A Bride’s Guide to Aesthetic Treatment (Timeline)
Written By Dr Amy Chahal
Very few things in life are as stressful as wedding planning. Aside from the host of considerations like the venue, food, accommodations, and the hundreds of little details to decide on (should you go with white or eggshell ribbons?), you are also likely concerned about looking your best on your wedding day.
When should you start? And what should you even have done when you do? These two questions can cause a ton of stress for brides-to-be, so we wanted to provide you with all the information you needed: a timeline of when and what to start and how to ensure you get a unique, tailored experience.
In most cases, we recommend getting started around six months out from your wedding day:
6 Months Out
Six months before your wedding is the perfect time to start. It gives us plenty of opportunity to schedule a bespoke consultation and explore more intensive nonsurgical or minimally invasive treatments to achieve the bulk of the correction you’d like.
A Bespoke Consultation
A personalised consultation is important in any aesthetic treatment process, but when you are preparing for your wedding day, it becomes even more critical that you work with a team willing to invest time in really understanding what you want to achieve on this momentous day.
This doesn’t just mean listening to the treatment you are considering; it actually means quite the opposite. We spend much more time hearing what conditions or features you would like to shift and then coming up with a highly strategic treatment plan that is tailored to your needs.
High-Intensity Texture and Tonal Treatments
During this time, you still have plenty of time before you tie the knot to have some of the more extensive procedures performed. We will typically always recommend starting with treatments like microneedling and deep chemical peels to start smoothing out the texture and tone of your skin.
Both of these options can penetrate deeply into the skin tissue, stimulating the body’s natural healing response and reducing the appearance of concerns like uneven skin texture, fine lines, and light wrinkling. They can also help reduce the appearance of tonal concerns like sun spots, sun damage, and other discolouration.
(The added benefit here is that you also start boosting the production of vital proteins like collagen and elastin, which are the primary proteins responsible for keeping your skin taut.)
3 Months Out
When we hit the three-month mark, we will want to shift gears slightly and move toward perfecting the general improvements we have been working toward. This is also our opportunity to really address the contouring of your face if that is something you wish to work on.
Advanced Skin Treatments
To fine-tune your progress, we will generally turn to treatments like RF microneedling, Morpheus8, or Hydrafacials, all of which can significantly improve tone and texture. Even something like SkinPen microneedling can be an incredibly effective option in cases where precision and power are needed after the bulk of the progress has been achieved.
Contouring
If you want to make sure that you are in love with all those wedding photos you take but are concerned about the fine lines on your face, consider facial contouring treatments three months before your date.
There are a few options we can discuss together. Firstly, dermal fillers, lip fillers, collagen-stimulating injections, and bio-remodeling injections can all be safely performed at the three-month mark. This allows plenty of time for the treatment to “settle” into the tissue and achieve the ideal natural appearance.
Secondly, facial thread lifts and FaceTite are two excellent and trusted options for facial contouring, but they are not both a great fit for everyone. FaceTite is perfect for people who are experiencing an excess of unwanted facial fat or volume and would like to slim down their profile. Thread lifts, on the other hand, are made for people experiencing skin sagging and needing a little help keeping their tissue taut.
Based on your consultation, we will be able to figure out where on the spectrum — if at all — you fall and which contouring treatment would be the best for your needs. We also have plenty of other options available, so don’t worry if these options don’t seem to be an immediate fit.
1 Month Out
Touch Ups
As we near the day of your wedding, it is definitely time to slow down the intensive treatments. At this point, we will focus on touch-ups—maybe going through similar treatments in smaller doses and only using treatments we know your skin will not react adversely to. If there are any final adjustments we want to make, the one-month mark is the last chance to do them.
1 Week Out
You are so close to your big day. All of the plans are (hopefully) finalised, your wedding dress looks gorgeous on you, and we’ve nailed your skin regimen so you are feeling great about being the center of attention for the whole day.
So, at this point, there are just a couple of things left to do:
Hydration
You want to ensure your skin stays hydrated in the days leading up to your wedding—it will make a world of difference in its appearance. Besides drinking enough water and using a moisturiser at home, you can also consider having something light like a Hydrafacial to boost a ton of hydration and other factors at once.
Of course, we will still want to make sure that we know you won’t react poorly to this treatment (rarely is this a problem), but it is important to err on the side of caution this close to the wedding.
Very Light Touch Ups
We won’t want to do anything too intensive here, but there is still time to do some light LED treatments to give your skin an edge in the coming days. This is best decided on a case-by-case basis, though, and we won’t really know where we stand until we are at this point together.
Ready to Set Up a Bespoke Treatment?
We would love to hear from you and get you started on a pre-wedding treatment plan. We are happy to spend as much time as needed getting to know you and your goals and helping you feel comfortable and supported throughout the entire process.
Our goal is never to convince you to have treatments you don’t want or need; instead, our focus is to make sure you are fully informed with a partner you can trust should you choose to move forward. If you want to get started, please fill out our online contact form or call us at (02) 8074 1559. We are excited to get the chance to help you prepare for your big day.
