Preparing for a wedding is an exciting journey filled with dreams of every detail—from the stunning flowers to the perfect gown. Many brides are naturally motivated to look and feel their best on this special day.
However, the desire for an ideal bridal figure can sometimes result in unexpected challenges. What starts as a quest for confidence in a beautiful dress can lead to feelings of disappointment instead.
One bride’s experience recently highlighted this, revealing how the intense pressure to achieve a certain body image can bring surprising regrets.
Lucy Klemt’s story is a cautionary tale that challenges the narrative of slimming down for the wedding day. She is a size-inclusive personal trainer and nutritionist who had spent years distancing herself from the toxic belief that her worth was tied to her weight.
She had worked hard to foster a healthy relationship with food and exercise that celebrated balance rather than restriction. But when she got engaged, the world seemed to conspire to undo all her progress.
Ads for bridal boot camps and fitness programs began to stalk her every online move. Her social media feeds were inundated with tales of ‘wedding shred’ journeys, complete with before-and-after photos that seemed to equate happiness with a smaller dress size.
The message was clear: to be a beautiful bride, one must be a thinner bride.
‘It’s relentless,’ Klemt shared, reflecting on the external pressures that brides face. It’s a societal expectation that can feel suffocating, and for Klemt, it began to erode the sense of balance she had so carefully cultivated.
Her story is not unique; a survey by Hitched involving 1,009 users found that a staggering 84% felt pressured to slim down for their wedding, with 85 per cent comparing themselves to others online post-engagement and 51 per cent feeling underrepresented in wedding content.
Klemt’s transformation led her to a body that didn’t feel like hers.
‘I looked amazing, but I didn’t look like me,’ she explained.
Although the process was not as fraught as her past experiences, it still brought about unwelcome symptoms of dieting and a negative impact on her mental health.
The fatigue, the growing aversion to the gym, and the obsessive thoughts about food were all signs that the cost of conforming to societal expectations was too high.
The real crux of Klemt’s regret lies in reinforcing a harmful belief: that a smaller version of oneself is inherently better and more beautiful.
She had worked hard to unlearn this notion throughout her 20s, only to find it resurfacing with the prospect of her wedding. The pressure to look ‘absolute best’ on the wedding day is a pressure cooker that even the most resilient can find hard to withstand.
Klemt’s introspection led her to seek psychological help to address her issues before starting a family.
She recognised the potential of passing on her struggles to the next generation.
‘I feel like holding on to my tiny, tiny dress… is doing exactly that: passing on my generational trauma to my kids,’ she said.
Her advice to other brides-to-be is poignant and liberating: ‘You’re allowed to do whatever you want in the lead-up to your wedding, but please remember that every single person who is going to be in attendance at your wedding loves you exactly the way that you look right now.’
Klemt’s experience is a powerful reminder that the joy and beauty of a wedding are not contingent on the bride’s size. It’s a celebration of love, commitment, and the start of a new life together—none requiring a smaller dress size.
Have you felt similar pressures? How did you cope, and what advice would you give to others? Join the conversation in the comments below.
Also read: Bride’s wedding day overshadowed by guest’s ‘disrespectful’ act–what happened?
