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Or how to NOT get fried during your destination wedding.
Or justifying all of the above in the simple act of vanity.
I’ll just come out and say it (and I know it isn’t a popular decision) – I have been tanning in preparation for our Jamaican celebration. (Now before anyone berates me for doing this, trust me that I’ve already done it to myself plenty of times.) I am pale. All year round. And I am totally fine with that. Let me start of by saying that, when in the Caribbean sun, I don’t tan – I red. Without a base color established prior to our departure, my only viable option to a) not fry and b) not get tan lines, is to hole up in our room the entire time. No thank you! With or without a wedding, I am the girl on the beach with a huge floppy hat (no premature wrinkling for me, thank you!), SPF 50 reapplied obsessively every hour, under an umbrella. I love the sun and the beach, but I try to enjoy it responsibly.
Moving on. I think I’ve been tanning a total of 4 times in my life. Perhaps once before prom and a couple of times my freshman year of college (at a place where they only had a curtain across the door opening for “privacy”. That could be why I never went back?). So, I bought a package at Palm Beach Tan and have been pleasantly surprised with the gradual results. I’ll only go in for 5 minutes at a time because I do NOT want to get burnt. But I feel gradually stepping up the number of minutes over the next 2 months will give me a nice glow for the wedding day. I love the way I look with a tan and don’t want to be a ghost in my dress.
I am also a fan of Mystic Tanning. I’ve read about orange tinted horror stories, but I’ve always had great success with them. The thing is, they fade after a few showers. Couple that with plunges in the pool and the sea… and that tan would be long gone before “I do”. Mystic Tan is a great option for brides that want a nice glow for their wedding day. I just recommend that your try it out a few times before the big day.
A Mystic’d Quiche & always-”tan”-due-to-lovely-olive-skinned Mr. Quiche
Rest assured, dear friends, my tanning sessions will halt by the end of April. I can honestly say that I will never lay down in one again. Plus, I won’t have to deal with the orange, snarky saleslady who looked at me like I had two heads when I answered “SPF 30” to her question about what tanning lotion I was using. 
I do NOT advocate UV tanning! It is just a temporary, personal decision. Thanks!
Are you doing things for your wedding that you might not do otherwise?
I thought about tanning but have never done it before. How many minutes would I need as a light skinned, red head with blue eyes? Two? One?
Miss Quiche, I’m totally with you. My skin is pale, I don’t tan, I red and my wedding may be the one time I make an exception to my own beliefs and hop in a tanning bed. Thanks for making me feel better about this!
i have NEVER been tanning (and i have pale irish skin) but i am also seriously considering going just a couple times before my may 2 wedding—-not to get TAN really, but just so i dont look like i came straight out of the dead of winter.
@Andrea: same questions really….i was thinking of starting with just a few minutes….
I don’t tan. If I don’t spf, I get red and then go back to pale! I’ve never been in a tanning bed and don’t have the patience to lay out in the sun. Plus, I like looking 10 years younger than I actually am! 
So when I was trying on white dresses, my MOH told me I’d have to tan or end up looking like Casper. So I’ve found a lovely ivory dress. But I am thinking of trying the Mystic Tan.
I’m doing the exact same thing, because I also red. I’ve haven’t been tanning since high school! Good luck!
I really like Mystic Tan (but not the generic kind - that is where one gets red and orange and splotchy!). Two of my friends that got married this fall/winter went and had tans airbrushed on - they are both a.) pale, and b.) did not look tan, just healthy, on their weddings. They opted for the hand airbrushing to avoid possible mistakes with the spray-tan booths (like the one time I went in without my cap…eek). I would recommend it.
Oh Quiche, how I love thee! I too am a pale, pasty girl. I’ve always told my Greek (and gorgeously dark-skinned) best friend that I don’t tan like she does, I burn. And then the burn peels and I’m pale again.
I’m thinking about tanning for the wedding as well. Do you wear SPF 30 in the tanning bed? Doesn’t that defeat the purpose, or do you tan through that and the sun block keeps you from getting burned? School me!
I had to tan pre-wedding or I would have had lines all over my back. I tan VERY easily, and because I was training for numerous sporting events that summer, no amount of sunscreen would have saved me from tank top/sports bra tan lines.
In fact, very early last year (about this time) we had a very warm weekend during which I ran a 12-mile training run and ended up with a sports bra line… which I spent the REST OF THE SUMMER evening out.
I’d never tanned before except maybe two or three random times, but I decided to buy a package. NEW tanning beds “high-pressure” require a lot less time inside, have less harmful rays, a longer-lasting effect, and are VERY pleasant and NOT coffin-like at all. In fact, I was SUPER impressed. I loved it!
I only tanned once every 2 or 3 weeks and even that was too much by the end of the summer. I ended up using less than half the sessions I purchased, so I’m going infrequently this winter for a dose of Vitamin D.
As much of a bad rap as tanning beds have, they’re not terrible to use on occasion, particularly if you have hearty skin. Pre-wedding tanning cleared up my acne (UV Rays kill the bacteria) and tanning on dark days makes me feel energized.
