How to get the best getting ready morning prep pictures on your wedding day
If you want to know how to get the best morning prep pictures and have a fun and relaxed morning getting ready with your favourite people, keep reading. I’ve been to lots of weddings and spent the morning with so many couples getting ready, so I’ve seen a lot and learnt a lot of tips and tricks along the way to find the best ways to get the best getting ready pictures the morning of your wedding.
1. No clutter
The last thing you want in your wedding pictures is clutter or messy backgrounds. I don’t mean that there can’t be anything in the space or things in the background, but more along the lines of making sure that there’s no random things around. Shopping bags, laundry, empty plates and glasses aren’t the vibe you’re looking for, especially in the room you’re having your hair or makeup done and putting your clothes on. Even if you have to move all the clutter or mess out of the way just for the day, it’ll make a huge difference if you do a quick look around a few days beforehand and move anything you wouldn’t want in the background. Also, if you’re getting ready with friends or family, it can be a good idea to ask one of them to make sure there’s no mess or empty plates hanging around.
2. Have everything out ready
Make sure that all of your important items and details are all together in one place in the morning. This can include your wedding outfit, any jewellery you’re wearing, perfume, accessories, rings, wedding invitations or anything else that means something to you. You can also choose to include ribbons, photos or any other decorations you like. You can store them in a box, on your bed or just on the floor in a spare room, but as long as they’re all together. This makes getting photos of your details and outfit in the morning so much easier and pretty much guarantees all of your personal touches of the morning are photographed together.
3. Window light only
All too often, I’ll arrive at prep in the morning and find that the makeup artist has decided to set up in a dark corner and use a ring light to get the person ready for their wedding. The biggest rule is that natural window light is the best light, not only for your wedding photos but for making sure your makeup looks best in real life with real lighting, just as it will during the day. If you can, try and make sure that you ask your makeup artist knows you want to get ready by window light during your trial, pre-wedding meeting and on the morning of your wedding. When they’ve set up, they won’t be able to easily change their location, so making sure they set up in the right place from the start, is really important.
4. Start early
If you’re having your hair or makeup done, try and make sure you factor in as much time as possible to get everything done how you want it. If your makeup artist has multiple people to get through, you need to leave time for it while also making sure it doesn’t take up the whole morning and you have enough time to enjoy yourself too. Aim to have your hair and makeup finished at least an hour before you leave as you’ll need to leave time to get dressed and enjoy the remainder of the morning.
5. Get dressed sooner than you think
I always suggest aiming to finish getting dressed at least 30 minutes before you plan to leave for the ceremony. This allows time for any outfit complications, any pictures you’d like of someone helping you get ready and some solo, time to have a drink, any last minute touch ups as well as being able to relax before setting off and letting it all sink in. Getting ready too late or leaving it too late can result in stress and possibly being late for the ceremony. Instead, opt to get ready earlier and enjoy the process, resulting in happy pictures and happy moments.
6. Have a good nights sleep
Sounds silly or obvious, I know, but ensuring you have an early and restful nights sleep means you’ll look fresh and glowy in the morning and for the rest of the day. An early night also means you’ll have lots of energy for the rest of the day and won’t be feeling tired halfway through the day. Your makeup artist will also thank you for it.
7. Say no to underwear
I know this one sounds weird, but trust me. You want to avoid any underwear that’ll leave any marks on your skin or any underwear with tight bands. Avoid wearing a bra overnight and in the morning during prep and also avoid any tight underwear bottoms too. If you’d prefer to wear something, opt for a bralette or seamless underwear that won’t leave unflattering red marks on your skin which might be visible for the rest of the day.
8. Not too may people
In the morning, don’t feel like you need to have everyone there with you from the beginning. Although it can be nice to be surrounded by your besties and family, make sure to consider the vibe you want for the morning and all the different personalities you’d be inviting. It’s important to remember that the morning is meant to be a fun and relaxing start to the day and not a stressful or chaotic environment. Choose the people you spend the morning with wisely. You can have everyone important there, certain people or no one at all. Just include people that will hype you up in the morning and make it enjoyable.
9. Close to the venue or all in one place
Lastly, make sure your morning prep location is either really close to your venue, or even better, at, or part of, your venue. Too many times I’ve seen couples choose to get ready far away from their venue any are either really late, stuck in traffic or have to set off really early and end up wasting time. My favourite weddings are ones where everything is all in once place; getting ready, the ceremony and the party. Not only will your guests love that everything is at one venue, it makes getting around a lot easier for your photographer, means you’ll have lots of time in the morning and your morning will be stress free and easy.
10. Bonus tip!
Have fun. Honestly, just don’t worry about any of the small thins or things that could go wrong. Things might go wrong and get stressful, but put it all out of your mind. To get the best wedding prep pictures, you should be enjoying yourself and making the most of every moment. Do the thing and don’t worry about how you look. Pop the champagne, take the pictures, enjoy the morning because before you know it, the day will be going by so fast and you’ll be talking about how long ago morning prep feels like.
Awesome wedding suppliers…
Photography: Kirstie Garlick Photography
Makeup artists: Gemma Marie Makeup, Bow and Blush, Amy George, –
Hair:
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