Weddingbee

Friday I spend the entire day preparing for my bridal portraits (who knew how much went into it) and then a couple of hours taking them! Here’s a little recap of my day:

8:00 am – 9:30 am Eat breakfast, run last minute errands
9:30 am – 10:45 am Get the nails done
10:45 am – 11:45 am Shower, dry the hair, pack up the car
12:15 pm – 2:15 pm Hair and Makeup
2:15 pm – 4:00 pm Pick up my bouquet, quick lunch
4:00 pm – 5:30 pm Drive to the location, find a room to change and get ready for the pics
5:30 pm – 7:45 pm Photos

PHEW!

If that’s any indication of how the wedding day will be, I’m definitely going to need a couple of glasses of champagne before all of the festivities to calm my nerves, and learn how to pace my energy throughout the day because it was a long one. I was so nervous the entire day to have everything on me all at once. Up until this point, everything having to do with being a bride had been in the store or in my closet.

A few tips for those of you who are going to take portraits:

- Take an entourage. – My mom recently had surgery on her wrist so we knew she wouldn’t be able to do much heavy lifting. Luckily, one of my bridesmaids (and best friends) offered to take a half day at work to help. She ended up carrying the back in of my dress for the better half of the two hour session. My mom was in charge of the sheets and veil and, believe it or not, even our photographer’s wife had to help us on the shoot as well.

- Pack a white sheet. – In fact, pack more then one white sheet. If you plan on taking your pictures outside, near the grass, or in a remote area, this sheet will come in handy to help you keep from staining your dress. It’s inevitable that it will get a little dirty, but this will definitely help.

- Pack some hand wipes. – We took my pictures in an old cotton mill that was under construction, so there was dust everywhere. That, and the fact that it was humid and 90 degrees outside, led to some wiping of the face full of makeup. The hand wipes definitely came in handy to make sure we didn’t transfer any of the dirty stuff onto my dress.

- Bring a fan. – Just a paper fan will work fine, but you wouldn’t believe how hot you will get underneath that dress!

- Bring blotting sheets. – Or tissue, etc. If there is any chance of heat, you will need these to blot your face. Unfortunately, I didn’t have them, so hopefully my face doesn’t look like it’s melting off in the photos.

- HAVE FUN! – It can be extremely emotional being dressed as a bride in all of its glory for the first time. Remember that these pictures are supposed to be fun and portray how happy and exciting this time is for you. It took me a while to lighten up, but, after I began sweating, all formality was gone and I spent the day joking around with everyone and trying my best to be a model (which is def not natural for me)!

I think the most emotional part of the day for me was not putting on the whole outfit or posing for the pictures, but picking up my bouquet. Bella Flora made the most beautiful bouquet of white peonies and incorporated my cross that, when I picked it up, I seriously almost got teary eyed – not an easy thing to do to me.

I have to give another hand to my photographers, Cesar and Tanya Perez, because they truly made me feel more at ease in front of the camera and I can’t wait to see the shots that they got! The teaser pics should be in later this week, so you’ll definitely be hearing more about them soon. All in all, even if you don’t do bridal portraits in your area, I would really recommend them so that you can get some time to adjust to your dress, and to relax in front of the camera.

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