Fake tan virgin needs advice!

[completelyabsolutely]

I am getting married in August and would like to not look my usual pasty white self for the day. If I get married on a Saturday which day should I get a fake tan and which one should I go for - I am hoping to look pleasantly bronzed and glowing rather mahogany gloss in a David Dickinson style

Also if I am planning on getting waxed should I do it before or after the tan? and how long before or after?

I am so rubbish at this stuff - can't believe that this is the first time I will ever have had any of these things done, including my nails - god even my mother gets her nails done!

2-3 days before, I'd say. Allows time for the colour to calm down. I'd also say you should have a couple of different spray tans done in the weeks running up to your wedding to see which one you like best. I love St Tropez, for instance, but some friends of mine think it comes up too dark.

I'd wax 48 hours or more before a spray tan. You don't want to irritate the area by tanning straight on to freshly waxed skin. Likewise, if you wax after a spray tan you may rip off the colour in some places (I've done this before in the bikini area and it looked like I had some sort of rare skin disease!).

Eek - I watched 'Death becomes her' at the weekend and now have scary images of tottering down the aisle with peeling patches displaying my real life grey skin underneath

Sure you'll be fine! I had a St Tropez tan done 2 days before my wedding and I looked healthy and golden, rather than orange. No streaks, no disasters...only problem was, I went straight on holiday that day to a place where there weren't any tanning salons, and I was the only person on the resort who got paler as the holiday went on

That will be me as well - it usually takes me a good week to even look defrosted, at which point I turn bright red, look tanned for a day before it all peels off on the plane home.

I'm not too bothered about the honeymoon as we will be in the back end of beyond in the south of France, I just would like to be a shade darker than my dress for the day.

You need to start practicing and experimenting now.

I look at my wedding photos and wish our tanning and dyeing outcomes had been slightly better.