Heyyoooo — sooo as you might guess…i’ve been to just a few weddings in my day. Shooting, attending, bridal party-ing, and I’ve seen some perfect, fun, and memorable wedding mornings…. but I’ve also seen a lot of hectic, stressful, nervous, and plain not fun wedding mornings. Here are some tips and tricks that you can do ahead of time to make sure you have the very best time getting ready with your gals and getting in the mooOOoooOOd to see your hot hunk of a groom!

 

 

1. Have a jammin’ playlist to get ready to!

There’s nothing like music to set the mood! Get your girls/guys pumped up for you! No one wants a slouchy wedding party!! I promise you’ll all have way more fun and the nerves will subside. If you’ve got some high school friends or girls from earlier on in life – add in some throwbacks to really bring some nostalgia 😉 ‘Sexy Can I’ anyone?!?!…..anyone…?? Ha!! Don’t forget the speaker!

2. Make sure you have a steamer for your dresses (especially bridesmaids!!)

ARG…. this one is tricky…. Yes we LOVE our galz, but let’s be real…. More often than not, they pull their dress they bought 6 months ago out of their closet, shove in their car and roll up to your big day with a crinkley dress. If you come prepared with a steamer, they will THANK YOU. and you will thank you when you get those wedding pics back! On this note – ask them to steam their dresses early on in the getting ready process. This is often the last thing anyone thinks of as they’re pulling out their dresses to get them on. This can also hold up your day and push you behind schedule.

 

3. As a bride, have all of your details out and in one place right away before unpacking everything else.

Not only is this great for you to know where all your jewelry and important items are when it’s time to put them on, this is also so helpful as a photog to just come in, say hi and know exactly where the details are for those gorgeous flat-lays. Let’s be real… bridal suites are usually not the most organized places, suzy’s half drank coffee mixed in with her makeup and fake eyelashes, and Kelly’s one shoe is on top of the cabinet and her other got mixed into Liz’s overnight bag. Time and stress and interruption happens when everyone’s digging around looking for your jewelry…. Where’d the bride’s shoes go?! Right away when you get to wherever you’re getting ready, just set all of your details out in a specific spot, out of the way 🙂 The same goes for the groom. Shoeboxes work perfectly for keeping all the things in them. Add a big label ‘BRIDE’/’GROOM’ so it’s clear!

4. Not that you don’t have a TON to do to prepare for your big day….. But if you want to be the overachiever couple and WOW your friends and thank them for the $$$ they spent to stand up for you on your big day

Have a thank you note and maybe a thoughtful gift ready for each member of your bridal party. If you want to really go for it, add one for the most important people to you – your parents, your mistress + master of ceremonies, your personal attendant… your incredible aunt who has been storing all of those hand painted wood planks you’re using for centerpieces in her garage for the last 7 months! If you’re anything like me, you mightttttt have been a tad self centered and needy for the last handful of months preparing for your big day? Eh just me? Oopsy…. Lol anyways, this is a great way for you to thank your most favorite people in your life!!

5. Double check your timeline with all vendors! Especially your florist, photographer, venues… the ones that will be most important early on in the day.

I’ve seen this happen over and over…. I came up with a timeline with my clients and then the flowers didn’t arrive on time, or to the right place, so that meant we had to either shuffle our photo times around, cut them short, or take some photos without the flowers – which BUMMER!! You paid for those!! I would suggest going over everything with all vendors one final time the week before. If you’ve chosen awesome people to work with, hopefully they’re reaching out and confirming as well. The reality is, wedding vendors are working SOOO many weddings that it can often get confused, or a couple details overlooked. The more proactive YOU are, the better!!

6. Decide ahead of time if you’d like to write and exchange letters with your groom/bride.

This can be suchhhh a sweet moment, but often one or the other will have a note, and the other feels so bad because they totally overlooked this. The moments reading a sweet love letter right before your first look, right before you walk down the aisle, or reading to each other at some point are some of the most memorable sweet moments of the day. As amazing as this would be to happen organically and just boom the perfect moment happens, that just isn’t always the case. If you at least add in a few extra minutes in your timeline, or make sure both of you are prepared, that will make a super special moment even more beautiful to go off without a hitch.

 

Well there you have it!! 6 unique ways to make the morning of your wedding one of your favorite parts of the day! I hope these tips have been helpful and are easy to implement so your big day will go off without a hitch! Happy weddingsss!!