Welcome to the official remix on all bride prep articles—the FUN, upbeat version you've been waiting for. This is an anthem for the maximalists, but also for those who put mental health and physical happiness on high priority during a potentially !stressful! journey. Less diets, more intuition. Less makeovers, more upgrades and treats. Let's celebrate this huge time to be extra extra, and if you’re already extra, you can definitely do more and you know it.

Months before the wedding:

I planned my entire dreamy romantic day in less than six months, which was NUTS. So I really packed in extreme self-care and pampering—I'm talking three treatments a week, minimum.

One of my favorite things about being the bride-to-be was my diva treat-yo-self attitude. It lowkey felt like my birthday every day... A pilates class here, a facial there. Did I need the hot stone add-on for my pedicure? No. Did I do it? Duh, because I’m the BRIDE.

To keep my mind sharp for extreme crunch-time planning, I made room for physical movement in my day. I found a lot of solitude in a beautiful place called Solidcore and became addicted to this upbeat, militant version of pilates. I became so in love with this therapy that I did it all the time, and I truly have never felt more strong and therefore beautiful. I also thought I almost had one ab muscle pop up, but it was just the lighting...

Weeks before:

Hair gloss: I loo0o0ove changing my appearance for shock factor just as much as the next girl, but this is not the time. My beautiful and amazing best friend Natalie is also my hairstylist, and she talked me down off of many manic episodes of questioning my hair color for the big day. I ended up, by her recommendation, getting a luxurious ~gloss~ and a very simple trim. You want to feel like the shinier, celeb version of yourself, not some rando who made a last minute swerve into a new hair journey.

Scheduled crying time: Just kidding! But honestly, I wish I had scheduled more time to let the feels hit. No one told me how many emotions go to war pre-wedding, yet, every married person I told knew exactly what I was talking about. Schedule me-time!!! Beauty appointments DO NOT count because people want to make small talk and ask about every detail of the big day which is, shocker, not relaxing.

Days Before:

Spray tan: I straight up went full 2010 and went to Palm Beach Tan to get spritzed in a booth. It was weird. Yes it still smells bad, and yes I was orange for two days. Luckily, day of as promised, it faded to the perfect GLOW and I looked exactly like JLo.

Lashes: Said stylist/BFF mentioned above (I am so lucky) also did my lash extensions. Do not sleep on this if you’ve never tried them, I honestly felt so cute and kept flirting with literally anyone and anything, it was almost embarrassing.

Masking: The night before, the only mask I could fathom using was the Eve Lom Rescue Mask. I’ve been using this mask every Sunday for years and it ALWAYS performs with flying colors to de-clog (white clay) and make me glow (honey) like I just got a $1k red carpet facial.

*Hot tip: I got a blow out the day before so my hair was perfectly prepped to hold its day-of style.

Day of:

Ritual: The moment I woke up, I pulled off my Slip silk eye cover and rolled out of bed, and then I went straight for the outdoor shower with my cold brew. While in my happiest place on Earth, I lathered up in my favorite jasmine body wash I packed along for the ride because I was told beforehand to use scents you want to remember on your wedding day.

If you don’t listen to anything else I’m saying, remember this: take the longest shower of your life right now. Meditate, listen to the music you guys love or just stand under the water and do your best to ground yourself in this moment. I will at a minimum always remember the bomb shower I took that morning.

Makeup: It was very important to me that I had things that I not only trusted, but that made me feel like a bazillion dollars. I started by laying out all of my shiny little jars, compacts, tubes and brushes on the table and admiring their importance on this special day. The first thing that graced my recently toned (hydrating toner of course) cheeks was the La Mer Soft Cream. (Be more bougie, it’s your day!)

When my skin looked as plump as a bao bun, the foundation I trusted as much as my bridesmaids was Burberry Fresh Glow, which gives you that perfect cherub glow to is-she-even-wearing-makeup ratio. To conceal my undereye “excitement,” I dabbed the SMALLEST, gentlest little baby tap tap tap of Charlotte Tilbury Magic Away Concealer (ILYSM).

For my something borrowed, my sister-in-love let me dip into her Tom Ford Honeymoon palette to give me that big Old Hollywood energy I was dying to achieve. At this point I kind of blacked out from the magic and copper sparkles and just started gingerly brushing on golds and blushed brown shades wherever my hand took me. This palette is foolproof, and when I applied the iconic Marc Jacobs Velvet Noir Mascara everything just made sense.

To consummate the beauty recipe in my final moments, I swiped on layers of my amore, my lover, my everything: the Lipstick Queen lippie in Jungle Queen. Chef's kiss!

I hope all the love birds reading this take a deep, cleansing breath of fresh air and take one noodle of advice: treat yo self. Love is magic!

—Samantha Wilson

Photos via the author.