When it comes to looking your best on your wedding day, saying yes to the dress is only half the battle; you’ve got to think about beauty essentials too.  I’m no expert on makeup and other things beauty related but it’s my job, as your wedding planner, to help make your day as stress-free as possible and that’s where this post comes in.  Here are 7 tips brides should remember when it comes to wedding day beauty.  In sharing these simple tips with you, I hope you’ll avoid some of the beauty blunders brides before you have made.

Consider hiring a professional Makeup Artist

The makeup you wear every day is different than your wedding day needs.  When designing your look, a professional Makeup Artist will take into consideration your skin type, hairstyle and wedding colour palette.  Your wedding day makeup will also need to last for hours.  Think about it, that’s a long day filled with hugs, kisses, tears, dancing and let’s not forget the countless cameras that’ll be following you around too. Your makeup will need to withstand all of it and a professional Makeup Artist has the know-how to help make it happen.  Even if you’re a bride who goes the au natural route every day, make your wedding day the exception.  Just covering the basics – blush, mascara and lip gloss – will go a long way and give you the finishing touch to your overall look.

Make it about your gorgeous face

Before you start searching Google or browsing Pinterest for looks you like, stop and consider your own features first.  In our celebrity obsessed world, it’s easy to see a photograph of your favourite actress all glam on the red carpet and think “I want THAT look.” But let’s face it; if you have the fair skin complexion of Nicole Kidman, the makeup of Sophia Vergara won’t translate well.  Maximize your beautiful eyes with a few fake lashes or enhance your killer smile with the perfect lip stain. When you set out to highlight your most gorgeous feature, the rest of the makeup will fall into place.

Try a few Makeup Artists

I’m a firm believer in not every professional is going to be the right fit every client.  Throughout the planning process of your wedding, you and your fiancé probably considered a handful of options before choosing the venue, photographer and DJ.  So why not do the same when it comes to your Makeup Artist?  Give yourself time to have a few makeup applications (think of them as pre-trials) with different professionals so you can choose one who understands your personal tastes.

Book a trial run

It seems like this point can’t be stressed enough by the pros.  You don’t want to be the bride who looks in the mirror the day of her wedding and gets more and more uncomfortable with how it is coming together.  Know how you’re going to look beforehand by scheduling a trial 2 months before.  This is your opportunity to politely speak up and be honest about you like and don’t like.  Also, why not make it a fun girl’s afternoon and ask some of your bridesmaids to be there?  They can snap some photos when you’re done and you can then use them on the day of to help your makeup artist remember everything from the trial.

Think twice before changing your beauty regime

A week before your wedding isn’t the ideal time to be trying new-to-you products or to be getting an impromptu facial at your favourite spa.  To avoid a wedding day crisis, any changes or additions to your current regime should be tested weeks before the big day.  Even your eyebrows, which are standard maintenance, should be waxed and plucked a week before so you don’t have to deal with irritation or redness.

Water, water, water! Sleep, sleep, sleep!

These 2 essentials help ensure your skin is the perfect canvas for your makeup.  While water helps flush out the impurities in your skin, getting ample shuteye has a few benefits: it improves your complexion, minimizes dark under-eye circles and keeps your immune system strong so you walk down the aisle healthy. Getting ample sleep every night can also help make you a happier and calmer bride, which your bridal party will surely appreciate 🙂

Be timeless. Be YOU!

It may be last on the list but this really should be the #1 makeup rule you say “I Do” to. Heavy makeup you don’t usually wear or trying to be trendy may make you feel special the day of but this will most likely lead to a “what was I thinking” moment in 10 years when you are flipping through your wedding album.   Plus, I don’t know very many grooms; actually I have yet to come across one, who prefers their bride to look “made-up.”  Remember, he loves YOU and the way YOU look!

Post images by Monique Wiendels Photography