Here is how your typical bride prepares for her wedding day: she starts a comprehensive diet and exercise plan a few months beforehand and, in the run up to the big day, schedules any number of facials, body wraps and massages. As the days speed up, it's all rehearsals for different versions of hair and make-up, plus manicures and pedicures, and relaxing spa treatments.
Her groom, on the other hand, has traditionally done this: he wakes up on the morning of the wedding, showers, shaves, and puts on his tuxedo.
That standard is slowly shifting, however. In this age of metrosexuals (in other words, fashion-savvy and well-groomed young men), men who are soon to wed are taking it upon themselves to come up with entire regimens, so they will feel as attractive and relaxed as their brides at the altar.
'I'm always the master of ceremonies at weddings and grooms invariably ask me for help,' says Peter Cheung, marketing and communications director for Van Cleef & Arpels in Asia-Pacific. 'Hair cut, manicures, facials ... they never do that stuff normally.'
Spa owners are seeing an uptick in men's grooming across the board.
'It's been a growing trend for the past five years,' says Nigar Qureshi, owner of the Beaute Par Zai spa. 'I think the ratio [of males to females] will soon reach 50-50.'