A little effort goes a long way when it comes to prepping for those fun and memorable getting ready photos on your wedding day. I’m sharing a few tips to take the guess work out of planning out the “getting ready” part of your morning.
Choose Your Venue Wisely
When you’re touring venues, you want to make sure the one you go with has all the amenities you’ll need on your wedding day. It’s great to know the alcohol rules, vendor suggestions, or how many outlets are in the bridal suite. You also want to make sure you take a look in the bridal suite and visualize how it would stack up to you and your bridal party, hair & makeup, moms, other attendants, etc. Is there a space where you can stash all your bags so you can create a clean corner that can easily be used for photos? Are there any windows that let in natural light? Read more on what to look for when selecting your wedding venue.
Clean Clear & Under Control
No, this has nothing to do with your skincare routine but it’s all to do with preparation. I often tell my couples that for the most part what you see is what you get. It’s best to tidy up the bridal suite as you go so that when it’s time to take your getting ready photos you won’t have a whole mess in the background of all of them.
Some things make sense, like makeup, champagne bottles and half drunken mimosas. But you definitely want to have a “controlled” space that has minimal going on in the background because you are the main focus. You don’t want to regret not moving that massive blue overnight bag. In order to avoid seeing those eye sores later on, keep clean on your mind while you’re getting ready. This would be perfect to assign to your maid of honor so that you won’t even have to worry about it.
Timelines Are Everything!
Your timeline is going to be one of the most important things you won’t want to skip creating for your wedding day. Not only do you need a schedule that your vendors will stick to but you need to know when everything is set to happen. If you can’t clean the bridal suite immediately due to it’s size or other variables, at least you can take some time out to clean up before important getting ready photos happen.
Your timeline is going to allow you all the time you need for a quick clean up as long as you’re intentional when making it. Grab a pen and piece of paper and start writing out your day’s schedule, making sure to give enough down time between specific moments to tidy the suite for your getting ready photos. Ex: If makeup and hair are expected to finish at 2pm don’t take your getting ready photos until 2:30pm.
Schedule Makeup & Hair Early
The time your makeup and hair is scheduled to start and finish, sets the stage for the remainder of your day. The amount of time it takes directly affects how much time you’ll have to clean up the bridal suite before you have to get fully dressed. This means you have to think ahead and make sure your HMUA team have enough of a head start and complete all of your services with enough time so that you don’t feel rushed when you’re with your photographer.
According to the number of services needed, your hair/makeup artist can give you an accurate estimate of how much time it should take to complete. Us this to build into your timeline if you’re creating it yourself or of course if you’ve hired a coordinator, one will be provided for you.
Now that you’re a little more prepared for the getting ready portion of your day click here to learn more about why couples do a first look on their wedding day.
