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Yes, you should absolutely have mimosas—just not 10 of them.
by Ivy Jacobson
When you envision getting ready on your wedding day with your bridesmaids, you’re probably all getting your hair and makeup done, breezily sipping mimosas as the photographer snaps away while your favorite songs play on a specially curated playlist. All of this can happen—it just takes proper planning to make sure nothing goes awry. Here are our top dos and don’ts for the morning of your wedding.
1. Do have a timeline.
Having a set wedding day timeline is absolutely crucial to how the day will go, and it starts with getting ready. If you’re having an evening wedding you may have a little leeway with getting up later, but for afternoon and early evening weddings, you’ll probably be looking to set your alarm for 7 a.m. or close to it. Make a timeline with your planner, or if you don’t have a planner, with your photographer, since they’ll need to know when to get there to take pictures of everyone getting ready. To know when to start getting ready, begin with the time that your wedding starts or that you need to arrive the ceremony venue, and work backward. What do you need to do before then? Are you doing a first look and taking photos with your entire bridal party? Did you and your hairstylist agree that you’re washing your hair the morning of your wedding? Do all your bridesmaids want to shower the day of too? These are all important questions to ask to figure out what time to wake up. Also, keep in mind that hair and makeup can take 60 to 90 minutes each for the bride, and 30 to 45 minutes each for every bridesmaid and the mother of the bride. Depending on how many stylists you’re using, this can greatly affect your timeline.
2. Don’t forget to hang up your dress and veil.
The first thing you should do when you wake up is take your wedding dress and veil out of the garment bag and hang it up where it can breathe a bit (preferably where nobody will disturb it). Hang it as high as you can, unbusted, so you can see which areas need steaming the most. Tuck the comb of the veil inside the back of the dress, and let it hang down.
3. Do have plenty of food for your crew.
There’s nothing worse than a hangry bride—along with 10 hangry bridesmaids. Make sure to have an array of filling, nutritious breakfast or lunch options for your wedding party that will tide them over until the reception and won’t give them a sugar rush and then make them crash. Think: sandwiches, wraps, salads, fruit and veggie platters, yogurt and granola bars. You can preorder from any local delis or restaurants, and it’s a much better option than sending your bridesmaids out to get food the morning of. Everyone will be busy and focused on getting ready, and you’ll want to spend as much time as possible together that morning.
4. Don’t drink too much.
Along with breakfast or lunch, providing mimosas or Bellinis for your crew is always fun—who doesn’t love a cute cheers-ing photo op? Just be careful—the last thing you want is downing too many and getting a headache, being too buzzed to concentrate on details or feeling extra jittery. We say two per person is a fair amount.
5. Do have a good playlist.
If you have a bridesmaid who always makes the best playlists, task her with creating an awesome morning-of one. Fun getting ready tunes will put everyone in a good mood and ease any nerves.
6. Do make sure there are enough outlets.
If you have a large bridal party and everyone is getting ready in the same room, double-check ahead of time to make sure there will be enough outlets. Think about it: Everyone will want to charge their phone, hairstylists will need multiple outlets for blow-dryers, curlers, straighteners and hot rollers, and there may be a few steamers on hand to press all the dresses. If there are only a few, you may want to buy a power strip or two to ensure everything can run smoothly.
7. Don’t forget your emergency kit.
Things happen—nails chip, mimosas stain and hair droops. That’s why it’s important to have a day emergency kit for any mini-emergencies, including stain remover, breath mints, tweezers, tissues, hair spray, fashion tape and more.
8. Do remember to give out bridesmaid gifts.
If you have getting ready robes, monogrammed shirts or any other gifts for your bridesmaids, distribute them the night before so they can wear them on arrival to the getting-ready space, or right when they get there as a fun surprise.
9. Don’t get ready in a dark, cramped room.
When you’re choosing your getting-ready venue, make sure there’s plenty of natural light and space, if you’re having a large bridal party and multiple hairstylists and makeup artists. You want your getting ready photos to be beautiful, and the key to that is plenty of good, natural lighting. You also don’t want everyone to feel cramped and on top of each other (plus, think of all the garment bags, beauty tools, food, drinks and more things that will take up space)—so the more room you can get, the better.