I’m not advocating tanning as a regular thing, and I HATE the orangey, beef-jerky look of regular tanners (and the pushy people at tanning places who try to sell you $50 bronzers, pre-tanning, and post-tanning lotions)…but it can be great on occasion!
Also, regarding lotion… make sure you are at least putting some heavy, creamy, aloe-rich lotion on afterward, if not beforehand, too… it can really save your skin from drying out.
@Miss Powder Puff: You can wear sunscreen, but you can also adjust your time in the bed to be as short or long as you want.
A lot of the newer beds also allow you to adjust the lamp strength on your face and body. Many people adjust the face lamps to low (to avoid a dark face), but you can turn em both down, too.
I loved (past tense) tanning. I always felt so relaxed once I was done but when i finally thought about the long term effects that can happen i stopped. I guess when you FFIL in a skin cancer doctor you can’t get around the lectures when you are tan all year long.
Ha, you are hilarious - as a fellow pasty, I support your tanning decisions!!! I was actually planning on getting a Palm Beach tan package, too. Too bad that tan for me is normal color for most other people!!
Love this post. Since I won’t be hopping in and out of a pool and the sea before my big day- I think I am going to try spray tan. I’ve never done it, so I’ll surely post on it. As for tanning bed tan- I think this could count as your one free pass- so go, enjoy it!!
I thought I was going to apply self-tan, but FI (for some funny reason) suggested that I get it professionally done, spray tan. He’s afraid of the orange monster walking down the isle, I think. Never had spray tan before, so I’m kind of looking forward to it. I’ll probably get one a month before just to see how it looks on my skin, then I’ll decide if I’ll go for more closer to the day. They can also contour some muscle definitions!
Don’t feel bad, Quiche, I’m tanning too. I’m completely against it, but I can’t go to the beach for 10 days and burn on day 1!
@Miss Powder Puff: I wear SPF in the tanning bed & I still get color. I am very sensitive to the sun I always have it on my face & I turn the facial bulbs OFF (like @Mrs. Cherry Pie: mentioned).
@Mrs. Cherry Pie: I agree with you about using them on occasion! I have to admit that I feel pretty cheery on a dark, gloomy day
@Andrea: They should be able to advise you, but you should be safe with 4 or 4 minutes. Again, I wear sunblock
@Boddy: @agrosses: @tessabella76: I would never trust someone to hand spray me for the first time on my wedding day, so unfortunately that option is out for me! But, you should all try it out prior to your wedding & if it works, go for it!!
You should completely listen to everyone else here and don’t feel bad for tanning for your wedding. This is YOUR day to look your best and being a little tan on that special day to accentuate your “glow” can really help.
I don’t normally tan either, but am looking at some options so that come October and my own big day I will a) be a little less white and b) have no tan lines with my strapless dress.
Good luck!
I love it I don’t tan I red. Yeah I go in the sun for 10 minutes and I start to get red. And since my fiance is Indian he is dark which makes me look even pastier. I think I am going to try out the mystic tan soon so I can see if it will work for wedding day.
No judgement from me just some facts, the pastie gals that don’t tan (red…lol), the ones who feel that they gotta have some color and tan (concentrated UV) are definitely the ones that end up with serious skin cancers. Avoid at all costs if you have a family history of Melanoma, otherwise as long as your looking at your freckles/moles for new ones or changes in symmetry/shape, size, color and borders every so often you should be fine. A dermatologist should check you over too (tanning, keeps us in business 
I went through a tanning phase in my younger years (due to the influence of an older, not so skin-savvy cousin) and yeah I know it’s gauche but honestly, I sort of miss it. Having a tan makes me feel great, and you can’t beat all that vitamin-D-happy in the winter.
I don’t tan anymore but yes, of course I made an exception for our DW. I support you, Miss Quiche!!
i have booked a course at beach bum and they were very helpful at the desk. they have beds that are less dangerous (although i know ALL of them are dangerous), more bronzing and less reddening. but i guess if i lived florida i would be in the sun 364 days a year so im sure a few goes on the sunbed would ok, as long as i’m sensible it would be the equivilent of gong on vacation or living somewhere sunnier!
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Mrs. Quiche, Chicago/Montego Bay Age and Occupation: 28, Interior Designer Fiance's Age and Occupation: 42, Telecom Guru Engagement Date: July 2, 2008 Wedding Date: May, 2009 Venue: Coyaba Resort, Montego Bay About Me: I love Chicago and can’t imagine living anywhere else (Well, except Paris. Or anywhere in France, for that matter!). I’m a full-time worker, part-time student, soon-to-be-step-mom, indie music lovin’, architecture and design fanatic, macaroni and cheese addict, vegetarian, Francophile, Ohio State football obsessed, wedding planning girl. Mr. Quiche and I are “Partners-in-Crime” and cannot wait to celebrate our marriage surrounded by our family and closest friends. I plan on DIYing my little heart out (or as much as a suitcase to Jamaica will hold).
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