A Bride’s Guide to Weddings
Everything you need to know concerning your big day
First off, if you’re a bride-to-be and you’re reading this article, congratulations! This article will give you the low down on everything beauty related that you need to know for your wedding, so be assured you’re in good hands and with these tips, you’ll be magnificent and picture ready on your big day. I’m a big fan of simplistic elegance, so most of these looks could use an extra touch – your own sparkle and shine so that your personality shines though. Don’t be afraid to step out of the box!

Nails:

Nails are often the least seen things in weddings, but trust me when I say that they can make or break a picture. I can think of a dozen opportunities where a photographer takes pictures of hands: the bride clutching her bouquet as she walks down the aisle, the first dance… so many moments that could be made just by a simple picture of your hands. Remember that when your hands are resting in your new husband’s, cameras will be flashing all around you – this is why your nails have to be picture perfect.
Your nails should be clean cut, manicured and not done on the day of your wedding for the first time. This is the biggest, most important factor. You need to start getting your nails done at least three months before so you can get accustomed to them, and you need –I repeat- you need to get it done by the same person every single time! You definitely don’t want to walk out of the salon expecting square cut nails and getting oval, or a completely darker shade of pink than what you expected, especially when you’re going to walk down the aisle in a few hours. Speaking of shades, you need to have your nails done when you go for a dress fitting, so you know how it looks against your dress. Another key factor is your toes – even if no one sees them, you’ll definitely want them to look nice and neat for the wedding night! When it comes to the actual color or style of your nails, that all comes down to personal preference – French or solid, as long as they are simple and clean, they’ll look wonderful. Don’t be afraid to add your own personal touch to them too – you could always make one nail your “something blue!” wedding wear options for older and mature brides
Hair Removal

Everybody does it – we do it, you do it, and now you need to appear even more fuzz free with your big day coming up. Thankfully, there are plenty of options with pros and cons, so you can decide what’s best for your agenda!
Shaving:
Best for actual body hair – your legs and arms. The bad thing is that body hair starts to show as early as the next day, and often is very coarse. Let’s not also forget cuts (which I have plenty of, thanks to really crappy razors). On the plus side, it can leave your legs feeling silky smooth. If I were to recommend a razor, I would use Schick Intuition. This is embarrassing; especially for you women to read, but my boyfriend had to buy me my first razor. Our family just bought the dollar store pack of razors for my older brother’s facial hair and I didn’t want to be a hairy caterpillar anymore. My legs would literally have chunks coming out of it when I used them, and boyfriend was tired of hearing all about it, so ihave been a convert ever since ladies. So trust me on this. It WORKS.
Waxing:
Best for legs, bikini and upper lip: Definitely leaves you stubble free for a very long time, and when the hair does grow back, it’s thinner than before. You have to wait for the hair to grow back to at least 3/4ths of an inch though, and when you pull the hair out, it rips out the root, leaving room for infection to grow if it’s not taken care of properly. My advice would be to go 6 weeks before your big day, so that if any irritation pops up, it will be long gone by the time your wedding rolls around.
Threading:
Best for eyebrows. It’s an Indian method to doing eyebrows, using a thread to pull hair away from the root. Results last for at least a month, and are not too painful. The only downside is that you trust someone to see the symmetry in your eyebrows, and they could screw it up like no one’s business. This is something I do constantly, however, and before I trusted my stylist, I watched her do multiple clients, and decided if her style was the right style for me. And her work is a masterpiece.
Make Up

So this is your big day, and we need to get your “big day” face on. One thing that I definitely endorse is getting a makeup professional whose work you’ve seen. Go to a MAC or Sephora on your off day, and try to get someone to experiment with your looks way before the wedding; in fact, I advocate getting at least 5 people to try out their vision on you. When you see one that you’re happy with, take pictures of it! You want to document what your face looks like and translate that vision over on your wedding day.

So wedding makeup: what exactly does it consist of? An enhancement of your natural features, often in a slightly unnatural way. This means that your eyelashes may be a little longer (and faker!), your skin a little more perfect, your lips a lot more colored, and apples of your cheeks a little more blushing. When a bride asks me how they should look, I tell them – think Kate Middleton.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what her wedding day makeup is compared to her everyday makeup. So if you look at Kate, she definitely looks tan – a little weird, but enough to make her look very healthy and give her a nice glow. Her cheeks are positively popping with color as opposed to her regular picture, where a light dusting of natural pink rests along her cheekbones; her eyebrows look filled in and properly done; she even has a hint of highlighting on her face, so that when the light catches her, it shows only positives, and disguises any hints of marring.
Another thing to remember is that these are pictures that should last you for a lifetime. As in, it may be so completely adorable to wear lime green eye shadow on your wedding day. We understand, and God forbid if we interrupt what you want to do on your wedding day. But think of the children! Think of how you look! It may be stylish and trendy now to have cheetah print on your upper eye, but remember how you will look: classy, not trashy, should be your motto. This is also not the time to be trying new styles: you should be practicing and mimicking your makeup when you try your dress on, for the rehearsal dinner, and for any and all important events – trust me, unless you’re a Southern sorority girl, this might be the only time you’ll ever have so many pictures of yourself. All the focus is on you, so don’t end up looking like Mimi from the Drew Carey Show.
Natural, but exaggerated is your best bet: wide, big eyes, luscious lip color (with staying power, invest in a lip stain!) and you’re well on your way to being a beautiful bride.

There are a lot of things that brides have to accommodate for: their dress, their respective parties, the venues, etc. But what’s your piece of advice? Do you have a hilarious story from your wedding involving a hair mix up? Could you be offering a “something borrowed” to a bride to be? Comment and share your thoughts, I’d love to hear from you! Let me know what you think of this article, send me your story, or tell me what I should write about next! You know I love to hear from my readers.