Nobody wants to be that bride that is late for her own wedding, leaving her guests and groom wondering where she is. However getting behind schedule is easier than one may think. There are so many little details that need to be taken into consideration that often times are overlooked. We reached out to New England hair stylist Lena with Hair That Moves to discuss her experiences, and share some advice with our readers, so that brides can learn how to accurately plan their beauty schedule! {BH}
Enjoying your wedding day is something that every bride hopes for. Having a schedule to follow will help make that happen. A bride’s morning usually includes a little exercise or breakfast and then, the beauty starts.
When planning out your wedding day, you want to take into consideration the ample amount of time to get everyone ready. The smallest of details need to be taken into consideration when making the beauty schedule. I always allow 30 minutes for each person on the schedule, with an hour for the bride, after all she is the most important person of the day!
PHOTOS
Usually as soon as the bride sits down to start her beauty the photographer starts capturing photos! Photography is expensive and very important to couples. If hair and makeup are not done in time, they risk losing time for photos. Trends that we are seeing now include the “first look” for the bride and groom. This includes a session of the bride and groom seeing each other for the first time and getting some great photos together. This is great for hair and makeup as well as it is just minutes from being done and looks the freshest. All of these plans are important to think of when planning out your wedding day.
Think of location
Some of these people may be traveling from another location, which takes time, traffic, parking etc. Also photographs for people may be earlier than others, for instance, most often the grooms mom, grandmother and sisters would need to be done on the early side of the day for them to get back and changed to be photographed with the groom.
Non bridal party!
There are often people interested in having hair services who are not part of the bridal party. For photo purposes, I recommend having these people go first in the line up, as they are not essential to all of your photos.
Bridal party!
The bridal party, would follow up the others in 30 minute increments. It is important for them to have an idea of how they would like to wear their hair as 30 minutes goes quick. I would recommend talking to your girls about your vision and offer ideas or look at photos with them. I do have some brides that choose hairstyles for each bridesmaid, leaving no room for question!
Maid of Honor
As we continue through the day, the maid of honor will be done right before the bride. This is so she is complete before the bride and can focus on the bride’s needs. I know it sounds silly, but a bride will be sitting getting beautiful for about 2 hours and will need assistance.
The Bride
I recommend that the bride is never last but near the end of the line up. This way you can avoid feeling rushed. Remember you have already had a design appointment with your hair designer and makeup artist so there should be little question, and timing should be within the hour allotted. This gives you time to pee and finish up anything you may need to do before getting your dress on. Most important, if there is a malfunction with your hair, it will happen in the first 30 minutes or so and I can be there to fix a loose pin or curl. After your dress goes on, the veil would be placed and you would be complete.
Makeup
Most people are having makeup done in reverse of hair, so before or after hair makeup is happening. Again, not at the very end for the same reason. I would recommend putting one brides maid at the end. If you are unsure who to hire, ask your hair designer who she likes to work with and vise versa for hair. If you are hiring someone that offers both services, make sure they are able to keep on schedule. Of course touch ups for everyone would follow up the end of the schedule, for any loose pieces of hair or an extra pin they may be needed, lips and powder too!
Sometimes there is extra room built in at the end of the day for “in case time”, however I like for everyone to be punctual and ready for their appointment times.
Things to think about:
* location for the day, roomy enough for all of these people
* have food brought in for everyone getting ready so no one has to leave and risk missing appointment times
* make sure those who are not staying with you know how important it is to be on time
* hire hair and makeup people that have done weddings before and are on time and understand your photography schedule
if you are unsure, ask your photographer who they recommend, it is almost always people that are on time and do good work
* make sure everyone involved knows about the schedule and their appointment times
* please let your bridal party know that weather may effect their hair and they should be flexible. If it is raining, hair cannot be done multiple times, it needs to last
* make sure to get all of your “details”( rings, purse, shoes, hanky, gift) out in advance for the photographer. They usually arrive in the middle of hair and makeup. If you are helping them find your details, your timing will be off!
* your wedding party needs to be dressed before the bride so that they all look pretty in photos, take into consideration first look, not everyone needs to be done for that
Wow, that was a lot of information! Please take time to think about all of this before hiring your wedding vendors for your big day. Being on time is important!
