The Dressing Table: Wedding Makeup

So he's popped the question, and after the initial excitement of getting engaged, you realise there is some intense planning and decision making ahead of you. Most aspects of organising a wedding can be done together with your fiance to share the load, but there a some things that you need to face yourself. Other than picking your dress, possibly one of the next most important parts is your wedding make-up.

For a lot of brides-to-be it can be quite overwhelming on where to begin, so I wanted to pass on a few thoughts having been through this with my customers and also as a bride myself, to hopefully make it a smooth process in the run up to the wedding but also on the big day itself.

DIY or pay a professional?

There are a few things to consider here:

Have a think about what colour scheme or theme you would like to go for. What are your best facial features are and what make-up you would normally wear? For instance, if you always wear gel-liner, then still wear this on the day; I always think your wedding make-up should look like you, but a bit more polished and perfected. You want to look back at the photos in many years time, and think that the make-up you wore was timeless and classic. So try not to follow too much of a trend. I like to keep it natural and elegant, but so that the make-up does show up on camera, and it enhances your best features!
Can anyone in your wedding party already apply make-up very well? If so, would they have the confidence to make up the rest of the bridesmaids too? If you are already happy to do your own make-up, finding someone else in your group that can take care of the other bridesmaids is a big help, because there's no way you want to be spending time getting other people ready on the morning of your wedding! Staying calm is the key!
Some bridesmaids may have particularly sensitive skin, and already have their favourite foundation so may only want their eye makeup applied by a professional.
If you are doing your own make-up then practise it and time it many times until you feel confident with the look you are achieving, and on the day always account for a buffer of time (so many people speak to you that morning, especially if you are getting photographed/videoed, time will feel like its moving so fast!)
If you want to do your own make-up, its nice to spend a few months buying new 'wedding friendly' make-up, and maybe investing into some high end goods. You will be saving money by not paying a professional, so you may as well treat yourself?! Build-able foundations without SPF (no camera flashback), face and eye lid primers, setting spray and non-glittery highlighters are always top of my list.
If you're paying a professional, on the lead up to the wedding leave enough time before the wedding to fit in a make-up trial, so you and the professional can work out what kind of look you want to go for a what suits you best. I like to keep notes of the wedding trial so I can be sure of what products I've used on the bride.
Whether you are paying a professional or not, you will need to buy your own lipstick, because you will need to top this up throughout the day. It would also be advisable to get a lip liner as this will ensure long lasting lips. You should get some one-to-one advise from your make-up artist, as they will be able to recommend lipsticks to suit your skin tone and theme for the wedding. This could be done at the wedding make-up trial.
Its also nice to have a powder compact that has got a little mirror, for quick touch-ups later on in the day.
How early/late are you getting married? If you've got an early ceremony, you'll have to think about what time you would need to start getting ready. If you are doing your own make-up, it might be nice to get ready and calmly do your makeup yourself, rather than waiting for the make-up artist to arrive.
If you are a DIY bride, then make sure there is someone on hand to give you their honest (hopefully gentle) opinion on your final look on the Big Day. You might not have noticed you've got a bit heavy handed on your blusher, or forgotten to fill in your brows, so its always good to get a second opinion. And the same applies if you are paying someone, you want to be sure that a 'fresh' pair of eyes likes what they see too.

Above all it should be such an enjoyable part of your day, so try to relax, drink a little champagne whilst you are surrounded by your nearest and dearest.

I'll leave you with some of my wedding prep photos.. You never know what the camera captures on the day!