Why does everyone decide they HAVE to lose weight for the wedding??

I'll say what alot of others are saying: 'to look and feel their best on their wedding day' the same reason we want the makeup tips and the hair trials and tips so we can look our best on our wedding day, in the limelight and afterward in several pictures. I don't agree with crazy calorie cutting or fad dieting. A healthy lifestyle with excercise and proper nutrition (with cheat days of course :-)) is key!

I agree that obviously your FI loves you for you...as he should. I also agree that fad diets are not the right answer as many of us are learning and are now turning to healthier lifestyle changes. I too have succumbed to the desire of wanting to lose some weight before my big day. Nothing too drastic to where I look like a mere shell of my former self. But still enough so I can look back and enjoy my wedding pictures for many years to come. I am doing it for me and my own personal health, since I have learned of my mothers health issues...I am definitely a mirror image of her inside and out and do not want to face these issue myself later in life. (Plus,Hell no will I be framing a photo of my overweight self and hang it to the wall for all eyes to see). With that said, I do think though that we as women shouldn't imply or emphasize that being slim is the only body shape that is beautiful, not that any of us on here are, but more so in the media. We should learn what our natural healthy body weight is and focus on maintaining that. Definitely eat right, definitely exercise and stay active, stay conscience of healthier choices but don't try to force your bodies into something they're not meant to be. I remember a while back my ex husbands best friend got engaged to a beautiful girl. She was never what I would call "fat" but in no means a bean pole, very healthy looking. Somewhere along the course of their engagement they had a falling out and we all lost touch. Luckily, they had a long engagement and just in time for the wedding they made amends, and so we went. I had only spoken to the bride to be over the phone since regaining contact and was extremely shocked to see her at the wedding. She was literally, emaciated!! Skin and bones. She had even lost so much weight from her last fitting, which was just a week before the wedding, that her dress didn't even fit right. I don't think she was 100lbs soaking wet. She has since gone on to suffer from bulimia and anorexia and fights it to this day.

WOW...sorry that was so long. Kuddos to u ladies who read that all the way thru. LOL

i've said that i'm going to diet but i never do.  i just can't restrict or discipline myself.

what i want is to have killer arms and shoulders in my wedding dress.  i don't want to look blobby.  that's how i felt in my e-pics.

i've been swimming consistantly at least 2 days a week and at least 1 day a week i walk for 2 miles at the track and run the stairs of the stadium.

all i have to do now is add some arm and shoulder weight exercises at least a few times a week and i think i just might reach my goal...

I actually just want to lose those few kgs I did weigh less and took over holidays

For me, I had a very traumatic experience when I had DS and during that time with being unable to exercise and depression (meds make you eat more) I have gone up almost 3 dress sizes so I want to loose weight so I can be the real me on my wedding day

Well it definately won't hurt to lose weight (if needed).  These memories will last a lifetime and like mentioned before, it is great motivation to set a goal and hopefully reach it before your big day.  I myself lost over 30 lbs.  My goal was 50 but I fell off the wagon and I just told myself....what if I continued to lose the weight, would I have needed a completely new dress for our photos?  I intend to start after the holidays pass because it was a change for everyone to eat healthier and incorporate excercise in our daily routine.  It did boost my confidence and gave us quality time.  Not to mention it was a competition to see who lost more weight each week ;)

i started losing weight because i needed to, my goal is to lose it before the wedding, its not for any reason besides the fact that i was over weight and want to be healthier.i had gained alot of weight before and during dating my fiancee so i just want to lose what i gained. i dont look at it as a diet because diets dont work, its more of looking at what i eat and choosing to eat better. before i was eatting fast food and drinking lots of soda and eatting way more then the portion said on the box, now i dont eat fast food, rarly drink soda, and i pay attention to how much im eatting. and i lost 20 pounds!!!!, and have 15 more to go, its just what i gained over the last 4 years. but of course if you dont have the right attitude then ya its not gonna work. and i havent gain any of the 20 pounds back, and i havent stuck to exercising and eatting right these last few months

I don't want to lose weight for the wedding per se- I just want to lose it period.  I went through a major depression several years ago, and put on over 25lbs because the only things I could make myself do were sleep and eat.  (At the peak I was sleeping over 16 hours a day.)  At first I was focused on just getting better and honestly didn't even notice the weight gain- but now it's like, this is the biggest I have ever been, all the cute clothes I want to wear again no longer fit, and I don't feel confident about my looks.

I don't really think I'm "fat" either (chubby? yeah).  But I don't feel good, and I don't feel healthy.  And I have NO idea how to lose the weight- the last time I lost a major amount of weight was in high school on a trip to Europe, where two weeks of being forced to eat much smaller portions than I was used to while walking 15-20mi a day managed to change my eating habits.  Obviously, that's not much of an option this time. XD  Once I'm done with this paper though I might try a "pseudo-trip to Europe"- walking a lot to explore my own community, cooking small amounts of new and interesting food, things like that, and see if it works. XD

I think that Brianne nailed it on the head.  It's totally a sterotype that ALL brides want to lose weight. 

I'm an overweight girl (and I'm not talking just 5 or 10 lbs), and I was practical about losing weight, and knew with all the other stresses that come with planning a wedding, it just wasn't going to happen, and losing weight wasn't one more thing that I was going to add to my plate.  I tried to make healthier choices, but I wasn't obsessing over calories or if I decided to eat those French Fries.  And to my suprise, I ended up losing weight anyway and my dress was too big.  OH WELL.  I can honestly look back on my pictures and LOVE them, because  I AM BEAUTIFUL just the way I am, and DH loves me for WHO I am, not WHAT I am.