Christine Cook
Weddings
are magical events – kindled by romance and passion, laced with
beauty and sensuality. Weddings are also fraught with stress and
chaos. Whether you are planning a grand formal gathering or the most
intimate of non-traditional weddings, once you’ve
set the date – and luxuriated in the glow of excited
anticipation – you’ll
want to begin planning in earnest. It’s
the only way to save your sanity.
In
the flurry of choosing locations, booking officiants, scheduling
catering and making myriad other decisions it’s easy to forget care
of self and others in the process. There’s definitely an array of
pragmatic personal care choices to be made, however lessons from
other brides suggest that more subtle forms of nurturing self and
others should also be part of a wedding plan.
Lesson:
Don’t
leave yourself off your to-do list.
Bridal
preparation is a day spa forte – and legions of brides have learned
just how helpful it is to turn to spa experts for aid in this area.
Forming an alliance with a local spa can help you create budget
friendly strategies to address any level of the misgiving that
surrounds the inevitable “help,
I need to look perfect … and so does everybody else” panic.
Your spa can help you decide timelines and priorities, make realistic
choices, and work to streamline the entire process of selecting
stylists, scheduling deep conditioning treatments, hair and makeup
rehearsals, waxing, manicures, pedicures and facials for yourself and
your wedding party.
Lesson:
Savor the process.
Just
as we plan for flawless skin and beautiful nails we should also plan
for relaxation and reflection. Fortunately we can truly enjoy the
process that ensures our most radiant self walks down the aisle. A
spa provides a safe haven. Amidst marathon planning sessions and a
sea of logistical demands that often lead us to think longingly of
eloping, the spa represents an oasis of calm to be savored and
returned to in the months leading up to the wedding. Don’t stint on
spa treatments based on a misplaced notion that it’s only about
appearance. It’s not. When everything seems overwhelming a spa can
hold the secret of wellness, health and balance and a strategically
timed massage can provide a quick - but extraordinarily important -
refresher course in the joy of being alive.
Lesson:
Bask in the love of family and friends
Surrounding
yourself with people who love and support you is recognized across
cultures as a profoundly important part of the wedding process.
Planning a pre-wedding trip to the spa can help nurture both yourself
and interpersonal relationships. A soothing, beautiful, tranquil
space has a way of stripping away the unimportant, allowing focus on
family and friends. Whether you choose a spa to host a vibrant
bachelorette party, an intimate getting-to-know-you visit with your
future mother-in-law or to foist an all important manicure and
pedicure on your chosen life partner, you’ll be creating
opportunities for closeness, creating memories and strengthening
lifelong bonds.
Lesson:
Take time to cultivate your new self
Getting
married can be a pressure cooker for the psyche. So many questions,
so many decisions, so much second guessing – and somewhere in
there, a gradual slide towards a new, co-joined identity. This work
isn’t complete simply because the veil is swept back and the
wedding is over. Cultivating a new self isn’t easy. Historically
there has always been an elemental part of the spa world where water,
heat and silence merge to create vision, insight and rebirth. It’s
no less true in the 21st
century – gather up your partner, seek out such a spa and revel in
your new relationship!
