Wedding Hair and Makeup | Tips for the Wedding Getting Ready Time

“The #1 thing that can sabotage a wedding day timeline is if hair and makeup is running behind…”

The #1 thing that can ruin a wedding day timeline is if hair & makeup is running behind schedule.  No, we are NOT pointing fingers because we LOVE our wedding hair and makeup artists. The simple fact is that if wedding hair & makeup is running late, everything else that follows in the wedding day timeline will be compromised.  Every wedding day vendor would agree, time is precious on the wedding day, so allocating extra time for potential hiccups is necessary.  Planning ahead and requesting to have things done well ahead of the deadline is always a good idea and you will never be sorry you buffered in that extra time!  This is why it is SO important for you to schedule plenty of time for your wedding hair and makeup team to do their job.  This is also why it’s so important for brides to get their hair & makeup done EARLY in the rotation. After all, the bride is the most important piece of the wedding day puzzle!

We understand that most brides haven’t been married before and have no idea what to expect. Most brides know that they just have to be ready before the ceremony, right? Well we wanted to share some tips for those brides looking for some advice on when the best time to get ready in the process. They’ve never done this before and they are looking to their professionals to help.  We do this every weekend, so we see how small things like this can make a big impact on the wedding day.  Here are my top reasons why we think that the bride should NEVER EVER EVER go last for wedding hair and makeup on the big day!

1. The bride is the most important person on the wedding day and we can’t do anything without her!  She needs to be with her groom for portrait time before anyone else arrives for photos. The brides doesn’t need to be the first in the chair, however if we suggest you are high on the list instead of last. If bridesmaid wedding hair and makeup runs late for example, it doesn’t matter because the bride is already done and out the door. The timeline stays intact – everyone is happy and stress-free!  Oh happy day!
2. If the bride goes last and hair and makeup is running late, the brides may not have time to make any changes to their wedding day hair and makeup look once it’s all finished.  They may feel pressured to choose between having their wedding hair and makeup perfected or being unhappy with how they look just to stay on schedule.  Brides should never have to make this choice! Planning for an amount of time for any adjustments to your hair and makeup is a great idea and will leave you feeling relaxed and refreshed on your wedding day!
3. Your wedding hair and makeup should be water-proof, sweat-proof, and able to last all day!  Being done earlier in the rotation won’t compromise the quality of your hair and makeup at all and your makeup artist should have plenty of tips & tricks for making it last all day! That is why hiring a professional wedding hair and makeup artist is so crucial to your day!
4. Anything we can do to keep everyone on schedule… better yet, AHEAD of schedule – with the wedding day timeline should be taken full advantage of! There are so many vendors involved in this day and if we get behind at the very beginning of the day, we’ll be trying to play catch up all day long, and that’s not fun for anyone!  This  simply creates unnecessary stress on the bride, groom, bridal party, families, photographer, and wedding planner.
5. Make sure you wedding hair and makeup artists knows what time your First Look is happening! Brides may think they only need to communicate what time the ceremony is, but that isn’t what time you need to be all finished! If you have a first look, we often ask our brides to be ready 4 hours before the ceremony! (Read our first look blog for more info on what we use the time after the first look for!)
6. When we arrive on-site on the wedding day, the bride should be finishing up their hair and getting ready to jump into the makeup chair – or vice versa.  At least one service (either hair or makeup) should be finishing up upon our arrival.  Just be sure that you are keeping an eye on the time and starting your wedding hair and makeup at least 2 hours before you need to be completely done and ready to get into your dress.
7. Whoever you want to help you into your wedding dress like your mom, MOH, sister, etc. -need to be picture-ready by the time noted on your timeline so that they can looking gorgeous in your getting ready photos as well! Imagine your MOH being in leggings and a tank top while she zips you into your gorgeous gown! The results may be okay, but now imagine that same bridesmaid, in her perfectly selected dress instead…that’s the image that will end up in your wedding album!

We hope that these tips & tricks don’t come off as ‘know it all’s’ or from a place of anything but helpfulness! We love helping out couples make their day feel like a steady flow of events instead of a rushed and stressful blob. We want our couples to look back and remember their time as being full of laughter and JOY! We aren’t here to turn your entire day into a photoshoot and control every aspect, but we ARE here to capture your day in the most beautiful and seamless way possible — this is how we have seen the magic happen. By making sure that you are not the last ones on the list to have your wedding hair and makeup done, you are going to experience a sense of relief knowing you are looking your absolute best!  😉