A few months ago, I did a post on why you want getting ready pictures. Today I am doing to touch on how the getting ready portion of the day will set the tone for the rest of the day. With nine years of experience in the wedding industry and over 100 weddings under my belt, I have seen every kind of timeline out there. And if there is ever a timeline that runs behind, 99% of the time it’s because the ladies aren’t ready. Even if you’ve never been in a wedding, you know how much time it takes in getting hair and makeup done just to go out for the evening, so hair and makeup for a wedding takes even longer. And multiply that by the amount of bridesmaids in the wedding! It can take HOURS to get ready for a wedding!
Having the ladies ready on time can really set the tone for the rest of the day. If they aren’t ready, then it pushes everything back. I work extra time into the timeline to make sure we don’t miss pictures because of late ladies, but it’s even better when we don’t have to worry about that.
Below are a set of tips for the day on how to be on time and also to help for good getting ready pictures:
1) always allow more time than you think you will need for hair and makeup: It takes a long time to get hair and makeup done for 4, 5, sometimes 10 ladies! Have a realistic conversation with your hairstylist and figure out how long it will take for everyone to be ready on time and add some extra time to that!
2) hire an experienced makeup artist: Hire someone with experience and who knows realistically how to do hair for a large group of ladies. Make sure they will bring more than themselves to the day, especially if you have a larger group of ladies. A slow hairstylist and makeup artist can make the ladies run behind and can really hurt the mood and timeline of the day.
3) consider a First Look: There are tons of awesome reasons to do a First Look; but in relation to the bridesmaids, with a First Look, you have to be ready an hour before the ladies do. This will give them extra time to finish up any last minute makeup, hair, or even help get other parts of the day ready before they have to take their pictures with you an hour later.
4) matching outfits: Pictures look great if there is cohesion. This is why similar colored/style bridesmaid dresses look so good in pictures. The same goes for getting ready. If your bridesmaids have matching shirts, robes, or dresses to get ready in, it makes the pictures look a lot more put together.
5) getting the bride dressed: When you’re getting dressed into your dress, it looks nice if the bridesmaids can be in their dresses, even if they aren’t completely ready at that point. If not, a nice matching robe often does the trick. It’s more important to keep to the timeline than have a bridesmaid working on her hair just to be in the getting ready pictures looking completely finished.
6) clean up clutter: with so many ladies in one (often small) space, it can get messy very quickly! For great getting ready shots, have the ladies pick up as they go. You’ll have better shots without all of the stuff strewn everywhere. Plus, it will help with the timeline in having the space cleaned up!
Brides, share this post with your girls because I’m also talking to them! If you are a bridesmaid in a wedding sometime soon (like I am!) I hope that these tips have helped you. Enjoy the day and smile!
these are fantastic tips for planning your wedding morning!
I love that you have this info, I wish I’d had it when I got married!
Thanks! I hope it helps my girls!