I got my first tattoo on my lower back when I was 18. At the time I just wanted one because my friends had them and they were cool but I did make sure I really liked it and that it stood for something. I decided to get it to mark being on my own for the first time in my life, I had made it through a year of college, living in a new city, paying rent and bills, and surviving on my own! The tattoo is a tribal butterfly on my lower back. The butterfly for me symbolizes being free
I still like it, 8 years later.
Fast forward about 5 years, I had switched my studies in school, switched schools, switched cities, got in relationships, followed the men in my life wherever they wanted me, had bad breakups, and decided I really need to focus on myself. I started doodling one night and came up with my next tattoo... the Northern lights and stars. Growing up in my hometown we saw the lights all the time and my best memories are sitting outside with my friends, watching them and talking for hours. We would also look for constellations in the sky. My birthday is 6/6 (I was also born in '84... the average of 8 and 4 is 6 but that's kind of stretching it lol!) and 6 has just always been my lucky number. So in the tattoo I have 6 "waves" of the northern lights, 6 big stars, and 6 little stars. Oh, and that's on my upper thigh. It's a little bigger and goes from behind my hip and waves down to the front of my leg, about 1/3 of the way down my thigh. You can't see it unless I'm wearing a bathing suit or short shorts!
I agree about tattoos with fancy dresses. I wanted mine hidden and if I get any more they will be hidden. I like my style to be classic and I think really visible tattoos take away from that. A good friend of mine got a maple leaf tattoo on her shoulder blade when she was 16 because she could! When she got married, she was wearing a beautiful strapless gown, and that little tattoo stuck out like a sore thumb.