14 Tips for a Fun & Stress Free Wedding Morning

Planning & Advice

The wedding morning is such a fun and memorable time but it’s also very busy! Of course the ceremony isn’t starting until 1 or half so you may think you’ve all the time in the world and there IS plenty but with hair and makeup for you and your bridal party, a dress with quite possibly a lot of buttons and plenty of photos to pose for, time will disappear. Which is why it’s best to be organised so you can enjoy all these special moments as well as some chats and bubbles with your girls and family. Check out some tips for being super organised come the wedding morning so you’re not a ball of stress come 1pm…

1. Make a wedding morning timeline – You’ll be surprised how quickly the morning will fly by which is why some people recommend doing up a wedding morning timeline so you and your bridal party know exactly what you should be doing and when. It should be done the week before the wedding and should include time for enjoying champers and brekkie, times for hair and make-up for everyone, when to put on the gunas, some time for photos and your cut-off for leaving the house for the ceremony.

glittery-bridesmaid-dresses-wedding

Photo from Sabrina & Ian’s real wedding by Aidan Beatty Photography

2. Get everything ready the night before – Leave out all your wedding day essentials like the hanger for your wedding dress, underwear, accessories, jammies, random stuff like insoles, your garter if you’re wearing one and any products you need. Pop them in one place so you know where to find them first thing. The last thing you want is to be stressed to the max looking for an insole for your shoes when you should be chatting with your girls over a glass of bubbly! Be sure to have your overnight bag packed the night before as well and give it to a pal to leave at the venue.

3. Make sure the room is ready to go – The photographer will be in snapping away before you know it so make sure to appoint someone to give the room you’re getting ready in a quick tidy before he/she arrives. You don’t want jewellery tags, brekkie leftovers or dirty laundry lurking in the back of your beautiful wedding photos!

4. Leave out anything you wanted photographed – Have stuff you want photographed out and ready to go the night before like your wedding invite, perfume or any accessories you want a snap of for your wedding album.

Bridesmaids-Wedding-Morning-PJs-weddingsonline-1

Photo from Kathleen & Gary’s real wedding by The Fennells

5. Opt for cute robes or jammies for you and the girls – Some of our favourite photos from real weddings are the girls getting ready in matching PJs or robes. It’s such a cute idea and of course, you want to feel and look good with the photographer hanging about. A robe or button down PJ top are practical too making it easy to get in and out of so you don’t mess up your hair or makeup.

6. Have a wedding playlist ready to go – Background music is a must! Some music will have you and the girls in party mode and add to the getting ready atmosphere. Have one of the maids put together a bit of a playlist the week before (check out some awesome Pre-wedding Playlist song ideas here) or have Spotify’s pre-made playlists at the ready.

7. Chat to hair and makeup about timings – We’ve heard of brides leaving themselves until last for hair/make up done and are rushed and panicked. Sarah from Angel Hair & Makeup offered this advice: “Normally we start with one of the bridesmaids or anyone who is getting a blow dry like the mother of the bride or an aunt. On the morning of the wedding bride is usually busy organising the last minute things like who’s going to hold her lipstick or a small bottle of hairspray. We allocate 40 mins per person for bridesmaids and guests. Depending on what time the bride has to leave, we try slot her in somewhere in the middle, this way she is picture perfect leaving and it also gives her time to have breakfast or tie up loose ends before she has to sit still for an hour or so. We have the bride and bridesmaids ready in time for her to get dressed have a few photos taken then a quick top up of lipstick and she’s out the door. Just like we planned!!

wedding-dress-fitting

Photo from Tara & Gearoid’s real wedding by DKPHOTO

8. Give yourself plenty of time to get dressed  – Give yourself enough time to get in to your dress! Don’t underestimate how long it will take to get the dress all buttoned up, they can be a fiddly nightmare for bridesmaids so give yourself loads of time so you can enjoy this precious experience.

9. Don’t forget to eat – You’ll need all the energy you can get so don’t forget to have some brekkie even if it is just some cereal or pastries. Your ceremony will be kicking off close to lunch too so make sure to have lunch or even a snack before you head off so there’s no fear of your tummy rumbling during the Prayers of the Faithful! Plus you’ll need some soakage before the champers so it doesn’t go straight to your head…

10. Delegate – Anything that needs doing, delegate. Whether it’s getting the button holes to the lads or tying balloons to signposts, get someone else to do it! You don’t need to be worrying about anything but making yourself gorgeous on the wedding morning.

Bride_Bridesmaids_Taking_Selfie

Photo from Victoria & Desmond’s real wedding by Tara Donoghue Photography

11. Leave enough time for some snaps, toasts and fun – the wedding morning is such an exciting time that you’ve been building up to for SO long so make sure to enjoy each and every special minute of it! Have a lovely lazy Champagne brekkie with your family, toast your ladies, enjoy the pampering, take some time for cute photos and enjoy first looks with your parents or bridesmaids.

12. Have your emergency kit at the ready – Remember to give your emergency kit to a bridesmaid that morning or even the night before so you’re prepared for all eventualities! Check out all the essentials you’ll need for it here.

13. Leave on time – Wrong turns, crazy traffic, forgotten bouquet?! Yes, brides are renowned for being a few minutes late but don’t leave the poor guy or gal sweating any longer than is needed. Give yourself enough time to get to the ceremony so you can soak it all in and not be worrying about holding things up.

wait-till-you-see-your-bride-wedding-sign1

Photo from Eoin & Suzie’s real wedding by Tomasz Kornas Photography

14. Make it memorable – One of our real bride’s Nicola says of the best things she did on the Big morning was get up early and wrote a note to her hubby-to-be. “I got up early the morning of the wedding and took an hour to myself before the chaos began. I used that time to write cards to my parents, Chris and bridal party. If I had been better organised, I would have written the cards earlier that week but actually it was nice to capture how I was feeling that day, and to start the day telling those closest to me how much they mean to me.” Aww – we love this idea, if you’re super organised, it could be sweet to do too!

Main photo by DKPHOTO