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A bride said her $700,000 wedding was “ruined” after Botox injections left her “unable to smile” — and said she “looked like a character out of Wallace and Gromit.”
Marcella Santos, 34, received the injections in February 2025 after visiting her dentist.
She had been experiencing cracked teeth and ongoing mouth pain for months and Botox was recommended as a treatment to relax the muscles in her jaw.
Santos paid $500 for the jabs — which took place just four weeks before her wedding — and was injected with 30 units of Botox into both sides of her jaw.
The mom-of-one had the same procedure a year prior and so “though nothing of it,” but just two weeks later, Santos began to notice her “jaw was extremely tight and couldn’t smile properly”.
She would practice daily in the mirror to “perfect” her smile but became “anxious and panicked” as her wedding day, set for March 8, 2025 in Mexico, drew closer.
Santos had forked out around $700,000 for the event — including $30,000 on a wedding photographer and $15,000 on her dress, a Michelle gown by Liz Martinez.
Although the day “went well” , it wasn’t until Santos received the photographs around eight weeks later that she was left in tears — and said her “botched” smile made her look “bored and something out of Wallace and Gromit”.
So last month, she decided to re-take some of her wedding photos and now wants to warn any bride-to-be to avoid getting Botox so close to their wedding day — and to give yourself plenty of time for the jabs to settle.
Santos, a stay-at-home mom, from Austin, Texas, said: “I loved my wedding day – and I really enjoyed it.
“But I didn’t feel confident and as the bride where everyone is looking at you, I wanted the opposite!
“I was in my own head thinking I wasn’t attractive and looked botched.
“It really put a damper on my emotions and I was angry after having spent all that money for the day to be ruined by a jab.
“All I kept thinking was ‘am I smiling enough, do I look happy?’”
Santos spent almost two years planning for the big day after her partner, Cooper Ribb, 33, proposed to her in April 2023.
But a dentist appointment just weeks before led her to get Botox to help treat her jaw pain.
“I have had Botox before, around three of four times,” Santos said.
“So I wasn’t worried and I went to the doctor who always administered my filler.
“I was told the injections would help relax my jaw muscles and I thought it would also rid a few wrinkles as well.
“It seemed like a win-win.”
Santos was injected with 30 units of Botox on both sides of her jaw and “thought every thing was fine.”
But just two weeks later, she noticed it was “harder to smile” and her jaw was “incredibly tight.”
“I felt like I was marionette puppet with strings holding me from smiling.
“I was in a complete panic and every day I would look in the mirror to try different smiles but nothing looked convincing.
“I’m a bubbly and goofy person and I felt like I was giving Mona Lisa and it just wasn’t me.
“I began to dread the actual wedding day and I was never warned me that this could happen.
“I felt betrayed.”
Santos and her now-husband, Cooper, who is a chief technology officer, married on March 8, 2025 in Riviera Maya, Mexico.
She had spent $700,000 on the day — with majority forked out on accommodation costs for her family, costing over $100,000.
But said her “weak smile” became a constant “headache” throughout the day.
“Luckily, no one really said anything to me,” she said.
“I tried to make the best out of the day but inside it just swallowed me up.
“Having my friends and family there was amazing – they were the support I needed.”
Despite having a “blast”, Santos soon fell into tears when she received the wedding photos just eight weeks later.
Flicking through the pictures, she couldn’t help but notice her smile and said she “stuck out like a sore thumb.”
“All the details of the wedding were perfect,” she added.
“But it’s a shame that this one thing had to ruin it.
“Looking back, there was just a massive pit in my stomach and I looked like something out of Wallace and Gromit.
“I looked uninterested and bored even though I had a great time.”
Unhappy with the photos, Santos decided to re-take some of her wedding day pictures last month – almost a year later.
She managed to get her son, Henry’s, two, suit re-tailored for the occasion and managed to get her wedding bouquet recreated.
Although the re-shoot wasn’t at the same venue, Santos settled for a local wedding venue – and now feels like she can “finally move on from the past.”
“These photos won’t replace the ones from the actual day – but they are simply for me,” Santos said.
“I can now look back and know that I have some great photos of me in my dress that I am happy with – and with my son.”
She added: “I don’t want to say I’ll never take injectables again, even though I am now on a break from them.
“But I want to warn other people to make sure you seek informed consent and you know what you are doing to yourself.
“You may not always be warned about the effects but please ask questions.
“Your wedding day is not the place or time where you want to lose your smile!”
