Once the morning of your wedding rolls around, the whole thing gets much easier. The details are as done as can be, the day has arrived, and your only task left to do is to get married. Your mind should be focused on your marriage, especially as you get ready! Here are seven tips to help you have the best getting ready experience!

 

1. Pray

Personal prayer time is an important part of daily life, so it’s even more important on big occasions! Take the time to connect with the Lord, pour out gratitude for the day, express any worries that might be trying to distract you, ask for protection and joy, bask in God’s love for you. This is a big day. He’s proud of you. 

 

2. Clean up

I know the days leading up to the wedding can be craaaazy, but part of having a peaceful morning is definitely attributed to the space you’re getting ready in. If it’s very messy from all the pre-wedding prep, take a moment to organize and clean up the night before (or delegate this to someone else!). Your headspace will feel much more calm walking into a clean kitchen/living room/bedroom as you go about getting ready. And, as a bonus, it helps the photos from the morning – your photographer (hi!) is able to focus on the people instead of trying to crop out all those plastic bags that magically appeared from who knows where over the last few weeks. 

 

3. Turn on the music

Delegate the task of creating a getting ready playlist to one of your bridesmaids! And make sure you have something louder than a phone to play music from, like a laptop or speaker system. I suggest at least starting the day with worship and getting pumped up closer to when you leave, or just have the worship music carry you through every part of the morning! Even calm instrumental background music helps invite peace into the silence of getting ready.

 

4. Keep the food & drinks comin’

You might feel too nervous to eat, but get some protein into you! Ask someone to have food for breakfast/lunch on their list of things to contribute and then snack away throughout the morning if having a big breakfast doesn’t feel like something you can do. Drink water! Sip on a coffee! Ain’t nothin wrong with a mimosa, but you want a clear head as you walk down the aisle (and a sturdy gait, especially if you end up not eating much). 

 

5. Be near a window

Choose the room with the best window light to do the majority of your getting ready photos in! Having a large window allows beautiful light into the room for you to enjoy while you’re getting hair and makeup done and is the BEST for photos. I actually turn overhead lights off because the window light is all I want! If, for example, the living room has the best light and you set up camp to do hair and makeup in there, we’ll get all that getting ready stuff cleared out (if it’s in the way) to get you into your dress and details there, too. Well, the final zip/button up part, not the actual getting in the dress! You can do that in private :)

 

6. Keep a details box

This can be a shoe box, a repurposed basket, or anything else that will hold all your outfit details! When you purchase/source everything you’re putting on your body, put it in this box so that you know your details are in one place! And then set that box aside for your photographer (hi again!) to grab for detail shots in the morning! This way, instead of remembering that your bracelet is on your nightstand as you walk out the door, all your details will be included in those photos and put on your body! Check out this post on how to get your details ready (and for a list of details, too!).

 

7. Take out a towel

Your bouquets are sitting in water. When you pick them up, they’re going to be dripping water. And where do you put your bouquet? Right in front of you, probably touching your dress. And what happens? WATER MARKS! To avoid this, set a towel or two aside the night before for everyone to dry off their bouquets before holding them. Whether that’s where you’re getting ready or at the ceremony, don’t forget the towel! If you do, I’ll remind a bridesmaid before we leave because it’s a habit for me after all these years to do so!

 

Bonus: Commit to choosing joy!

Choose to let the day unfold as it does, letting other people take care of you, basking in the gift of your wedding day! It’s here, you’re marrying the love of your life – you made it!!