Today’s blog is all about some stress free tips I’ve discovered over my 200+ weddings photographed, that will help you stay on time on your wedding day, without being stressed for time!
Hair and Makeup
My first stress free tip is during hair and makeup preparation. I hear brides all the time say things like:
- Hair and makeup only say they need 30 minutes per person
- HMU artists suggest the bride goes last so that she can “stay fresh”
To be stress free, add more time than they tell you you need for hair and makeup. If hair and makeup goes long, they aren’t going to hurry, and they aren’t going to stop, and frankly they shouldn’t. But you still need to be at your ceremony or first look when you need to be there. The only thing you will lose time for is pictures. So. How do you stop this from happening. I always suggest to my brides to give yourself an extra hour. So, if you want to be completely done with hair and makeup by noon, tell your stylists that you want to be done by 11. Why? When they go over, you have extra time, so there is no stress. If they don’t go over? You get extra time to hang out with your friends and just enjoy the day. Win. Win.
Why shouldn’t the bride go last? Well, that’s easy! Once photo arrives, usually the first half hour/ forty minutes is taken up with getting all your detail photos; Your dress, jewelry, rings, bridesmaids dresses, invitations, etc. Once that is done, we go straight into adding the bride to those photos, getting the photo of you with your girls before the ceremony in your special pajamas or robes, and then right into the bride getting dressed.
If the hair and makeup is behind, and the bride is in the chair, once all those details are done, photo has nothing to do but wait. We will wait, we are happy to do so.. but again, time for photos just got much smaller.
The whole point of this isn’t to say every single hair and makeup artist run behind. They do not. But hair and makeup often runs behind, and if you give yourself some cushion you will not ever regret it.
Consider a First Look
If you read my blog, you know I’m a huge proponent of a first look. In the context of a stress free day, there are a couple reasons a first look will benefit you.
- A first look is always before your ceremony, right? So you set aside a couple of hours of your day just for photos. No one is waiting for you. Your guests aren’t getting antsy for dinner, and you can set aside the time you need to get the photos you love.
- Then! After your ceremony, you are not rushing around. You get your family formals done, and then head straight to cocktail hour to enjoy your party and your guests.
- And worst case scenario – if you do get behind earlier, you have about a half hour after your ceremony to catch up on photos.
- Doesn’t that sound totally stress free?
Pack a Wedding Day Bag for a hassle free wedding day
One of the best things you can do to create a stress free day is pack a bag of essential. Here is a list I’ve created. Does everyone need every one of these things? No. But having them ready just in case can change your whole day!
One Last Thing to Remember for a Stress Free Day…
There are many, many moving parts, moving people and lots of big and small details to build a perfect stress free wedding day. If something doesn’t go perfectly, don’t sweat it. The important thing is you are marrying your love, you best friend, the person that completes you. That is what is important. Everything else, and I mean everything, is just the cherry on top. Smile, nod and move on. No one else even knows that something didn’t go the exact way you wanted. They will think things are perfect just like they are.
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