Because no one wants a hair tie on their wrist in their wedding portraits 🥂🤍✨

Us gals at Chestnut Ridge have been through many magical days, and of course some things have popped up on wedding day. It wouldn’t be natural if everything ran 100% perfect all day, although that is what we strive for! As a bride, your job on paper may seem easy for the day of the wedding, but everyone knows that is not the case. In this blog, we hope to provide you with some helpful wedding day tips & tricks to keep your stress away and your big day to run as seamless as possible!

The Perfect Day!

So, you have decided on forever! First & foremost congratulations! You are entering into a realm of new emotions, new experiences, and new “man I wish I would have known that before”s. We have all been there. I mean how is one supposed to know not to wear pointed toe heels to an 8 hour function. Ya know, without living through the blister bent pain a few times first? (Are Birkenstocks considered business formal these days?…asking for a friend.) We totally get it, and we are right there with you! A gals wedding day is full of magic! Every girl wants to make her day to be as seamless as possible. The less your guests notice the “seams” the more they notice how much you and your hubby are in love. Right?

One moment, one first kiss, one day to make all of your wildest wedding dreams come true. That is quite a bit of pressure. Well, good thing you know a few people who have the honor to make “Happily Ever After” come true all the time! We have lived out the dos and the don’ts, along with the haves and have nots. We hope to provide some helpful tips and tricks can be life saving to brides, grooms, and family on the day of the wedding. If you’re not engaged/getting married and you’re just here to crash the party, welcome! No matter why you’re here, we totally recommend this blog to be read with half of a caramel flat white deep. Ya know, really have your brain prepared for blastoff.

Let’s Focus on the Bride, Shall We?

I’m sure you can imagine there are a plethora of tips, tricks, and sentimental gestures that can be super useful on your big day. Since we are speaking from past experiences whether that be professionally or even better, personally, we want to focus in on those tips that logistically…just. make. sense.

Stop Telephonin’ Meh – Lady Gaga

The first one may not fly for these social media divas, but we promise you it is SO worth it. Give your phone to your maid of honor or brides maid! I know it’s hard to let go of something that is usually always on us, but on a day where you feel the need to be in control of even the smallest detail, letting go of that one will relieve a lot of anxiety. Imagine your phone dinging or vibrating religiously in your robe pocket while you’re trying to get some falsies put on. No way! Now picture handing that phone – on silent – over to your best gals. See, you can already feel that stress just melting away!

Free the ta-tas!

Ok, that was dramatic, but hear me out: don’t wear a bra while you are getting ready on your big day. This is a loaded tip because there are multiple reasons as to why losing the over-the-shoulder-holder can solve a lot of brablems. First, they aren’t the most comfortable contraptions to wear in general. When you’re with your closest girls on your big day, there’s no need to constrain yourself and cause uncomfortability.

Secondly, once your wedding begins, you will have on make up, false eyelashes, stay on lipstick, bobby pins in your brain…er I mean hair, a dress that weighs as much as you do, and your heart on your sleeve. Make sure before that moment, you are as organic as you can be!

Lastly, as I mentioned before, bras are not of the most forgiving garments, and thus they will leave strap marks. If you have a dress that is strapless, back less, swoop neck, or V-cut you run the risk of having red lines striped across your upper body from where your bra pressed all day. Photographers can work their magic to relieve those pesky marks, however why not be the celestial being that you were created to be for your big day?!

Thick Thighs Save Lives

Ladies, if you have felt it deep in your soul when Beyoncé said “if you don’t jump to put jeans on, baby you don’t feel my pain” this one if for you! If not, then you may keep scrolling. Make sure that when you are ordering or purchasing your garters (& yes, having two garters is helpful! One for keeping, one for throwing) for your big day make sure they fit according to YOUR leg size. A garter should be treated the same as buying lingerie, as it is an extension of your intimacy. You want to make sure it isn’t sliding down your knee, or creating a less than comfortable squeeze.

