admin After all your planning and stress, it’s finally the day of your wedding! The day you’ve been planning for and waiting for for months or years. You want this day to be absolutely perfect and to go as smoothly as possible. To help direct vendors and make sure everything that needs to get done is getting done, you may want to hire a day-of wedding coordinator. Check out my post on wedding planners versus wedding coordinators. I’ve asked past brides what they did on their wedding morning to help feel calm and relaxed and they’ve also shared what they wish they would have done to have a calmer wedding morning. This is advice I will definitely be using! Here is some advice and tips for a calm wedding morning.
This post contains affiliate links which means I earn a small commission when you purchase through my links at no additional cost to you. Thank you for contributing to my business.
Advice and Tips For a Calm Wedding Morning
1. Go to bed early and wake up early enough so you won’t feel rushed
It might be tempting to hang out with your bridesmaids or have your bachelorette party the night before your wedding, but my advice is to not do that. Sure you can and should hang out with your girls, but don’t go too crazy. You want to be awake and alert on your wedding day, and the way to be that way is to go to bed early(ish) and wake up with enough time to not feel rushed.
2. Hang up your dress and steam if necessary
Take your dress out of it’s garment bag (but not anywhere it can get dirty) and steam it if it has any wrinkles. Make sure it’s all ready for photographs and for you to put on! if you’re looking for an inexpensive, but beautiful wedding dress, check out Dress Afford!
3. Put all your undergarments, shoes, and accessories in one place near your dress
You don’t want to be running around on your wedding morning looking for the correct underwear to wear with your dress. Lay it all out right near your dress, including jewelry, to speed the dressing process up and make it stress-free. Check out this gorgeous jewelry from Camille Jewelry!
4. Prepare to be calm – meditate, do yoga, etc.
If meditating and yoga help you feel calm, your wedding morning is definitely the time to utilize these practices! Don’t do anything too strenuous. You wouldn’t want to injure or pull something on your wedding morning!
5. Eat breakfast!
This is your girl time! Don’t skip breakfast, but make sure your breakfast is healthy and will give you energy! Try this delicious coffee from 1st in Coffee for that wedding morning brew. This is the tip that past brides are most likely to give future brides. Take any time you can to sit and eat!
6. Plan for a shower to wash off any last tanning residue
If you got a spray tan a few days or the day before your wedding, make sure to rinse it off BEFORE YOU PUT ON YOUR WEDDING DRESS. Spray tan and white dresses just don’t mix.
7. Do a relaxing skin care routine
Be sure to check with your makeup artist first about certain products, but spend some relaxing time on your wedding morning just prepping your skin for a long day of sweating in a decent amount of makeup.
8. Get in comfy “getting ready” clothes
Keep in mind that you’ll be sitting still a lot on the morning of your wedding. Hair and makeup can take a long time! Make sure you’re in something comfy. If your photographer will be there to capture the “getting ready” pictures, make sure you and your girls are wearing something cute. Check out the subscription box Miss to Mrs for cute “morning of” items!
9. Hire a day-of coordinator and mentally give everything to them
It can be hard to let go after all those months of planning, but what’s meant to be will be on your wedding day! Hire a day-of coordinator to direct vendors, set up any last minute decorations, and keep everyone on schedule. And then let them do their job!
10. Give your phone to your maid of honor with directions
Everyone who could possibly need you that day should be there anyway so there’s no need to stay attached to your phone. Give it to your MOH and give her directions on how to answer any urgent texts or calls. Or turn it off completely and go phone-free for your wedding day!
11. Allow time for hair and makeup for bride, bridesmaids, mothers, etc.
You should know how many people in your bridal party are getting their hair and makeup done and how many hair and makeup stylists will be at your wedding. The general rules of time are 60-90 minutes of makeup for the bride and 60-90 minutes for hair for the bride. Each bridesmaid (or mom) is usually 30-45 minutes for makeup and 60-90 minutes for hair. Leave enough time!
12. Plan a playlist
Create a “wedding morning” playlist and bring along a portable speaker. You can choose either relaxing music or pump-up music, depending on what you prefer!
13. Drink water!
Bring a water bottle with you to wherever you are getting ready and stay hydrated! You can have some champagne (check some delicious champagnes out from NapaCab), but make sure you are drinking plenty of water.
14. Have snacks prepared
Even though you’ve eaten breakfast, getting ready for your wedding can take a long time and you’ll likely be getting ready during lunch time. Bring easy, non-messy snacks to keep you going through the morning and afternoon.
15. Have someone designated to help you put on your dress and accessories
This needs to be someone who knows how your dress clasps together and how to bustle it after the ceremony. My dress alterations person told me to bring someone to my final dress fitting so that can all be explained to them.
16. Plan buffer time
Don’t have your getting ready schedule go right up until your ceremony. Leave AT LEAST half an hour (if not an hour) of buffer time in case things take longer than you originally planned.
Leave your advice and tips for a calm wedding morning in the comments to help out other brides! And, don’t forget to download my FREE wedding day timeline (with a ceremony starting at 4:00 pm). Even if your times are different, using this as an example will help a lot!
I love all these tips, especially a day of coordinator. Even if you decide against a wedding planner it’s best to have a coordinator to see that the day runs smoothly.