Lexi Herrick (Senior Director Audience Development, Allure & SELF): Well, Dianna, Annie, and Jesa, thank you so much for joining me. I’m getting married in 29 days now. The countdown is officially on. And I was in New York this week, focusing on a lot of different bridal beauty.
I wanted to meet with you guys just to talk to you about what your experiences were with getting married, what you prioritize, and any kind of tips or tricks that you could pass along my way from the experts.
Beauty Prep: Facials & Brows
Lexi: So I just wanted to start by asking you, how early you would recommend a bride, like myself, start doing bridal beauty prep? Now that I’m in the last 30 days, I know that there’s certain things you do in 30 days that you wouldn’t do in six months and vice versa. But A, what would you recommend I do in 30 days? And then B, just in general, what were the things that you focused on the most for your wedding and your beauty prep? Anyone want to start?
Dianna Singh (Features Director): We have so many thoughts.
Jesa Marie Calaor (Senior Beauty Editor): What did you do? What have you done so far in terms of beauty prep?
Lexi: So my hair has been very important to me. I’ve been trying to pick what’s important to me and what would be nice to have, as well as try not to be too experimental at this point, since we’re 30 days out. If I try something totally different and then don’t like it, it’s now it’s too late. You’re going to look that way in 30 days, so I wanted to focus on my hair.
This week, I went and got highlights done with Paul Labrecque Salon, which was…
Dianna: Oh, chic, chic, chic. Love it.
Lexi: I am not an expert as it pertains to doing my hair, right? I like to lean on the experts for anything beauty related. So essentially I came in and was like, listen, “This is what I want from a look. What do you think it is? Is it a balayage? Is it this?”
Originally, I think I wanted a balayage, and he’s like, “What you’re describing is not a balayage.” Oh, that’s totally fine. Knowing that I’m four weeks out, a balayage could have my roots grow out may be more than what I wanted. I really want it to be more blended, brighten it up, but not be too streaky or too stark. So, he’s like, “You want babylights.”
So we did babylights, lightened it just to the perfect extent. Then I got my brows laminated for the first time. Which, again, maybe risky to do 30 days out, but it went really well. I sat down. I went to the Benefit Brow Bar in Brooklyn, and I was like, “I trust you with my life and my eyebrows.”
I just said, Listen, since I’ve never done this before, err on the side of being conservative, but I really want them to look a little stronger. I’ve been trying to grow them out now for six months using Revita Brow Conditioner everyday to try to grow them back. I did a lot of millennial damage to the brows.
Jesa: Heyyyy, why didn’t you get a tint? I feel like a tint would have been really great.
Lexi: I chickened out on the tint, because I was worried that I wouldn’t like it, and then there would be no walking it back at this stage, because I’m so close. I was like lamination, if they’re sticking up too much and I don’t like it, I could brush those bad boys down. But if they came out and I had really dark, Sharpie-level eyebrows and I didn’t like them, I wouldn’t know what to do to remedy that.
But I think that after I get married, I want to experiment with it. It’s funny how that’s worked. There’s been these things that I’ve tried that I’ve never done before. I’ve done microneedling — never did that before. Just like various different self-care investments that I never really made a priority until I was getting married, and now that I’ve been trying some of those things, I feel more apt to want to try different things after I get married.
Was that every your guys’ experience as well? Did you try anything new when you were getting ready to get married?
Annie Blay-Tettey (Associate Beauty Editor): I feel like I can go first, because mine’s so brief. I did not. I tried nothing. I was like, This is not the time to experiment.
I wanted to feel myself, and so I was like, Let me go to my go-to’s. So I would say for you, 30 days out: Not the time to try something new.
Lexi: Don’t try too many new things right now.
Annie: I have my tentpoles that I focus on. The number one thing is my skin. Like if my skin doesn’t look good…everyone has their thing. I feel like your thing was like hair. Some people are like really big nail people. I’m just a skin person. My skin had to look good. So, I got a facial. I got a hydrafacial, which is one of my favorite facials.
I could have gotten any facial, but I specifically chose hydrafacial, because...you also don’t want to do too much to your skin too close to your wedding. So again, I didn’t do microneedling, but if you are a bride who’s like planning out… Like I’m also just not good at planning, so I did everything the weekend before my wedding.
Jesa: Annieeeeee!!!
Annie: I also just had a baby, so….I just did not have time.
Lexi: What’s going to happen? I don’t know.
