Birth control pills
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Birth control pills are often used by brides to move their cycle to a convenient date. Many brides prefer not to have their periods on their wedding day or during their honeymoon.
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[edit] Starting Birth Control
If you are not already on birth control pills but would like to have control over your menstrual cycle, be sure to visit your physician and get a prescription for birth control at least 3-4 months prior to the wedding -- 6 months is probably better. It takes time to get the cycles in check.
Traditional birth control pills consist of 3 weeks of "active" (hormone-containing) pills and 1 week of inactive/placebo pills (a 21/7 pack). By stopping the active pills at the end of week 3, you are withdrawing the hormones and you will bleed a few days later (a "withdrawal bleed"). This is not a true menstrual bleed, so after a few months, many women will find that their withdrawal bleeds are lighter and last fewer days than their true periods did. Pills can be monophasic or triphasic, meaning that the amount of hormone is the same for each of the first few weeks, or varies over the three weeks (this may mimic a true monthly cycle better); different women have different experiences with each type.
Ultimately, as every woman is different, it is generally not helpful to listen to an individual's experience with a particular birth control brand. Your best bet is to talk to your physician; after discussing your regular cycles with her, she can help you choose a pill that is likely to help you.
[edit] How to Skip a Period
If you want to skip a period using a monophasic pill, all you do is take 3 weeks of active pills from the first pack (days 1-21), and on day 22, start the first active pill of a second pack. Throw away the inactive pills from the first pack. After taking the 3 active weeks of the second pill, you will take the inactive pills in the second pack and experience a regular, pill-induced withdrawal bleed (so, 6 weeks of active, 1 week of inactive). Some women may experience break-through bleeding during the latter 3 weeks, so it is best to try this method prior to the wedding. If you consistently have break-through bleeding during the second pack, you can take the inactive pills at any time to have a "full bleed"; for instance, instead of 6 weeks of active pills and 1 week of inactive, you could take 4 weeks of active pills, 1 week of inactive (and have a period), and then start pack #3, throwing away the other 2 weeks of active pills from pack #2. For more detailed information about skipping a period, see The Well Timed Period.
[edit] Manipulating the Timing of Your Period
If you are already on birth control and know the pattern that your withdrawal bleed takes, you can also manipulate it. For example, if you are like most people, then you are a "Sunday starter," meaning that when you got your first pack, you were told to take the first pill on the Sunday after the first day of your period. For every month since, you begin a new pack on a Sunday, and the last active pill in week 3 is on a Saturday. Sometime in week 4 you begin bleeding, and it is always on the same day (let's suppose it's always on Thursday, and it always lasts through Saturday). So if you always begin bleeding 5 days after your last active pill, you can change the day of the last active pill so that you don't bleed over the weekend. To do this, simply begin the new pack a few days earlier than you normally otherwise would. For instance, start the new pack on Friday instead of waiting until Sunday, and throw away the unused placebo pills. The following month, you will take your last active pill on a Thursday, and your bleeding should still begin 5 days later, on Tuesday. Now it won't come during the weekend! From now on, you will be a "Friday starter" instead of a "Sunday starter."
[edit] General Advice
Other pills, like Loestrin Fe, utilize a 24/4 day cycle (24 days of monophasic active hormone and 4 days of placebo) to create a shortened withdrawal bleed. You can also skip a period or manipulate the start day of your period using the same methods described above.
If you don't have regular bleeding cycles even on the pill, you should discuss any of these options with your physician. Remember, a bleeding episode while you are on the pill is not the same as a menstrual period, since you are not ovulating. It is simply a withdrawal bleed in response to the withdrawal of hormones for one week.
Whenever you stop the pill, be sure to use barrier protection, spermicide, or some other method during the month after you stop taking it; this month is considered anecdotally by some Ob/Gyns to be an easy time to conceive as your body readjusts to its own hormone levels and you may ovulate much fewer than 14 days after your last pill-induced withdrawal bleed.
If you get migraines with aura (or "visual migraines"), many doctors will warn you not to take a birth control with estrogen, but do not lose hope! Ask about a progestin only (or "mini") pill. Unfortunately, these are usually a 28-day cycle of pills with no placebo and do not give you the option of skipping a period. However, they still provide contraception, which is often the bigger issue, anyway.
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