You are as beautiful as you’ll ever be.

When you’re a grandma or a crazy great auntie you’ll look back on old pictures and know, see and appreciate just how beautiful you look today. Fact.

But if today you can’t see that, it’s time to take a deep breath and refocus. Because you’ve lost something precious which really, you should own.

We all have our little hangups – tummies, thighs, noses – imperfections we’re super conscious of sometimes.

But when you’re young they shouldn’t matter. They’re a part of you – and you ARE beautiful.

You’re also in love, and loved. By someone who sees all of those little imperfections and loves you all the more for them.

He / she sees you the same way your future self will.

Step into his shoes for a moment right now and try to view yourself from that same perspective: you’re a young, beautiful woman in love.

I was chatting to a wedding photographer friend recently who told me she’d worked with a bride who barely smiled on her wedding day. She was overjoyed to be married, but so conscious of her teeth she wouldn’t dare show it.

I saw a couple of images on my friend’s blog where the bride was grinning from ear to ear, hugging her husband and completely relaxed – because she didn’t know the camera was nearby. They were the most amazing, beautiful images.

I know – and my photographer friend knows – that those few photographs are the ones which will be treasures for generations to come.

Those are the images which capture not only the spirit of a beautiful bride on her wedding day, but also the pure, captivating beauty of a young woman on the best day of her life.

It makes me sad to know that this beautiful girl will look at her wedding photos this year and think, “I’m glad I hid my teeth.”

In twenty, fifty years time, she’ll look back at those photos and wonder why she was so worried. Because the images she’ll love will be the grinning, head-over-heels-in-love photos which remind her how happy she was on her wedding day. And which prove what an incredibly beautiful person she is.

If you’re worried about how you look, let your imagination wander into the future for a moment or two.

Smile.

Be joyful.

Your life is pretty damn amazing right now – and so are you.

Never doubt.

Shine with confidence and love on your wedding day because EVERY bride is beautiful.

 

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Photo credits: Eva Tarnok | Morden Hall | Confetti & Silk | Sassy A La Mode | Ryland Jordan | Paul Gapper | Kristen Wojciechowski | MOT Model | Kate Edmonson | Emmy London | Khadija’s Beauty | The Bridal Stylists | Andi Freeman Cakes |
Catherine Short | Pompom Blossom | By Moon & Tide