Setting Boundaries Around Body Talk During My Wedding Was A Game-Changer. Here’s Why!
The process of planning our own wedding was not the easiest for me. I was wrapped up in the anxiety of thinking “will people really want to travel all this way just for one day?”.
If you’re currently consumed with wedding planning (or thinking about getting engaged) and freaking out about making sure that everyone else is happy, I can promise that your people-pleasing habits are doing you no service
Trying to please everyone else will limit you from showing up and embracing this incredibly special time in your most authentic way.
Remember, whoever shows up WANTS to be there and expects absolutely nothing in return.
One of the best ways that you can let go of people-pleasing and set clear boundaries. One of the ways that I did this?
Say no to body shaming or diet talk in your wedding tribe.
I can’t tell you how much peace you will have throughout the planning process if you lay down this law from the very beginning.
This is something that I struggled with a bit in my own planning process.
It’s enough pressure to plan this one day, but to all of a sudden hear your beautiful friends and family subtlety drop hints about their “wedding diet” can really bring up a lot of insecurity and funky mindset stuff.
The thing that mattered the most on our big day was to be as present as possible and surrounded by unconditional love.
I wanted everyone to show up EXACTLY as they are- exactly how I love THEM.
And the time leading up to that day?
You’re talking to your girls a lot. It was actually one of the best surprises in the entire event- how we all reconnected and reignited our friendships.
But this could have been shaken so easily if we did the whole body shaming/negative talk thing that strangely bonds so many of our relationships.
I’m so grateful that these amazing women respected my request.
Instead of complaining about dress sizes and diets, we talked about LIFE.
We reminisced about our favorite goofy adolescent experiences and commiserated about how we finally got to this place together and the struggles with finding a floral bridesmaid dress (HA).
One of my favorite memories of that weekend was the morning of our wedding…
We snuggled up in my parent’s living room with a gigantic bag of popcorn and watched Father of the Bride for the 1millionth time in our lives.
I bawled my eyes out to feel all of the feelings (that happened a lot over the weekend and it’s okay!), took a deep breath and just sat with my girls like we’d done over and over at each other’s homes growing up.
No expectation. No negativity. Just love.
It will probably feel scary and vulnerable to take your stance on nixing the diet culture banter (it was for me) but I cannot even tell you how freeing it was.
Take a deep breath and let go of any emotional stress, perfection, and expectation that you have for how everyone feels on YOUR day.
Allow yourself to feel the love pouring into you!! Take the stand. You’ve got this.
P.S. If you want even more resources and ideas for feeling comfortable in your skin, be sure to grab my free Body Acceptance Starter Kit!
KATELYN AND PAUL WEDDING-KATELYN AND PAUL WEDDING I-0127.jpg
KATELYN AND PAUL WEDDING-KATELYN AND PAUL WEDDING I-0127.jpg
