WEDDING GEAR

HINTS + TIPS

What I wished someone had told me before I went “wedding dress” hunting was - ANYTHING GOES

DO YOU

BE YOU

FOR YOU

I got caught up in the hype that a white, long dress was the way to go and boy did I regret it.

It wasn’t what I had originally wanted, it was not comfortable for all-day wear and it wasn’t flattering on my body type.

PRACTISE WALKING AND SITTING IN YOUR WEDDING GEAR

That includes your shoes!!!!

You want to be comfortable ALL DAY in your wedding gear.

Practise wearing your clothes. Find out where your dress may catch or rub you. When I went to sit down on my wedding day and eat- I could barely breathe in my dress. It was super uncomfortable.
Consider if there is anything that you feel self-conscious about. I was a bit self-conscious about my arms and back in my youth and what did I wear…... A strapless dress. Yep, I chose a dress that actually drew attention to the parts I didn’t like about myself. And that was before we made jokes about PHOTOSHOP as a one-stop shop to “fix” a photo See more about this further down. Now I am 100% about acceptance of myself and really don’t give a second thought nowadays but back then, I just wanted to cry when I saw some of the wedding photos I had of myself. Consider what you will feel comfortable in on the day - strapless, sleeves, capped sleeves, long sleeves, dress length, boning in the bodies, zips, buttons, high heels/ flats.
If you have lots of teeny buttons - get a crochet hook, it will save you valuable time doing up and undoing those fiddly buttons. Especially at the end of the night when all you want to do is get out of that dress ;)
Wear in your shoes so you don’t get blisters on the day!
Take a pair of shoes for walking in, jumping over fences and ambling through grassy paddocks! You will thank me for this tip!
Pop to the loo before you leave home to see how easy/ tricky it might be handling all that extra material later in the night. A toilet trip may be a 2 person affair should you need help holding up your dress.
Practise how you will tie your tie. See the handy guide below. Google has heaps of videos to make you the master of tying ties! You can lose up to an hour fiddling with ties- so have a practice before the day!
Take a spare shirt to change into for your reception if needed. Especially great for hot and sunny days. Wearing a singlet underneath can help avoid big sweaty patches on your shirt before you have even had your ceremony.
It’s all the rage to change into a different dress/outfit for dancing and partying once the formal stuff is over.
Think- sparkly party dress and fun matching sand-shoes.

TIES + FLOWERS

***KNOW before the day*** *how to tie a tie AND work out which side you want your flower boutonniere or pocket square on.*
***TALK to your florist*** *about what method they use for attaching these.*
*4 out of 5 weddings I do find us all scrabbling when it comes to ties and flowers. I often end up putting the flowers on the guys to save us running late- but miss fun photos.*

Traditionally a boutonnière worn on the left “over the heart” but it’s your wedding so wear it any way you like!

WHEN SHOULD WE GET DRESSED

Start getting into your dress at **least 1 hour** **before** *you plan to leave* for the ceremony venue.
**Bridesmaids get dressed** 30 mins before the bride does. That way we get lovely photos of your crew helping you, give us some wriggle room should the make-up run late (it often does!), and some time to grab a few photos with mum, family etc before I head to the ceremony.

Grooms or those not getting hair/makeup done: 45 mins before you have to leave, **not 10 mins before.**

A word on photoshop…. I often hear the joke “haha you can just photoshop that”

Here’s the low-down. Your wedding photos will not be photoshopped to make you look like a different person or the person you want to be. They will reflect who your are. Your beautiful, honest, true self! Because your loved ones want to look at photos of you and see the person they love, the smile they know and the spirit they adore.

Please don’t de-value your loved ones reasons for loving you.

PS I tell all the Mum’s at photo sessions the same thing when they tell me they don’t to be in photos. Kids want to see and remember their Mum /Dad just as they truly are! Not a social media-altered image that looks nothing like you or shows nothing of the true you.