by MARSHALL BONE
Every bride wants to look beautiful on her wedding day. But with how frantic planning for the big day can be, it’s easy to overlook details.
Stick to a checklist to ensure you don’t miss out on any makeup and beauty prep steps. And remember: the better you prepare beforehand, the easier you’ll have it when the time comes.
Here are essential items for your bridal beauty checklist:
Beauty and Skincare Before Your Wedding Day
Caring for your skin and preparing for your bridal makeup in the months before your wedding affect your looks on the day itself. Some things for your to-do list:
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Research and set beauty goals.
What will the weather be like during your wedding? Will it be hot and humid, windy, or rainy? Answering these questions and more will help you make crucial beauty decisions for your big day.
Decide on your wedding day beauty look months or even a year before the date. You’ll need the time if you want to grow your hair out or have plastic surgery. Consult your dermatologist about cosmetic procedures you may want to have. Come up with a plan and a schedule.
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Schedule cosmetic procedures months in advance.
Laser treatments, chemical peels, or cosmetic surgery may require weeks or months of recovery. You might also need several sessions before you get the best results.
Even something like waxing should be planned in advance. Don’t try it for the first time in the days before your wedding. Have a few sessions in the months prior to avoid any issues. For example, if you suffer from skin sensitivity, you can see if your salon has hypoallergenic wax options.
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Do a dry run of your wedding look.
Testing your hair and makeup look in advance lets you tweak it to avoid problems on your big day. Find out how your skin reacts to your makeup products. Also, how makeup oxidizes after hours of wear can change the color of your foundation or concealer.
Paying for a makeup artist? Make the most of your test look. Schedule it when you have another event to attend, like a party or someone else’s wedding.
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Ramp up your daily skincare and health routine.
The longer you take good care of your skin by eating right and having a good skincare routine, the better you’ll look even without makeup. And achieving your ideal bridal look will be that much easier.
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Hope for the best, but plan for the worst.
Be prepared for beauty emergencies. Invest in a fully stocked beauty kit for yourself and your bridal party. It should contain foundation, concealer, powder, a makeup palette, brushes, sponges, makeup remover, Q-tips, cotton pads and balls, wet wipes, and more.
Also, recruit a backup team—go-to people to handle beauty mishaps on your big day. They don’t have to be professionals, just keen hands at makeup. Get their consent beforehand, and consult them for must-haves in the emergency kit.
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Do a supply check a couple weeks before the big day.
Double and triple-check your beauty supplies, especially if you’re DIY-ing your hair and makeup on your wedding day. Don’t risk using old products or running out of something on the day itself. Check whether your makeup is waterproof, especially if you’re prone to happy tears. Also check your equipment. Are your hair dryer and curler working? Do you have an extension cord or adapter ready, just in case?
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Cut and color your hair one to two weeks before the ceremony.
You should have already tested the cut and color a few months before your big day. But you’ll still want to do this ahead of time to allow colors to set and your hairstyle to look more natural after a cut and color.
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Get your nails done a day or two ahead of the celebrations.
While nail care treatments for repair and strengthening should be done beforehand, leave your final nail treatments and art or polish until right before your big day. This way, you’ll have a lower chance of chipping it.
Wedding Day Beauty Prep
If you’ve done your pre-wedding beauty preparations correctly, there shouldn’t be too much for you to prepare the night before or the day of your wedding.
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Sleep and hydrate.
Remember that your skin becomes your makeup artist’s canvas. If you have dark circles under your eyes, or your skin is dry and sallow, you’ll make their job that much harder—and they’ll need to pile on more product to get that glowing bride look.
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Plan for touch ups.
You don’t want to look too oily or have smudged makeup in your photos! Keep a few essentials in a small pouch for touching up your makeup after the ceremony and during the reception. Must-haves include lipstick, blush, face powder, makeup wipes, and an oil blotting solution, especially if you have oily skin.
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Don’t panic.
Wedding stress can turn on-the-day mishaps into complete catastrophes in your mind. For any beauty emergencies, remember this is why you have a fully stocked kit and a ready-to-help beauty backup people. Keep calm. You’ll find it much easier to carry on.
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Plan for post-wedding makeup removal.
Prepare makeup removal tools, cleansers, and other essential skincare for your wedding night. Keep it simple. You don’t want to keep your newly wedded partner waiting too long before bedtime. But neither do you want to skip it altogether and risk looking like Frankenstein’s bride the morning after.
Early beauty preparations ensure you’ll look stunning on your big day. The healthier and more blemish-free your skin is in the days leading up to your ceremony, the easier it will be to achieve a flawless makeup look.
So make it easy for yourself. Start on your beauty checklist for your big day as soon as you set a date—or even earlier.
Marshall Bone is a writer, copy strategist and all-around stylish guy who has been following trends in GQ for more than two decades. Voted best-dressed both his junior and senior year, Bone has continued this legacy and can be found covering various topics from men’s fashion to self care and grooming. He enjoys reading and is based in the greater Los Angeles area.
