Five tips to help you prepare for your bridal preparations on your wedding morning
No.1 – Labels
On your wedding morning whilst you start getting, I will be photographing all the dresses, shoes, your perfume, if you have the something old, blue, borrowed and blue etc.
One thing I recommend doing, a day or two beforehand, is making sure all the labels are cut off everything new, and stickers removed from shoes. This saves so much time on your wedding morning, especially with the label on your veil if you’re wearing one – they are usually attached with a type of thin rope so can be a pain (especially if you’ve don’t know where your scissors are!)
No.2 – Hair and Make up
No doubt you and your girls will be up at the crack of dawn getting your hair and makeup done. One thing I would recommend is that you don’t get yours done last. Good make artists are so skilled in applying beautiful makeup that will last all day & well into the night. By not going last, it means that, even if things are running a bit later than planned, I can still get those beautiful bridal photographs before I leave to photograph your groom and his grooms party at the ceremony venue.
One of my favourite moments to capture is the moment the person who will be giving you away sees you for the first time in your dress, whether thats your dad, your stepdad, your mum, a grandparent, sibling etc. It’s such a special moment to capture and would be a shame to miss out on this because timings are running over & your hair or makeup isn’t finished yet because all your bridesmaids had theirs done first.
No.3 – Hangers
The best way to show off your beautiful dress is to get a nice wooden hanger.
Lots of small businesses are now making wooden hangers with your name and date on them. This would also be a lovely keepsake for your bridesmaids too. But you don’t have to spend a lot of money on hangers, especially if you have a large bridal party. Plain wooden hangers are fine too… just make sure they have the little notches to hold the ribbon hanging loops on the dresses (this takes the pressure of the shoulder area of dresses (especially your wedding dress which is usually quite heavy).
Another idea is to have little tags made for your hangers that each of your bridal party can keep as a souvenir afterwards.
No.4 – Everything in the one place
To save you or a bridesmaid from running around getting all the bits and bobs sorted on your wedding morning, it’s a great idea to have everything sitting altogether in the same room.
I will have sent you a list of things to prepare before the big day. If everything is sitting altogether I can just work away without having to bother anyone, allowing you and your bridal party to relax & enjoy getting pampered. Alternatively, all your smaller items can be placed inside your shoe box so all kept together.
No.5 – Crochet hook for buttons, extra time for laces and buttons on dress.
If your dress has buttons or is a lace-up corset type dress make sure to leave plenty of time to get those done up. Even better if you can have a crochet hook as this makes the buttons so much easier to fasten (dont forget to put one in your overnight case for the hotel to make it easier to unfasten all those beautiful little buttons).
With you in your dress this leaves me time to get photographs of you in your dress before I leave for your ceremony.
As part of your pre-wedding consultation I run through timings and let you know what kind of time I need you in your dress to allow me 10 or 15mins of photography time – I’ll keep a wee eye on the time throughout your wedding day to make sure we keep on track as much as possible..
Ps. Don’t forget to have good breakfast before your ceremony and even bring a wee packed lunch if you have a bit of a drive to your reception. It’s amazing how quickly your blood sugars can drop if you haven eaten that morning.
A lot of brides are anxious about drinking too much water as they will be running to the loo all day but its important, especially during the warmer summer weather, to keep yourself well hydrated.