Bride in braces?

Message

#1 Post by **danni** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 11:16 am

I have never posted before but I have followed many of the stories and found my fellow braces wearers on this site to be insightful and compassionate. I now have a dilemma and ask your counsel.

Six months ago at grad school I met the man of my dreams and last week we became engaged- (still in a daze). We have talked about a fairly large church wedding in June. Unfortunately I will not shed my metallic smile for another year- Feb or March 2011. My prince charming has never seen me without my braces and he told me that us getting married with me wearing braces does not matter to him but we can wait if I want.

I am so excited but in the back of my head I wonder if years down the road I will regret not waiting until I have my beautiful smile for my wedding photos. I want this to be that special day that we dream about. (Hopeless romantic.)

Has anyone faced this situation and should I trade the extra 7-8 months to be the smiling bride sans orthodontia?

Thanks,

waiting in white and silver.

#2 Post by **kilikena311** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 12:44 pm

There was a person on the boards who got married while braced, and her ortho removed several of her top brackets for the wedding, then re-bracketed her after the wedding. I think her user name was newsboysgrl777, if you want to try to do a search on the boards. You may be able to discuss this with your ortho though they may charge you extra to do this for you, or not be willing to do it at all. It's worth checking into though if you are hesistant to get married with the brackets.

#3 Post by **TumbleDryLow** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 1:26 pm

First of all, congratulations on your engagement!

As the previous poster said, inquire about having the front brackets removed for the wedding. If that turns out to be impossible, and if it were me (and I'm probably in the minority here), I'd wait to get married until my braces were off. The man of your dreams today is the man of your dreams tomorrow right? So in a year you still have the man of your dreams AND the smile of your dreams. Win-Win. Plus it gives you some extra time to plan your big day. June isn't that far away. Doesn't it usually take about a year to plan a wedding--especially a large church one as you describe?

#4 Post by **TXMommy** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 5:02 pm

I struggled to plan a small church wedding in eight months, so my hat off to you if you can pull it off in five!

Honestly, if I just got engaged and knew that I'd still be wearing braces for another year, I'd take that opportunity to plan a fabulous wedding and plan to have a beautiful brace-free smile in my photos. Unless there's some sort of rush, like in some military cases where the bride- or groom-to-be is due to be deployed and the wedding probably can't wait too long. But that's what my plan would be.

Congrats on your engagement, and best of luck to you in the future!

#5 Post by **danni** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 5:15 pm

Thanks for the responses, as expected they are thoughtful and I appreciate the insight.

I am quickly finding out that a wedding even the one I would like (not extravagant) is quite an ordeal and 5 months might not be enough time to make it happen. That could solve my dilemma.

I did talk to my ortho about removing the braces just for the wedding and she didn't really care for the idea and the cost would be around $350.00 for removing and replacing.

Thanks again for the responses and the words of encouragement.

#6 Post by **evilnel** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 7:12 pm

I would say wait on the wedding, not just for the braces, but as you're discovering, a wedding is a fiasco to plan. My brother got engaged about 8 months ago and their wedding is in 2 weeks, and it has been crazy. And their wedding is going to be really simple. Give yourself time to breathe! Sometimes it can take 4-6 months just to get your dress!

#7 Post by **rhonda30** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 11:04 am

Wow, your story sent me to my wedding photo album and on a nostalgia trip too many years gone bye. I was engaged to a wonderful man and he was in the military. We found out he was scheduled for redeployment and so we decided to get married with me still wearing braces. It was a small wedding but what a special and wonderful day.

As the years went by I would look at my wedding photos and I must be honest I regret not waiting for my braces free smile. Years later when friends saw my album who did not know me as a young bride would make comments like, "Oh look at you with braces."

You are enduring the inconvenience of wearing braces in part I am sure to create a pretty smile. Put that smile on display on your special wedding day.

Congrats on your engagement and may your future marriage be filled with joy and good fortune.

#8 Post by **rhonda30** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 5:49 pm

Danni,

I hope you don't mind but I attached an old photo to give you an idea of what braces look like as an accessory to a wedding dress.

#9 Post by **Bekah** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 8:11 pm

I actually saw online where you can have the pictures edited to remove the braces! They can make it look like they aren't even there!

I don't remember the website but that may be an option! Congratulations on the wedding!

#10 Post by **Bekah** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 8:13 pm

And Rhonda, I think you look beautiful! I don't think the pictures look bad at all! That is what you looked like when you married and you looked great!

I don't think braces should affect your decision!

#11 Post by **cmone** » Sun Jan 24, 2010 8:51 am

@ Rhonda30, I think u were a beautiful bride too, braces & all. I think I would wait the year to plan a fabulous wedding and to get the braces off since you're worried about them. But I think if you're marrying the man of your dreams, it won't really matter. Congratulations!

Don't you just love this dancing banana?!

#12 Post by **danni** » Sun Jan 24, 2010 12:54 pm

Thanks to all of you for the responses.

I think the majority feel I should wait and as it turns out there is a conflict with the church for June and I would have to wait until August for the church. If I wait until August I am leaning towards waiting until the spring of 2011. ( seems so far away and I am so excited I would get married next week if I could.) My fiancee and I are going to sit down with families this week and make a firm decision.

My niece who is going to be my flower girl just got braces so if I wait until next year we won't have dueling braces in the wedding party.

I spoke with a friend of mine who is a photographer and he said I could get the wedding photos edited and have the braces taken out but it is pretty costly because wedding albums are so large and the finished product for so many photos is not always very uniform.

Rhonda you were a very pretty bride but I can see where the braces almost become a focal point in the photos. I wonder if people without braces even notice them?

Thanks again and I will keep you posted.

Cmone- the dancing bananas are really cute.

#13 Post by **rhonda30** » Mon Jan 25, 2010 10:25 pm

I think you will find that when it comes to planning a wedding there are so many decisions that have to be made that at times it seems impossible. I think your excitement will get you over most of the rough spots. For what it is worth don't expect a consensus on most of the decisions you have to make but always remember it is your wedding and you should have the final say in the matters.

Don't get hung up on the braces issue, if August is better than next April then go for it. Like you said, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and probably those of us who have or had braces probably notice them more than those who never wore them.

Please keep us posted on your progress.

#14 Post by **whiskers00182** » Fri Jan 29, 2010 5:45 pm

Ive been in my braces since early last year (jan 2009 around) , I got married in September! But we eloped to Vegas! (we have been together for 5 years) We have pictures of the little chapel wedding, we are going to have a bigger celebration later on and photos taken after my braces come off! But Vegas was awesome!

I vote vegas! lol

#15 Post by **danni** » Mon Feb 01, 2010 11:30 am

Hi guys!

I am happy to report I am making some progress in the wedding plans. As some of you have indicated this can be somewhat of a challenge. My wedding date is now set for August 28. Originally it was going to be June and then I thought we would wait until April 2011.

Turns out my future mother-in-law has some serious health problems and my fiancee thinks that August will work but he wasn't sure she would make April. He is an only child and I definitely want her to share the day with us.

The down side of August is I will be smiling through my orthodontia. I guess that is a small price to pay for having families together.

Went to try on dresses over the weekend and this might be a tougher decision than I thought. I am leaning towards a simple elegant look and of course my mother would like to see me in something more traditional. Maybe try for a comprise but I haven't found that look yet.

Whiskers -after several hours of trying different dresses Las Vegas sounded pretty good. It didn't help that my teeth were sore from an adjustment last Thursday, I do hate elastics.

Well, I will keep you posted and hopefully everything will go smoothly.