Your wedding is a one-time event (hopefully) and you obviously want to look your best for it. You have your perfect wedding dress, you have your shoes and you’ve likely been dieting and exercising since the day you got engaged. But what about your hair and makeup? These are two aspects of the wedding day look that often get pushed aside until the last minute. Trust me, though — you don’t want to wait on that decision. Here are five tips on how to be as prepared for your wedding-day makeup as you are for every other aspect of the wedding.
1) Choose an artist. Who is going to do your makeup? While you may already have a hairstylist you love and are loyal to, making that decision a no-brainer, it’s less common to already have a go-to makeup artist. Many brides find themselves in a position of not having any idea where to start. You can ask your friends via social media or check sites like Mary Kay to find consultants in your area. You may even choose to do your makeup yourself, especially if you have a lot of experience with it.
2) Make an agreement. Especially if you’re going to hire someone to do your makeup, make sure you’ve contracted with her way in advance. You need to know for sure that she will be available on your day at the exact time you need her and at the location you want. You may also want to keep her onsite during the wedding and have her available for touchups in between the ceremony and reception or even throughout the reception. This will all need to be specified in your agreement.
3) Choose a look. Flip through bridal magazines like Brides for beauty inspiration because every single picture with a human face in it, whether they’re advertising dresses or flowers or whatever, can be used as your working photo. Pinterest also has lots of great ideas. You’ll want to look natural but still special. Some suggest having one focal point with your makeup — either a strong lip or a strong eye, but not both, for instance. (Keep in mind that you’ll probably be kissing your new spouse more on that day than you ever will again in your life, so dark lipstick may not be a great choice.)
4) Practice. The perfect time to do a practice run is before your engagement photos. Schedule the session early so you have plenty of time to fix anything that doesn’t work, and take that time to be grateful that you won’t have to do this on the wedding day because you’re getting it out of the way now! Even if there are aspects you want to do slightly differently — like bolder colors in your engagement pictures — it’s still good to have a practice run in order to get to know your makeup artist, especially if you didn’t already know her.
5) Buy some products in advance. This can come in handy in two ways. First of all, if there are certain products you absolutely love and want your artist to use on you instead of what she normally uses — like a mascara that makes your eyelashes look amazing — go ahead and have that in advance. Secondly, it can be really helpful to have touch-up heavy items with you throughout the day if your makeup artist isn’t sticking around. Specifically, your lipstick or lip gloss. Try online makeup stores like DermStore or Sephora to get the best bang for your buck while you prepare.
By Rachel Conway