.

The year of the tan, my junior year of college

I’m ashamed to admit that for about three years in college I ignored all the warnings and went tanning every now and again. I went to college on Long Island. A school made up of mostly New Yorkers and New Jersey kids. Tan is IN in that neck of my woods. Jersey Shore is no lie. (And, yes I have seen shades of orange that go beyond anything Snookie and Pauly D. have been.)

My friends and I would always buy a 3-month package right before spring breaks and sorority formals. No one dared to be pale in the copious amount of pictures we would take. No one thought anything of it. At the time it was pretty cheap and everyone looks "healthier" with a tan. For a few years I wouldn't get into a dress without one.

 Tanning membership + a week in Acapulco

Looking back now I realize I was an idiot. We all know that there is nothing worse than fake and bake. But, like smoking and eating Twinkies, sometimes people just ignore the blatant danger because we inherently think “oh, XYZ won’t happen to me, and if it does I’ll worry about it then.”

I just can’t bring myself to lie under a tanning bed anymore knowing what I know about the risks involved. I also can’t bring myself to spray tan. Although I can’t knock it, because I’ve never tried a professional one,  I am pretty scared of looking like Lindsay Lohan on a bad day. Because I am naturally pale self-tanning products tend to look a little too orange on me. I also don’t want to have to even *think* about rubbing off on my white wedding gown or seeing weird streaks/fading in pictures.

So I have decided I am going PALE-O COMMAND-O. Winter skin pale. Anyone who lives in a cold climate knows that scary sickly level of white us non-tanners get to by the time March rolls around. I’ve looked at a few pictures lately and thought, “hot damn, I look dead!”

 Not tan & I was wearing bronzer, oy

I like to tell myself that the light, makeup, and overall glow of being a bride will not make me regret my decision. I’m hoping for a few rays of light to absorb into my face/neck before the big day. On the bright side a long wedding dress= my pasty white legs are covered. So, thank petunias for that. My legs look like they were ripped off a zombie bride corpse right now. (Plus, they are covered in greening bruises from moving and being an overall animal.)

Are you going the au-natural pale route on your wedding day or will you be tanning/spray-tanning?