Don't Get Burned
How many stories have you heard of couples that go on their honeymoon, enjoy that first day on the beach, in the water, loving life, turning roughly the color of a boiled lobster, and spend the rest of the trip inside unable to move?
When my wife and I got engaged and planned to honeymoon on a Caribbean cruise, we had heard so many stories like this and decided we were going to be different.
We found a nearby tanning solon, signed up for a plan long enough to go a few times a week for the couple months leading up to our wedding, and began the process of getting a solid base tan.
There are many disclaimers and arguments across the internet about how good of an idea this is. And I'll leave that up to your convictions on what actions you take.
Here's what our personal experience was. We found some great tanning lotions with positive reviews to keep our skin from drying out, we started very slow with short tanning sessions, and gradually increased as we went. And during our honeymoon, we did our best to apply sunscreen regularly as recommended.
But as you know, water, sweat, and lots of activities, the sunscreen wears off, and you forget to reapply. The simple fact that we were already tan helped those times simply result in a darker tan instead of a painful burn.
And as a side benefit, we were both equally tan for our wedding pictures and didn't require the spray tan that many have to resort to so they don't look too pale in photos.
And I'm sure that regular dose of natural vitamin D didn't hurt with all the stress leading up to the wedding day. :)
