How to look good getting ready
Everyone wants that classic view of them stepping into their wedding dress with their mom helping or of a best man helping you get your tie just right. But, I can’t even begin to count how many times I’ve had to make some major adjustments to make sure that moment is remembered how you want. So, here are a few tips on how to make sure you look good while getting ready.
Clean up your S***
OK. The first tip is to clean up. When I get to a hotel, my bag explodes too. I totally understand, but you gotta keep that stuff together.
But here is the thing, you don’t need to keep the whole room in perfect order. As your photographer, I don’t really care what his happening in the dark corners of the room or usually the bathroom. Look at a hotel room and think about where is the most natural light, that’s where I want to take photos. In most hotels, that means we’re going to take most of the photos near the window.
See that photo above? That is a perfect example of the area I want to photograph in. We want that natural backlighting from outside, so just keep the end of the room between the bed and the window spotless. You got this.
Don’t do your makeup under the ugly lamp
One of the hardest things in wedding photography is when yellow inside light mixes with blue outdoor light (especially during winter when the outdoor light is weaker). When you’re getting set up, it’s natural to set up near the mirror. But, so often mirrors in hotel rooms are in ugly parts of the room. Remember the first tip? Are you getting your blush applied in the part of the room with everyone’s duffel bag?
That doesn’t mean that I’m saying you shouldn’t use lights when putting on makeup. Use whatever lights you need, but if you’re close to good light (aka the window) when it’s being applied, it’s super easy to quickly turn off the overhead lights and then have a
You don’t need photos until the end
I hope that your day starts early with mimosas or golf. You should definitely be in some comfortable sweats as long as possible. You probably don’t need your photographer to be there until you’re a little more put together. If you have unlimited hours, then by all means, go for it. But, your photographer is going to be able to show the getting ready photos without arriving at 6 am. That way, you can make sure they’re around to document all the moments in the day you’re excited about.
Bring your good hanger
I saw a really good post on Instagram a few weeks back (but can’t find it right now…) about waste at weddings. I 100% agree that there is a lot of waste in this industry and a lot of extra “things” that are bought, lost, used, or whatever that no one would have cared about if they didn’t exist in the first place. Honestly, would your friends rather have sunglasses that say “TEAM BRIDE” or a nice note that says how much they mean to you? Would your groomsmen rather have another personalized flask or a gift certificate to their favorite bar back home?
That all is probably another conversation for another day, but the one I do want to talk about is the hanger for dresses. I am in no way advocating that you spend extra money getting a special hanger, but just make sure that your dress is hanging on a good hanger when you head to the wedding. I try to bring a nice wood one with me, but if you have a good one yourself, that always looks better than the plastic junk that usually comes with wedding and bridesmaids dresses.
