All About Bridal Prep
Your bridal prep is just as important as any other part of your wedding day, (hence why photographers come along to this part). It's time spent with your closest friends and family, sharing the excitement and nerves of getting ready for one of the biggest days of your life! (No pressure...) It's a bit of time to be pampered before the day starts to unfold. Time to chat, laugh, drink champagne (in the morning!) and eat a BIG breakfast (it'll be a while until your wedding breakfast!). You will have the support from those closest to you, to get you through the nerves.
Some top tips!
Give yourselves plenty of time
If you're having professional hair and make-up for your bridal party, it's recommended that you'll need about an hour for each person. If you're having a large bridal party, then having more than one hairdresser/make-up artist would be a good idea! Make sure you have plenty of extra time on top of the time scheduled for hair and make-up, so nothing will be rushed and you'll have plenty of time to have any photos taken, time to travel to your ceremony and time to get into your dress. They can take a little while sometimes, especially if they are laced at the back. (By the way I always carry a crochet hook with me, to help with this!)
Make sure to eat and drink
This is really important as it can be hours and hours until you get to eat again. Ask someone in your bridal party to organise a big breakfast for everyone, some cafes might deliver or someone could be designated bacon roll maker! Don't forget about any suppliers coming to bridal prep too, were all human and also have a long day ahead of us. A bit of grub would be very much appreciated! Thanks in advance 😉
The little details
Make sure all of your little details are in one place, the night before. Such as your dress, jewellery, shoes, perfume etc. It will be quicker for you to find without the stress of trying to get everything together on the morning, plus it's much easier for photographers like myself to find and photograph before you put them on. It's important to have them in your photos, you worked hard on picking everything out! Also if there is anything special to you, perhaps a certain lipstick or wedding gift from someone then that can also be included in your photos.
Matching clothes
You may have seen a lot of stuff about brides having matching pyjamas/robes for their bridal party to get ready in and have liked the idea. It does look lovely in the photos, but if you're hoping to save some money there is an alternative. You could ask everyone to wear the same colour. When I got married, I asked everyone to wear a blue shirt. It meant that no one had to buy anything and it was part of our colour scheme. I found a shirt of my husband's to wear, which made it feel like a part of him was with me on the morning.
What to wear
Going back to that last point, wearing a shirt is a great idea for another reason. When it comes to getting changed, you will want to avoid messing up your beautiful hair and make-up. Wearing something buttoned or something with a lot of neck room will help to avoid this.
Groom prep
Decide whether you would like your groom's prep to be caught on camera. If you're both getting ready in the same place, such as a hotel, your photographer can easily pop over to capture the groom prep. If this isn't the case, a second shooter could be booked. All the same tips still apply to the gents, just maybe not the matching prep clothes though?
Relax!
Don't forget to relax, take it all in and enjoy this exciting time. Don't fret or worry over anything, just let your bridesmaids sort anything out (that's what they're there for!). If you're worried about remembering everything, write it all down in a schedule. Such as when you need to start getting ready or when the photographer, the flowers or the cars are due to arrive. Anything you can think of, write it down!! Trust me it does help.
