Brides turn to plastic surgery to “look refreshed” for the big day, says Sheila Nazarian, MD, a plastic surgeon based in Beverly Hills. She advertises at a couture wedding shop, drawing in mostly brides in their mid-30s.
These brides tend to opt for CoolSculpting, a noninvasive fat-reduction procedure that claims to freeze away 25% of the fat in a targeted area in just an hour. The treatment starts at $600 but most brides end up spending $3,000 to treat six body parts including arms, stomach, and back. “It used to be liposuction before the wedding,” said Dr. Nazarian, “but now we have all these really noninvasive ways of losing that fat.”
Brides-to-be tend to be in decent shape to begin with – you need to be within 20 pounds of your goal weight for CoolSculpting – but have a few areas they haven’t been able to get fit through fitness. “Arms are huge for a bride,” said Dr. Nazarian. However, there are some areas that are no-go: “No one’s coming in for breast implants before their wedding,” she said.
READ MORE: Plastic Surgeons See Increase in Patients Under 30
Brides-to-be do come in for what’s known as a Mommy Makeover, a breast surgery combined with a tummy tuck. I spoke with Mistie Dumas, 40, who is getting married on August 1 and having her 32Bs enhanced to DDs this June. After five kids and two C-sections, she told me, “I don’t feel like the rest of me looks my age, and I want my body to match my face.”
Dumas is 5’3″ with a weight that fluctuates, she told me, from 120 to 123 pounds. Quitting smoking has led her through cycles of gain and loss, so the tummy tuck portion of her Mommy Makeover will take care of some loose belly skin. Once she’s fully healed in six months, Dumas planning on a tattoo to cover up what she expects will be a “pretty bogus scar.”
