Bridal Beauty Bribery

After weighing my make-up options, I decided that, barring any huge curveball, I would be doing my own wedding day make-up.  Instead of splurging on a professional make-up artist for my wedding, I decided I'd pursue a much smaller splurge and schedule a professional make-up consultation to help guide my DIY make-up on W-day.  I researched some options and landed on a make-up artist who offered a service called a "bridal make-up lesson," which is designed for people who are pretty comfortable with basic make-up application but are interested in adding some oomph for the big day... I'd say that describes my make-up situation pretty perfectly!

Instead of just picking up the phone and scheduling a consultation, I decided to make a little wager with myself.  As so many brides before me have described, every woman wants to look and feel her best on her wedding day, which usually translates to toning up and/or dropping a few pounds.  Physique-wise, I'm not shooting for anything drastic.  I just want to be healthy and feel good about the way I look in my dress, period, end of discussion.  So, to recap, I wanted to be healthier AND I wanted a make-up consultation.  I let these two desires join forces, and engaged in a little bridal beauty bribery.

Image via The Gloss

I decided that if I worked out 18 out of 30 consecutive days, I'd treat myself to a make-up consultation.  I chose April as the month for the self-induced bet, and got to work.  I didn't quite hit my mark of 18, but I did exercise more regularly than I normally do, and I did get pretty close to the magical and arbitrarily selected number of 18.  Therefore, I gave myself a passing grade for this challenge.  Sure, maybe I'm fudging the results a smidge, but the reality is that I did succeed in embracing a healthier lifestyle with more regular exercise.  I felt more energetic, more productive, and more accomplished.  I decided that, like weight and size, the number of work-outs per month is really just a number.  The more important barometer is how you feel when you're working toward a healthful lifestyle.  Now that I've "succeeded" in my little work-out challenge, it's off to a make-up consultation to create my w-day look! 

Have you ever bribed yourself with something for the wedding?  Spill!