Another tip for us girls with thicker thighs: don’t forget to bring baby power. You will be moving constantly all day, and if you don’t have some sort of barrier (pantyhose, spanx, etc.) on underneath your dress, things might begin to get a little frictional. Baby powder will help the insides of your legs stay dry and soft!

HYDRATE, HYDRATE, HYDRATE!

I know this sounds like common sense, but your big day will feel like the longest yet most rapid day of your life! Many brides will forget to drink water and eat while they are getting ready. We love a good mimosa as much as the next boujee queen, but remember to counterbalance your alcohol consumption with a lot of water! You will possibly go a few hours without even thinking to drink a swig. Wedding day tips & tricks numero uno! We would recommend setting yourself for personal success and delegating duties to your bridesmaids and/or family for the morning of your wedding. This will keep you from stressing so much, and will make them all feel like they have something important for them to do! One of those duties should be reminding you to eat and drink.

Weddings Day Tips & Tricks: It’s All in the Details

Coco Chanel once said “simplicity is the keynote to all true elegance”. What better way to exemplify this thought than through a Details Shot? Pulling together all those little pieces that make the morning of wedding day so special. Wrapping them up into a designed photograph. So, a dazzling photography shot list wouldn’t be complete without a Details Shot! A great tip would be to collect the items that you would like to be included in a details shot and put them in a box. This way you’re not having to slip off the garter, locate your bottle of your finest perfume, and run around collecting your invitation suite while you’re getting ready. You can just hand your photographer a box all wrapped up in a cute little bow and be on your way! Just one of the many simple wedding day tips & tricks!

Oh, Look! It Has Pockets!

What’s the first thing a girl says when someone compliments their dress that has pockets? We usually already have our hands in the pockets, we jump into a weird little stance, raise our wrists so we show the complimenter that indeed we have hands, they’re just nestled down in cozy little cubbies built into our dress. What an invention?! A dress with pockets! Naturally, this can be SO helpful to a bride. She can store tissues in there like a squirrel hoards nuts. BUT, make sure if you have a dress that has pockets you are conscious of how often you slide your hands in there. Organically, when we have our hands in our pockets it creates comfortability and causes our posture to slouch. Creating an awareness since I am sure that most brides don’t want to look bummed out in their wedding photos!

Girls & Boys Just Wanna Have Fun!

We all know the beloved hit by Cyndi Lauper, girls really do just wanna have fun! Well, some of you may ask “what about the boys?!” Boys deserve to have boat loads of fun too! They’re just a little different since the don’t have all day to pamper. Us girls take ample time to get ready in general, but more so on a wedding day! So…what do the guys typically do on a wedding day? Well, they sleep in for one. They all meet up for some BoJangles and they roll into the venue around lunch time. Then the bottles begin popping…and popping…and popping. The early 2000s rap playlist comes on, and they are just living their best lives tucked away in the Groomsden.

Sometimes if the boys have less activities to partake in, they find a means of entertainment. Ya know, in the liquid courage, the firewater, the spirit sauce! And yes, we get it Chad “Saturday’s are for the boys,” but in moderation! Brides, we always recommend giving your fellas some sort of activity they can do the morning/early afternoon on the day of the wedding. At Chestnut Ridge, we offer on-site skeet shooting as an opportunity for the guys to have some fun, without the presence of alcohol. Getting the boys mind onto something while you’re getting ready will help with a much smoother transition to ceremony + pictures + toasts!

The Big Day Buzz

There has been so many wedding day hacks invented over the course of time. Some have been created into beautiful traditions, and some are as modern as it gets! With every new wedding, we find a new way to do something faster, or with better quality, or the allows the bride to have more peace of mind. With every wedding being unique to itself, we are always soaking in little details that make a big impact!

As wedding professionals, we pride ourselves on knowing what can make a wedding day run smoothly. The bride is the most important person that day, and making sure she is blissful & relaxed is step one to creating an enchanted day! So, the wedding day tips & tricks listed above are what we chose to “unpack” for the interest of the bride on the morning of her wedding. However, we couldn’t even begin to scratch the surface of the big day buzz! Stay tuned for more big day advise!