Top Wedding Advice for Brides

There is only so much advice you can listen to when it comes to planning your big day! So much of it requires your own personal touches and tastes and should ultimately be a day reflective of what you love as a couple – so as far as your first dance, ceremony songs, decor and cake go , go with your gut and your guests will love to see your personality come out in the day.

The night before the wedding

Before the wedding morning, comes the pre-wedding morning. In order to have a smooth, relaxing and enjoyable wedding morning you have to consider the night before. It’s the time which can make the difference between good and perfect. It’s the time your wedding day really begins.

The food and drink

If you were ever to have a relaxing night, followed by a deep and trouble-free sleep, then this is the time. Of course, there are ways to help you on your way.

1. Watch what you drink. For a funky and fresh approach to the pre-wedding night, why not try making up some smoothies? They can be delicious, are known to have great health benefits and some help ensure the sleep every bride-to-be needs! There are a lot of fun recipes around, here are some to get you started – but be sure to experiment!
2. Eat the right things. Firstly, this wouldn’t be the time to experiment with new foods or anything spicy. It just isn’t worth the risk! Instead, opt for something high in protein. Protein has long since been linked with a good night’s sleep with eggs, oily fish and chicken being healthy, protein-rich options. Everyone has their own way of eating them, but if you are looking for some help, some protein-rich recipes to get you started can be found here. So give your skin a healthy glow for your wedding morning, you could try to eat some of these skin-friendly fruits.

The beauty regime

One of the biggest worries a bride can have before her wedding is whether she’ll look her best on the big day, and most especially doing all they can to have the perfect, wedding morning skin. Sometimes though, that means that in their pursuit of perfection, brides can actually do more damage to their skin.

1. Hydrate. Have plenty of water the night before your wedding. Mixing it with lemon is also a winning if unexciting combination! As our expert says “you can always tell the skin on those who have been drinking plenty of water, from those who haven't”.
2. Watch the tan. Try and resist the last evening panic about being pale, it can cause more problems than it’s worth! “We often see girls panicking about being too pale and using the sunbed a day or two before the wedding,”, “and they end up sunburnt, which again is really tough to disguise”.
3. Exfoliate. "by exfoliating and moisturising the skin both on the face and body, the skin will look its best”, “but avoid having any other facials within three days of the wedding”. Though a gentle exfoliation, is the order of the day (well, night) before your wedding, what about the dreaded fake tan? Should you have had a spray-tan which is a little too extreme for your liking, exfoliating can also reduce your brightness too. “avoid a false tan if you're going for a slinky and/or silk type dress in the summer months”. Remember when exfoliating before a wedding to swap the more abrasive exfoliators for ones containing lactic or glycolic acid.

The wedding morning

Today delivers the closest feeling you will ever get to being a child on Christmas morning again, opening your eyes on the morning of your wedding day. The confusion that comes with waking up is soon replaced with the excitement and nerves of the big day. But no matter how monumental the occasion there are still things that need to be done!

Before the hair and make-up

Thoughts of the hair and makeup may dominate your thoughts, but before then you have some time on your hands. In what is likely to be a tightly scheduled and hectic day treat this time as a haven, the time to stretch out and bask in the glow of what is to come. Though that doesn’t mean there is nothing you could be doing!

1. Breakfast. Today just isn’t the day to skip breakfast. Being nervous uses energy, so make sure that you eat! How and where you spend the night before can influence your breakfast options, as can your personality. Stick with what you prefer. We would recommend something healthy and easy on your digestion, but so long as you remember to eat, then the day has got off to a great start.
2. Bring the fun. Try not to take everything so seriously. This once in a lifetime event can sweep you into its whirlwind and leave the day as a blur, unless you make time for yourself. Laugh with friends and take the time to breathe, to share this special day with your loved ones. Creating a music playlist for the morning can get the morning off on the front foot and soon have the room awash with laughter and chatter. You can keep it current, fill the playlist with songs that mean something to you and your friends, or something else entirely. It’s your wedding morning, do it your way!
3. Wear the right clothing. When getting dressed in the morning, pre-hair and makeup, seriously consider wearing a zip-up jumper or hoodie. You don’t want your hair to be perfectly formed with a perfectly made-up face and then have to pull a t-shirt or jumper over your head. Try and avoid bra straps too, either go as natural or wear a strapless number as strap marks on the skin can be unsightly when it’s time to say “I Do”!

If anything is forgotten on a wedding morning, you can almost guarantee that hair and makeup will not be one of them! Even though its importance is not in question there are still things to be sure to know in order to get the most out of it.

1. Find the right style. A make-up artist may be able to help in selecting your style, but this is your day, the day you have dreamed about for years, and in those dreams, I bet you always looked the same. Beautiful, in a way that you know best, the make-up of your own creation. Whilst thinking about the make-up style, it is best to have the following ethos “be a polished version of you, rather than something completely new”.
2. Find the right stylist. It sounds simple, but make-up is a very personal thing. If you are using a professional then it also requires you to place a great deal of trust in the beauty-giver. Though all it takes to avoid this is a little time, preparation and perseverance. Do your research, read reviews from people just like yourself and then have a make-up trial. This is very important, don’t wait until the big day to get it wrong!
3. Bring the stylist to you. Try and get your hair and make-up stylist to come to you, and also ask them to come up with a schedule – it’ll reduce the stress of the day and make things easier to manage. When the stylists arrive, a key tip is to have an area prepared, as our expert Phoebe points out - “it's always a good idea to leave a dressing table free from all your items so the stylists can sit you in the mirror especially when styling hair, and place their kit on the table”.

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