The most important wedding day beauty advice we give every bride-to-be is to have your hair and makeup done by a professional.

Wedding Day Makeup

Many brides see this as an area where they can cut costs. They believe that they can fix their hair and their makeup as they do every day with extra special touches. Unless you are a professional makeup artist, please go to a professional for makeup. And, if even you are a professional hairdresser, you should probably let someone else do your hair on your wedding day.

You are probably wondering why. Well, the main reason is for the pictures. You are going to spend a lot of money on the pictures and the video and you don't want to look washed out. Many professional makeup artists can make your face both camera ready and remarkably natural looking.

Wedding Day Hair

As for your hair, hairdressers have a better view of your head and usually more hands to devote to your head. Plain and simple - they can fix your hair better than you can every time!

Don't Forget the Trial Appointment!

If you choose to have your hair and makeup done at a salon, make two appointments well in advance. One appointment is the trial run and should be done two week before your wedding in case you don't like the make-up/hair, you will have enough time to find another professional and do another trial. Don't forget to take your veil to this first appointment! The second appointment is on the wedding day.

Do-It-Yourself

If you still want to do your own hair and makeup, here are some tips:

- Use a foundation close to your natural skin color.
- Apply powder lightly to your face and neck.
- Line your eyes with a brown pencil.
- Avoid frosted eyeliner or eyeshadow.
- Curl your eyelashes and apply brown or black mascara. (Make sure it doesn't clump.)
- Apply a flattering blush to your cheekbones and blend upwards.
- Line your lips with a pencil and then apply lipstick. Add gloss if you prefer.

Remember to make sure someone prepares an emergency kit for you. Someone should bring it to the wedding and the reception sites. Even if you don't need any of these things yourself, your bridal party might!

This kit should include:

- A sewing kit
- Extra lipstick
- Bandages
- Safety pins
- Hairpins
- Hairspray
- Deodorant
- Compact mirror
- Aspirin
- Small bottle of water
- Snack (it's easy to forget to eat that day!)
- Breath mints
- Extra pantyhose
- Tissues

Go to bed early the night before! The best way to avoid puffy eyes is to be well rested. Don't forget perfume. Not only do you want to look great, but you want to smell great too! (But remember not to go overboard with it!)