Yay! It's almost your wedding day. You've spent months, maybe even years preparing for this most momentous day! You've got your perfume bottle, shoes, jewelry, and one million other things that you will need to bring with you on your big day. You've had your hair and makeup trial, so you know you're going to look and feel incredible! But, what about your bridal party? How can they prepare for the wedding day and ensure they will look and feel like their best selves, too? Don't worry, we've got you covered! We have compiled some of our best tips to help prepare you and your bridal party for a stress-free getting-ready experience!
Inspiration photos
Sometimes, we see brides select specific hair and makeup looks for their bridal parties. Other times, brides will tell us, "Just do whatever they want!" (and we are totally okay with that!) If you are not selecting particular hair and makeup looks for your party, we recommend you ask them to do some research prior to your wedding day! When bridesmaids have properly researched their desired hair and makeup looks, the morning of your wedding will flow much smoother and allow everyone to stay perfectly on time. Once our artists begin services, they will consult with each member that they work with and talk through their chosen inspiration photos to ensure a perfect and personalized look!
When researching for inspiration photos, it is helpful to use keywords that reflect similar features of the party member doing the research! For example, if your bridesmaid is a brunette with short hair and wants to rock an updo, ask her to research, "brunette short hair updo," on Pinterest! This specific inquiry will provide the most realistic results for your party member. The same goes for makeup inspiration photos. If your party member is a red head and has a lot of freckles, ask her to include those keywords when she is doing her research!
Lastly, we recommend reviewing all of your bridesmaids’ chosen hair and makeup inspirations; this way, there won't be any surprises on your wedding day! While we want to make sure every party member receiving services loves their look, we also want our brides to be 100% on board with everyone's chosen styles.
Make sure everyone is fully informed
This is absolutely crucial in order to achieve a successful and stress-free wedding day! Sharing your day-of timeline with your bridal party is an absolute must. Your bridal party wants to do everything they can to “pamper” you and help prepare you for the day ahead; by preparing your party with all the details, they will be best prepared to take care of you. As far as hair and makeup timelines go, we recommend planning out the hair and makeup schedule chronologically, as opposed to assigning time slots for services! For example, if your bridesmaid, Rachel, has short fine hair and wants it curled, that service might take less time than your other bridesmaid, Phoebe, who has long thick hair and wants it curled. The same goes for makeup! For example, a flower girl’s "makeup" application will take a lot less time than a bridesmaid looking for a full glam look.
Additionally, we recommend sharing all of your vendor contacts with your Maid of Honor (or another trusted party member) and have her handle any communication on the wedding day. This way you can sit back, sip on a mimosa, and enjoy your morning with your besties! Make sure your MOH is fully aware of your photographer’s arrival time, flower delivery time, lunch delivery time, etc. so that she can ensure your group is staying on track.
Lastly, remind everyone to bring touch up products with them! We typically recommend party members bring a lipgloss, lipstick, or even chapstick to touch up with throughout the night. Lip color tends to shift after a long day of kissing, eating, and drinking. If any party members’ skin tends to get oily after a few hours, we recommend they bring blotting wipes to soak up any oil that may appear! If you have not decided on a day-of gift for your party members, consider gifting them a touch-up goody bag with lipgloss and blotting wipes for your wedding day!
Delegate tasks
Not only will delegating tasks to your bridal party help ease your mind on the morning of your wedding, but it will also allow for the timeline of the day to flow with ease. We've gotten countless bridal parties ready, and one thing we've learned over the years is that no one ever wants to go first for hair and makeup! No matter what time we start a service, we can tell you that their hair and/or makeup will stay flawless until everyone makes their grande exit after your reception. We recommend assigning two bridesmaids to go first for services while the rest of your party focuses on other tasks for the bride! Delegate tasks such as picking up breakfast, picking up coffee, chilling the champagne, steaming dresses, collecting items for detail shots, or applying under-eye patches for everyone.
Which Updos For I Dos Artists will be with us on the wedding day?
Now that you've had your hair and makeup trial and have chosen your wedding hair and makeup artists, it's helpful to let your bridal party know who they will be working with! You can ease their minds (and yours) by tagging your bride tribe in posts that feature your makeup artist’s and hairstylist's work on our Instagram or sending out our website and portfolio! This will give them an idea of who they’ll be entrusting their glam to and make them more comfortable and even more excited for your wedding!
How do I prepare my party for wedding day?
The key ingredient to a perfect wedding day is making sure your bridal party is fully informed of your day-of timeline and your expectations. Delegating tasks is so crucial; you've spent all of your time planning for this, and on the morning of your wedding day, you should be able to finally relax and enjoy as your wedding day unfolds before your eyes. Our Updos For I Dos artists will arrive fully prepared to glam and hype up you and your party members! Remember, your bride tribe's (and our) sole focus is you! Let everyone take care of you and enjoy being pampered!
