THE IDEAL WEDDING SERIES: GETTING READY | WEDDING PLANNING TIPS

Believe it or not, getting ready on your wedding day requires some planning ahead, too. This timeframe includes getting your wedding day hair and make-up done, the bride getting in her dress, bridesmaids first look, groom getting dressed and more!

I’ll break down what each part looks like and how you can make choices ahead of time to create the Ideal Wedding Day!

Start Your Day Off with Plenty of Time

The last thing you want is to start your wedding day off being late because of hair and makeup. Most professional wedding hair and makeup artists know the proper amount of time it takes to complete the number of people you’ve requested, so be sure to chat with them ahead of time!

Every MH bride receives a sample timeline several months out to help give hair and makeup an idea of when to be finished in order to stay on time. Be sure to talk with your photographer and planner about this!

Order of Events

Once hair and makeup are complete, the next step is for Mom and Bridesmaids to get dressed so that they will be dressed in the photos of you putting your dress on! When it’s time to get into the dress, remember to use the restroom first (practical, but important), and put on your garter(s) – biggest one goes up top and the throw one goes on bottom.

Next you’ll put on your dress, shoes, jewelry and veil in that order!

I typically choose a location for these photos based on best light! If there’s not a great well-lit location that’s hidden, I would stage some of these photos after the dress is on to get great light!

Note: I always include at least 30 minute for getting in the dress! You would be surprised how long it can take – be sure to give plenty of time!

Including Your Girls

While some brides adore the bridesmaid first look, it’s not for everyone. Truthfully, I think the photos are fun but it does add an extra 10-15 minutes to coordinate, so it’s certainly not necessary if you don’t have a preference.

The getting ready photo I would deem necessary is with all your bridesmaids surrounding you and helping you “get ready”. I typically stage this one and loveee them! (view the post image for an example)

Groom Getting Ready

The Groom’s portion is a bit simpler. In order to give the guys plenty of hang time on the wedding day, most of the getting ready photos are staged right before the first look. The groom and his best man will step out and I’ll walk them through a few things for getting ready!

Windows

Last point in this section, the more windows the better these images will be! Keep this in mind when choosing your getting ready location. White walls and windows are best for photos!

More like this:

The Ideal Wedding: Introduction

The Ideal Wedding: Bride & Groom Details