Brides, Get Your Arms Out!

While Stu and I got married last June, I have to admit, I'm still a bit wedding obsessed and I'm in a few wedding Facebook groups. One of the things I see crop up over and over again is brides looking for their dream wedding dresses and panicking about having their arms on show. But brides, I'm hear to tell you you can have your arms out and look amazing, and not even think about them on the day!

I have big arms. And I do mean BIG arms. I always have done. My arms have stretchmarks and uneven skin tone, and a crease in them. They aren't smooth, and they certainly aren't small. And I rocked bare arms on my wedding day and felt wonderful and beautiful.

For a long time I really struggled with my arms, and I used to keep them covered at all times. I was convinced everyone was staring at them all the time, and that my arms were all people noticed about me. One summer it was just too hot to keep my arms covered up, so I wore a vest top instead. And you know what, the world didn't end. No one even noticed. So I started wearing sleeves less and less, and found that over time, I cared less and less too.

When it came to planning my wedding dress my first instinct was to have sleeves so that my arms weren't on show. I initially planned lacy three quarter length sleeves, and a totally different dress, thinking that I just couldn't possibly wear the style of dress I'd always dreamed of. Once I actually booked my dressmaker however, that all changed and I just decided to go for it. It was my wedding day, and my wedding dress, why not just go for it?! So I did, I decided to have a purple version of the dress of my dreams, the wedding dress from the Guns n Roses music video for November Rain. Which meant legs out, and arms out.

So I got my arms out. And no one cared. Not even me. I was the most beautiful I'd ever been on my wedding day, and not even once did I feel self conscious about my arms. I was far too busy having the best day of my life to care about my arms! I'm so glad I decided to ditch the sleeves, it ended up being a beautiful summer's day and I'd have been too hot and just plain uncomfortable all day in sleeves. 

My arms didn't stop me from looking and feeling amazing on my wedding day, they were in fact something I never thought about even once. Don't feel like you have to cover yourself up to be beautiful, I didn't and I'm so happy because of that decision. When I think about the dress that almost was, versus my dream dress, I'm so pleased I didn't settle because I was scared of what people would think.

No one looked at my arms, they looked at my smiling happy face and told me I was beautiful instead. (I mean hell, they probably looked at my boobs a bit too because where the hell did they come from and where have they been since?!). The only person your arms bother is you, your loved ones will see you in your wedding dress and think wow, and your partner will fight back tears on seeing you for the first time. So go for it and get your arms out!

Much love,

Kitty xxxx

PS. My wedding photos are by the incredible ClickClickBang Photography.