I've written in the past about the pressure put on so many brides to lose weight for their weddings (and how I suggest people handle it). I love that Psychology Today is now tackling this sticky subject with their article, Fighting the Unhealthy Cultural Push for Wedding Weight Loss:

For heterosexual couples, wedding preparations are often "all about the bride." From every angle, wedding media is largely marketed towards women, and while these outlets certainly offer helpful ideas and suggestions for the wedding stuff (e.g., flowers, caterers, and music), they also offer potentially harmful ideas and suggestions about brides' bodies.
Diets, cleanses, bridal boot camps, wedding-dress workouts...losing weight for a wedding can become an obsession, a distraction, and a source for stress during an already stressful time.

Why do women, who are no more weight-conscious than the average person, turn into brides-to-be who are so motivated to lose weight for their weddings and what can we do to help them?

The article starts with obvious suggestions like Don't suggest a bride lose weight for her wedding, but gets into some more nuanced ideas as well, including Talk about the wedding as more than pictures. It's a great question to consider: how has wedding photography increased the pressure on brides to look "perfect" at their weddings? I also like this article because it doesn't demonize those who want to lose weight - it simply asks how people can manage the pressure applied to lose weight during wedding planning.

You can read the full article here.