Weddingbee Blog

If you remember, I confessed early on that I have hiperhidrosis…which basically means that my hands and feet sweat a ridiculous amount. I don’t ever wear shoes without socks since it’s horribly uncomfortable, so I was concerned about wearing those pretty Kate Spades that I fell so in love with.

Here’s a reminder of the shoes. And my awesome color coordinating skillz.

Do my feet look like they were in little puddles? No? Well, they were. They were big, squishy sweaty messes.

And you know what? I’m here to tell you how it went and that I survived being a sweaty bride.

I can remember being a little kid, and one of my biggest worries was sweating profusely on my wedding day and dripping all over my groom. Guess what? As I got older, that fear never went away, it just intensified despite meeting a wonderful man who never minds holding my sweaty hands.

Here’s what I did to alleviate some (not all–my condition is too severe to be completely cured even after I had surgery for it 10 years ago) of my sweating:

1. Went to the dermatologist and got some meds––one pill to help control the sweating (the pills I take on a daily basis anyway), and another to help with the swelling (a basic water pill). Taken together, I have to pee every half hour for 4-5 hours, and I have extremely dry mouth, but after 5 hours, I feel better, my hands and feet aren’t as swollen and I sweat less. Would I take both of these meds every day? No, but for my wedding, the side effects were worth it. I took them early in the morning, and by the time our photographer arrived, the worst of the side effects were over.
2. I wore socks and cowboy boots when I didn’t HAVE to be in my Kate Spades. After the ceremony, I changed into socks and boots (privately, of course) before I let anyone even congratulate me. Guess what? No one noticed the change! And, of course, because of that, I stayed true to my moniker, Mrs. Socks to the end.
3. Throughout the morning and during the photo sessions, I kept a hand towel closeby to wipe my hands on. Sister Socks held my bouquet while I mopped at the excess sweat. I also turned the A/C on blast in the van we rented.
4. During dinner, I held on tight to my napkin, and periodically wiped my hands off on it during the reception. Also, Mr. Socks’ suit jacket made do for an impromptu towel at times, too.
5. I have an incredible husband, family and friends who knew about my issue and did whatever they could to help. Many people with hiperhidrosis are too embarrassed to talk about the issue, but for me, it’s just a part of who I am, so the people closest to me know all about it and always offer to help me when I need it.

So yeah, I was sweaty on my wedding day, but honestly, my mind was occupied by SO many other things, that it wasn’t at the forefront of my mind even though for my whole life, I thought it would be on that day. I pushed through it, and even though it honestly sucked at times, I’m used to dealing with it, so it didn’t slow me down too much.

My advice to fellow sweaters is to prepare as much as possible for the day–go to a dermatologist, keep a hand towel close, tell your family and friends so they can help when you need it, and enjoy the day despite the slippery hands and feet.

Did you have to take some super sweatiness into account on your wedding day? How did you deal with it?

Photos by Georgi Anastasov