Where to Get Ready on your Wedding Day
WEDDING PLANNING TIPS | WEDDING GETTING READY PHOTOS | WHERE TO SPEND YOUR WEDDING MORNING
A large portion of your wedding day will be spent getting ready, especially if you’re having your hair and makeup professionally done or have a big wedding party. There are a lot of moving parts to getting ready on your wedding day, and choosing the location where you get ready can have a huge impact. We’ve gathered some of the most common getting-ready locations and let you know the pros and cons of each to help you pick the best spot for you!
Getting Ready at a Hotel
A majority of couples choose to get ready at their hotel on their wedding day, and for a good reason. If you are spending the night at the hotel, it makes sense that you would get ready there and have your stuff dropped off already. Your wedding party is likely also staying at the same hotel and can easily go back and forth to their rooms when necessary. Couples often book a hotel close to their wedding venue, making transportation easier. The downside of getting ready at a hotel? Generally speaking — space. If you are booking a standard hotel room rather than a suite, it can be quite a tight squeeze depending on the family members you have getting ready with you and your wedding party. Upgrading to a suite can be quite expensive, and if you need to get ready earlier than the standard check-in time there is usually an additional fee for early arrival. It’s also important to ask about outlets in your room! If you have multiple people using hair tools at once, you will need more than one or two outlets hidden in awkward spaces!
Getting Ready at Home
If you live close to your wedding venue, getting ready at home is a fantastic option. For large wedding parties, this often makes the most sense, as your house is likely going to offer you more space than any hotel suite could. Your house may have more than one bathroom and a full-size fridge for snacks and drinks while you’re getting ready! Plus, there are no time restrictions or extra fees! There is, however, one big con to getting ready at your own house, and that’s having to clean and prepare for guests. For most couples, the week leading up to the wedding is hectic and this is just another item on your plate.
Getting Ready at your Wedding Venue
While touring wedding venues you may have noticed that some offer incredibly gorgeous suites for getting ready and taking photos before the ceremony. While these spaces are often absolutely beautiful and can save you the trouble of having to travel after getting dressed and ready, most of the time they come at an added price. Most wedding venue rentals are for a set amount of hours and only include about a half hour before the starting time of your ceremony. While you can almost always add on additional time to get ready at the venue, the cost is usually a few hundred dollars per hour, which can add up quickly.
Other Options
While the above options are the most common getting-ready locations, there are tons of other options out there! Whether that’s getting ready at a friend's or family member's house or renting a nearby Airbnb, these options can piece together the pros and cons of getting ready at home and using a hotel to offer you the perfect experience. Another option we’ve seen recently is renting a mobile salon trailer! These are created specifically for this use and can park pretty much anywhere you’d like!
Getting ready is going to be a part of your wedding day, and you want it to be a fantastic memory. If you are having your wedding photographer come to your getting-ready location, feel free to ask for their opinion as well! In the end, make sure you and your partner think through all of the different options and choose whatever space makes the most sense for you!
