A zit is probably the last thing anyone wants right before their wedding, but sometimes life, stress, and hormones happen. If you’re worried that this new little imposter on your face is going to show up in every single photo, back away from the harsh exfoliators and zit extraction tools and try these simple tricks.

First of all, how far out is your wedding?

If you still have a lot of time, the good news is you’ll probably be naturally rid of it by the time your wedding day comes. If you have a few weeks to go, schedule yourself a chemical peel or facial so that your skin has some time to heal on its own and gradually reduce the blemish. These are great treatments to get before a wedding anyway, zit or no zit.

The Week Of

In this case, it’s time for some intervention. Your best course of action right now is a facial treatment where it can safely be extracted (if it’s formed a head). Find your nearest and most trusted esthetician who can provide you with a spot treatment recommendation to help cut down on the redness.

If your zit hasn’t come to a head yet, it’s probably not going to come out quickly through any traditional methods. Try a kenalog injection with your dermatologist. This will reduce the bump and most of the redness.

The Day Of

So you woke up with a zit. It’s ok! Your photographer will most certainly have your back with Photoshop. Just make sure to pull them aside and let them know that you want it removed from all photos. Keep in mind that some clients have birth and beauty marks that they don’t necessarily want removed from photos, so it’s always a good idea to have a conversation with the photographer so everyone is happy.

However, even with photoshop, you might still want to keep your skin looking clear throughout the day so here are some tips to keep skin smooth. Do a spot treatment first thing in the morning, and avoid everything except a gentle cleanser to keep it from getting more inflamed. Once your spot treatment is on, use comedogenic, full-coverage makeup and concealer to make sure the redness is covered, and it might not be the worst idea to have someone hold onto some concealer throughout the day in case you need a little extra coverage touch up.

Here’s what you should NOT do

Don’t get aggressive with your skin. It’s frustrating getting a blemish at such an inopportune time, but don’t go overboard trying to get rid of it with gritty exfoliators. You might end up spreading the problem to your whole face. And hold off on makeup whenever you can during the week leading up to your wedding day. Just let your pores breath and treat yourself to a soothing facial to make sure your skin is happy and healthy in your photos.