Weddingbee boards

I have the tan lines you speak of. I was really careful all summer and then ONE day of forgetting the sunscreen and playing a beach volleyball tournament ruined all my efforts! The lines have faded a lot but I can still see them.

What measures can I take to get rid of them?

I do think it looks odd. If it was a casual beach themed wedding I wouldn't be bothered by it as much. I personally have a permanent freckle on my upper chest and arm/shoulders. I plan on having these addressed if I ever get married. I have very light skin, and anything V-neck shows a half circle shape area with freckles and then the pristine white that's just a little lower.

However, regarding tan lines and whatnot, I would think that a good photoshop artist could easily fix those. So.... try not to get really bad tan lines, but if you do see if your photographer or the editor can fix them.

@MightySapphire:  I was thinking the same thing.

For the record, I don't think tan lines are "tacky".  I also don't think they're always avoidable (fair skinned ladies, like myself, can't avoid it in the summer if you get burned/tanned even with SPF 1,000,000 sunscreen and think tube tops look ridiculous on anyone that is uncomfortable wearing them).

Spray tans will fix that immediatley.  Just make an appointment before the big day so that it is totally dry by the time of the wedding.  They are really popular here and since they've cropped up into every town and mall, I haven't seen too many tanlines since, now that I think about it.

ETA: I don't think they are tacky, per se.  But they certainly don't have a polished look to them, lol.  I mean, having a gorgeous dress, beautiful hair, perfect make up and then bold tan lines isn't probably ever going to be considered a 'pulled together' look.  It just looks a bit overlooked, I'd say.  But that doesn't make someone trashy!  I mean, I'd find it to be not in keeping with a finished look, so if I had them (I'm a paler than pale redhead) I'd fix it the same way as if I had a huge zit on the end of my nose that day! :P  Quick trip to a spray tanner will always work and not give you cancer.  Of course, I'm talking about the airbrush tanning, which is like artwork and they can blend it perfectly.

There aren't any spray tan places near where I live, and I highly doubt I'll feel like making the couple hour trip to make sure my skin is "evened out" for my wedding.

I've always made an effort to keep my skin protected, but like @FutureMrs.Harless said, sometimes it's unavoidable (I know what you mean about getting burns while driving in the car).

If I have tan lines on my wedding day, I will still feel like the most beautiful woman in the world.  Afterall, I am marrying the man who loves me for me.

Oh, goodness.  You just reminded me of one more thing I have to do (I knew in the back of my mind - I thought I had everything planned, just not scheduled, since I was pretty sure it'd be a short engagement.)  I've got a five and a half month engagement, I've never spray tanned before, and my skin is so white it's transparent except for my lower arms.  I could stand being that white, but that shift where my t-shirts end is just a tad too noticeable.

i personally enjoy tanlines sometimes. i love going to a really hot place, getting super dark during the day after laying out on the beach, and then sporting a strapless sundress to go out to dinner and show off my new tan! call me crazy, but i kinda like it. :) maybe not for a wedding, but i don't really think it matters. if the person sporting the tanlines doesn't care, why should we?

@huckleberry783: amen to that sister!

I think maybe some people here were a little defensive or sensitive to this thread.  I mean, just because some people don't care about it doesn't mean that it isn't a topic of interest to some.  There have been posts here of brides that were glad for the reminder and of other people that sympathize with the OPs feelings.  How many times do I have to read how it's fine to not want your bms to have tattoos because it looks tacky, trashy or are 'not the vision' that the bride had.  How is that different?

Just because you disagree doesn't mean you're being attacked.  Yes, calling it tacky or trashy is overboard, but I think the posters that said that were thinking of it looking 'not finished' or like leaving curlers in your hair when you're all 'done up' or something.  At least, that's the way I took it.  Like another poster said - do tan lines ever look good really? No, of course not,(unless you're huckleberry or heatherrobyn, lol :P) so why is it considered bashing to talk about how NOT to have them or how you don't like the way they look?

As an aside, I like looking at my tan lines, too, when I'm on vacay so that I have a visual of how dark I got! lol so I understand those who said they like them.  I just wouldn't want to have them at any kind of formal event as I think they take away from the look.

@MightySapphire:

I guess I find it odd since I have never seen anyone really intervening in the 'is it ok to kick out my bm if she has tattoos' type of threads.  As I said, calling it tacky or trashy is a little ridiculous, but it's one of those things that you do have control of, like you said, and is a super easy fix.  A tattoo is a choice and being heavy is something that's super difficult to change and even if it weren't some people like their size, too.  I guess that I could relate to this post because I hate when I have tan lines and have to wear a gown or something formal.  So I've found that airbrush/spray tanning/little bottles of self tanners at Target are all easy fixes for this.  It seems like others valued that info, too.

But I don't think that women with tan lines in their bm dresses or wedding gowns are trashy or tacky or anything.  If they don't care about that, awesome :)  But for those that would care and wouldn't even know how to fix it - well then maybe this type of thread may be helpful for them?  Perhaps it should have been called 'How to get rid of tan lines for your wedding gown or bm dress'.

I 100% agree with you @mightysapphire!