The pictures taken from your wedding day will be there for you and your partner when you want to reminisce, but these same photographs could be in your family for decades to come. The last thing you want your children and grandchildren to point out is that huge pimple in the middle of your forehead. Preparing your skin for the big day will help you achieve a glowing look for your classic photograph, and you won't have to worry about never living down a wedding day breakout. Staying stress free as well as eating a balanced diet and drinking plenty of water every day are just a few ways to get you that glow, but who has time to eat when there are two weeks left to fit into a wedding dress? These simple steps can be thrown by the wayside when you're busy making phone calls, organizing the guest list and choosing the food for the reception. However, along with your now quick daily regimen, you can incorporate some other gentle skin care treatments to rid yourself of imperfections that might pop up as you reach the day.

How to Have Flawless Skin without Botox: Microdermabrasion

Having someone poke your skin and inject it with Botulinum Toxin Type A might not be right for you and that's okay. Although Botox and Restylane are amazing anti-aging tools, they can cause swelling, redness and bruising at the injection site, which is not a good look when you're going for flawless skin. Plus, if you have never tried these techniques before, it's hard to tell how your skin will react and appear afterwards. Instead, a safer skin care treatment such as microdermabrasion is less painful and expensive. What is microdermabrasion? Well, it uses abrasive crystals to exfoliate and rejuvenate the skin. More importantly, it can smooth away fine lines and wrinkles as well as scars, sun damage and dark spots. Home kits made with certified organic botanicals are also available, and these are often less abrasive than professional systems. An alternative to keep you within your budget is to create a homemade version by mixing brown sugar and olive oil until it turns into a paste. Your groom-to-be will not be able to keep his hands off of your baby soft face!

Bride-to-Be Tips: It's best to test this treatment on your skin two months before the wedding date. Depending on how abrasive you prefer the treatment, your skin might be red and peeling. But don't worry, because you can easily control the intensity and prevent these effects. Also, keeping a daily diary of your skin's progression will give you a better sense of how many days before the wedding you should do the second treatment by.

Be a Natural Beauty with Organic Creams

There is hope for creams and moisturizers, but you need to give them a head start since the results are not as immediate as you might like them to be. A major benefit of products made from organic and natural ingredients is that they can be gentler on your skin since they don't contain chemicals or toxins. But it's still important to monitor your skin to make sure you don't have a reaction. If you have puffy skin or dark under eyes, which you might develop as you get closer to the big day, try a product that contains green tea, chamomile and aloe vera, because these are calming ingredients. Or fight dry skin and fine lines with an intensive repairing serum that contains anti-oxidant power from pomegranates.

Aromatherapy for Your Face: Essential Oils

Lavender essential oil is a relaxing scent that can calm your nerves, but it also has skin-enhancing properties too. Although most essential oils are too potent to be applied directly to the skin, lavender and melaleuca are fairly mild. Lavender is calming and can heal bruises, cuts, burns and infections. So if you accidentally burn the side of your face with the curling iron (of course this happens at the most inopportune times), apply lavender as soon as possible as it can help reduce the redness. For blemishes use melaleuca, because it heals acne and can dry out unsightly pimples within a day or two. If you suffer from cold sores or if you have a sunburn from tanning, this essential oil can help too.

Bride-to-Be Tips: Always be cautious when using essential oils. For instance, avoid your eyes and ears and apply small amounts, especially with melaleuca as it can be drying and cause your skin to flake.

Manage Your Skin Type with Face Masks

Oily skin can be challenging to deal with. Instead of having a glow, it can appear as though your makeup is melting off of your face. A way to deal with the excess oil is to use a face mask before applying your makeup. Try fruity masks made with bananas, strawberry and lemon juice. Masks with rose extract or green clay work just as well too. If your skin is normally oily, keep facial oil blotting papers in your purse so you can renew your skin after you accept your new name. On the other hand, dry skin can prevent your makeup from going on smoothly, but different face masks can help hydrate. Moisturizing ingredients to look for include avocados, honey and milk -- who knew fats and sugars could be good for your skin? Choosing a gentle skin care treatment before your wedding is a safe and healthy way to achieve that beautiful glow. Instead of worrying about your imperfections, you can confidently display your love and your naturally rejuvenated appearance.

-- Marina Hanes