We women have our mini fashion and beauty disasters on an almost daily basis, but there's one day you don't want to be caught with your mascara running down your neck and your invisible bra straps cutting through your shoulders like some phantom cheesewire, and that's on your wedding day. By Karen Birney
1. Getting lost in your own dress
The disaster: It’s the morning of the wedding and you realise that the only person who knows how to guide you into, and lace-up your corset is currently opening up her bridal shop in another city.
Prevention: Make sure someone in the house on the morning of the wedding knows how to get you into the dress and how to do it up properly. This person should come along with you to a dress fitting (preferably your final fitting) to be talked through the intricacies of the dress, if any. If your dress has lots of buttons on it, make sure the person doing them up hasn’t any nail varnish on, and that their hands are spotless!
2. Make-up stains
The disaster: You’ve thrown your dress over your head and are now left with a near-perfect imprint of your face on the front of it.
Prevention: Your make-up artist will be well used to the precautions to take when putting on your dress so as not to stain it, but if you are doing your make up yourself, make sure you were a clean towel/cloth over your dress when you put it on. The same goes for touch ups. Have a clean white cloth in your make-up bag/emergency kit to stick over your dress whenever the lipstick or powder comes out.
3. Groom: A dodgy new haircut
The disaster: As usual, the barber got a little too snip-happy with your head and he’s left you looking a little First-Holy-Communion for photos.
Prevention: Don’t try out a fancy new barber for your big day. Stick with one who knows you and knows the way you like to wear your hair. Have the appointment penciled in for a few days before the wedding so that you have time to get used to the cut and shape and can style it the way that suits you best. Invest in a standby Stetson should this all go wrong.
4. Fake tan streaks
The disaster: You’ve woken up looking like Lindsay Lohan at a probation hearing afterparty.
Prevention: For some people, fake tan is a necessary evil in their beauty regime and is a much safer way to distinguish your skin from your white dress than sunbeds (or sunBADS -am I right?!) Nicola Plummer, make-up artist, has a few guidelines for no-streak tan: Always have a trial of the tan you want to use; if you opt for a spray tan, make sure the girl who did your trial is the person doing your tan for the day; get tan done three days before your wedding day so it has time to settle; exfoliate and moisturise before application. Stay out of the sun for the run up to the wedding and wear suncream on your face and anywhere that will be in the sun before the wedding. Avoid strap marks AT ALL COSTS!
5. Not-so-invisible straps
The disaster: You’re ‘strapless’ underwear’s ‘invisible’ straps are shining brightly for all to see.
Prevention: ‘Invisible’ straps are never a good idea, unless of course you’re a figure skater, or a D-list celebrity attempting to be a figure skater. Even white straps are better than see-through ones when it comes to your wedding day, especially if they aren't sitting correctly on your skin. Your underwear is such an important part of your wedding dress, not only to make it look like a second skin, but to make it feel like a second skin. There are so many options in underwear today, from hold ups to hold ins, and if you’re dress is backless, sleeveless, or slinky and requires something unusual you will definitely find something if you do your research. If you go to a specialist bridal underwear shop, such as McElhinney’s, Peaches and Cream or Susan Hunter, bring a picture of your dress with you and your dressmaker may be able to sew your underwear into it!
6. Dress too big
The disaster: Your dress was perfect last week, but now you can fit your bouquet down the front of it.
Prevention: A lot of brides spend the week before the wedding running around, picking up bits and pieces and stressing about appointments. Because of this, many women lose a little bit of weight in between their final fitting and their wedding day. To make sure this doesn’t become a problem, try to maintain your regular eating habits in the last few days before your wedding and whatever you do, do not attempt any crash diets after your final fitting! Try on your dress when you go to pick it up from the dress shop and make sure you’re more than happy with how it fits.
7. Not being able to walk in shoes
The disaster: Your wedding shoes are beautiful, and perfect for sitting down in.
Prevention: It goes without saying that you need to wear in your shoes before you attempt to leave the house in them. And if they’re not working the night before the wedding day, they’ll probably not work the day of, with nerves knocking your knees together! If you can, buy two pairs of shoes and keep the killer designer pair for photos and for the dinner. For walking up the aisle try to be as comfortable as possible and if that means flats or kitten heels, so be it!
8. The infamous dress-pant-catch
The disaster: Your dress is caught in your pants.
Prevention: The idea of buddying-up is one that is not lost on most women when it comes to toilet breaks on nights out, so think of your wedding day as one big night out. Whenever you are going to the bathroom, ask a bridesmaid or your mother to come with you to make sure everything is where it’s meant to be when you arrive back to the reception. Lest you have to sing a rendition of the Copacabana in the middle of the speeches in an effort to regain your self-respect.
Main photo by Bigger Picture Photography
Did you have any disasters on your wedding day? Let us know by leaving a comment below!
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