Whenever I page through my many wedding magazines and examine the many many exquisite gowns in as much detail as I can make out on the page, I can often hear my darling Ouma Jean, my paternal grandmother- may she rest in peace- saying something like “You’d best wear sleeves so that you can cover your tattoos…” or “You can’t wear that dress, it has an open back…” or something along those lines. Although she may not have been quite so, erm, tactful.
I miss my Ouma something awful. 
Perhaps in your case, it’s your mom asking you what you’re going to do about your ink. Or your aunty Esmé twice removed on your father’s side. Or perhaps it’s a friend.
It doesn’t matter who.
I guarantee you someone will not approve of you showing your tattoos on your wedding day.
For one thing, people who don’t have their own ink will not understand how much a part of you your tattoos are. And no matter how open-minded society claims to be, tattoos are still associated with convicts and sailors. Especially in South Africa.
If, like me, you have several tattoos, then they are no doubt carefully chosen and designed and each one has a tremendous amount of significance to who you are.
My own tattoos are like jewellery for me.
I will certainly not be designing my wedding dress around my ink, but I will not be hiding it away or covering it up. My tattoos are a part of me, literally and figuratively. They’re a part of who I am. They’re a part of the person who is “Angel”.
And I think they’re beautiful.
So just to show you that a bride doesn’t need to hide her ink on her special day, here are a few images of tattooed brides that I Googled.
