Lessons from the Bridal Shoot

The day of my bridal portrait shoot I was a harried, hot mess. It was a million degrees here in Dallas. I had to finish the flower I'd made for my hair in the morning. I had a million errands to run which included going to the hair/makeup appointment, picking up the bouquet, getting a manicure, at some point I needed to eat something, and of course, the portraits themselves which were located an hour away. I was hot, stressed out, tired, and alone, and I never could get it together.

My makeup/hair appointment started about an hour late (so much for the usually-punctual Miss Oyster!). I'd been so stressed and preoccupied lately that I'd forgotten to actually pick a hairstyle and just said, "You know, lots of curls." It was so hot and humid and my hair appointment so much earlier than the portraits that she put the curls in pins, which, when taken out a few minutes before the portrait shoot, looked kind of weird. And they fell five minutes into the photo shoot, because the photographer's a/c shut off when I got there.

I didn't pick a makeup look either, and when she asked if I wanted a natural look or something "more formal," I picked the latter. It looked awesome at the salon, and it was told her I trusted her to do "something formal and nice." The makeup she chose looked fine at the salon, and was absolutely perfect... for a red carpet debut! (She does work on celebrities, I should have known...) but in hindsight I definitely want a more natural look for the wedding day. My mistake.

My makeup/hair artist is awesome and I love working with her -- this was actually the most fun part of the day -- but I should have done my homework!

Next was my bouquet. My new GPS took me around downtown Dallas with wrong turns and down wrong streets, and I lost 30 minutes going from the salon to the florist, five miles away. Did I mention it was a Friday afternoon? It took an hour. My bouquet ended up very similar to a picture I'd given him (yay!), but he forgot the instruction to make it much bigger. It was too late to fix it. I'd also forgotten to mention my strong aversion to hydrangeas. It was pretty enough though, and lasted a few days:

By the time I arrived to the photographers' studio, I described a little of my day and how stressed I was, and the photographer said, "Welcome to your wedding day!" Um, no... not if I can help it!

And here's yet another post that I didn't get to finish until days before the actual wedding, so here's my perspective, and why I'm incredibly glad I went through this.

I am now a confirmed evangelist for the "bridal portrait" experience. Even if you are in a location or country where bridal portraits are not common (or even odd), do it. Even if you're not actually having portraits done, get a friend to pretend with a camera for a bit.

Do the whole thing; get your outfit together, have your makeup/hair done, have your bouquet, your manicure, etc. Sit, crouch, hug, stand, and walk around in your dress. Get stared at by strangers. Maneuver in and out of a car. There is nothing like going through the experience to make you feel like a bride and, more importantly, make concrete just how much work goes into your wedding day -- not to mention that on the day itself, you'll have all sorts of familial interactions and other things to deal with (like getting married!). I highly recommend it.

From this mess of a day, I learned that:
- the wedding day itself is not a day for running around.
- my dress is super light and comfortable (thanks to my seamstress!)
- my shoes aren't as comfortable as I thought they'd be.
- I'm so glad it was so hot on the day of the portrait shoot -- it reminded me how I react to heat. No outdoor portraits for our "first look," thank you very much!
- I need to be clear about my hair and makeup.
- I enjoyed the social experience of being a bride. A bike rider whizzing by said, "Hey, girl! Congratulations!" In most cases, these kinds of expressions are heartfelt and sincere, so I didn't mind at all. It was super fun.

In addition to some much-needed lessons, this day did have a highlight. During my hour-long drive home, I called Mr. Oyster and said, "Hey, my makeup is done and I have some curls left in my hair. Maybe we should go out!" He took me to a cute little Italian restaurant and then we went to a trendy frozen yogurt place that doesn't allow pictures. The yogurt was delicious, as you can see in this photo. ;-) You can also see what is left of my "stripey" (according to Mr. Oyster) makeup.

Totally deserved after a hot, tiring, stressful day! Now that my wedding day is almost here, I am so glad I went through this experience. It has alleviated untold amounts of stress, and given me a much clearer picture of what the day will look like.