The time the wedding morning starts is not chosen: it is worked out. I start from the ceremony time and count backwards, adding the time each person needs and the margins that keep anyone from being rushed.
How long each person getting ready needs
Each guest needs around an hour and forty minutes for hair and makeup. You need about two hours and twenty minutes, because your preparation starts with the skin, with a massage and a more relaxing skincare routine. Once you are dressed, I place your veil, which takes about ten minutes more.
On top of that comes half an hour at the start, to arrive, park and set up the equipment, and between half an hour and an hour at the end, so you can get dressed and have photos taken with your family and bridesmaids without watching the clock.
A typical wedding party, as an example
One group comes up again and again, especially at British weddings: the bride, her mother, her mother-in-law and four bridesmaids. That is seven people, and it shows clearly how the morning is shared out.
I recommend one team member for every three guests, so this group needs two besides me. I get the mother and the bride ready, and the two team members share the mother-in-law and the four bridesmaids between them.
How the wedding day timeline works out with the ceremony at three in the afternoon
The two team members arrive at eight and set up their equipment. From half past eight, one gets three people ready and finishes around half past one; the other gets two ready and finishes before midday. I arrive at half past nine, and from ten to twenty to twelve I get the mother ready. From twenty to twelve to two, the bride. Between two and half past two she gets dressed and has the first photos taken, and at half past two I place the veil. By twenty to three the whole group is ready.
With the ceremony at three, the morning starts at eight, seven hours before.