Annie: Yeah. I would not recommend you do that. I would recommend maybe like, I don’t know, three months- Maybe get a facial once a month leading up to your wedding, but starting from more like three-to-four months out. Those earlier facials can be microneedling, extractions, like all of that. But for your last facial before your wedding, I wouldn’t do anything crazy. I would keep it gentle. So, I did a very gentle hydrafacial, and just had them suck all the gunk out of my pores, and give me a lot of like moisture, hydration so I could look glowy.
I, too, got my brows done, but I got them threaded, which I do about once a month anyways, so that was nothing new for me — just shaped them. Then I got my nails done. I did what feels like the bare minimum, but I just did what I know is going to make me feel good.
I feel like had I done anything more, it probably would have added some anxiety to the mix. Like, if I did change… if I dyed my hair, you know? So, I don’t know. I was a very low maintenance bride, though.
So, I’m excited to see what Jesa and Dianna have to say.
Dianna: You go first, Jesa.
Jesa: Welllllll, okay. I guess my focus was skin. I get facials pretty regularly, so I wasn’t necessarily worried about being too close to the actual wedding day, but my last facial was…pretty intense. I got it I think like a week and a half before, and that was I felt a little bit…risky?
Yeah, but it was a good one. It was at Hudson Derm, the Aesthetica Skin Lab, where they did just like a little bit of everything, but the focus was just getting hydration and me looking glowy. I guess, as we started getting closer to the actual day, I was so stressed out, I started breaking out all over my chin, and I was breaking out on the bottom of my nose.
And I’m like, Are you kidding? I know that this is very much… It’s one of those things. You need to stop stressing out, so that this goes down, but more are emerging and that’s stressing me out more.
Lexi: Yeah, it’s coming from an internal place too, because I’ve been doing a lot… I’m on tretinoin this year. I’ve been doing just ZO skincare to really balance my skin, and not try too many- You guys know I love to test skin care, but I was like, This is not the time. I need stability with it. So I’ve been focused on that.
I have tried the facials. I will break out though sometimes from facials. Do you guys ever have that experience or is it just depends?
Jesa: Totally! I’ve definitely had that experience, and maybe just more than a week out. I went a week out, because I was just so broken out on my chin that I was like, Anything anything we could do to get this down before the actual day?
I had laser genesis is what I got. It’s like a very low grade for-wimpy-people laser, because I’m just so bad at pain, and that actually helped a lot. That helped so much in terms of bringing everything down.
But yeah, and then I don’t know if you were considering this, but if you were getting injectables, that’s like way out — maybe three to four weeks or something like that. Like you’re not supposed to get injectables that close to your wedding day
Dianna: Yeah, I did mine like a month out. I went on a dermatological Super Bowl, I would say. I was working very closely with Dr. Macrene Alexiades, who’s incredible.
We started a treatment plan…I want to say like, oh, eight months out. We sort of mapped everything out. Like, what are your goals? How can we get there? And worked backwards from my wedding day.
To your point about breakouts, and I wrote a whole very self-indulgent story for Allure about this whole process, but in that story, she mentioned that she actually put some folks on like a very low dose antibiotics to the wedding.
Jesa: Yes!
Dianna: To kind of like, if you’re someone who’s breakout prone, just to kind of help tamp that down a little bit. Obviously, that’s a very personal decision between you and your dermatologist, but some people do do that.
Lexi: Like, antibacterial fighting that essentially.
Dianna: Yeah, in that story, it says exactly what dose that she prescribes. But yeah, you can only do a little bit to be on the offensive for that sort of thing.
I had a lot of fun preparing for my wedding. Sometimes I think the planning is almost as fun as the day for events, and so, yeah, it was fun. And obviously, being a beauty person, it was a chance to connect with- Daniel Martin, the incredible makeup artist did my makeup the day of. Tommy Buckett did my hair.
Jesa: Oh, big deal. No big deal.
Dianna: It was fun. It was like, let me assemble my A-team of beauty experts, and what would that look like. So, it was great. I did feel very beautiful that day. Yes. Did I need to do all of that? No. You are just as married if you wash your hair and go to the courthouse. But being a beauty editor, it felt like a chance to play a little bit.
Lexi: Yeahhhh. I think, even beyond that, what I have found is that it gives you a moment to really focus on yourself, and try things different and try self-care.
I remember when I was getting the facial, it was probably the first time I ever had gotten a facial in my life. And at first I was like, This is nice. I’m going to need to keep doing this.
Just from a stress perspective, I was like, Why have I not done this sooner? But the reason why is because, you know, I don’t want to spend the money. I don’t want to prioritize… But then now when it’s your wedding, it kind of forces you to into: Now’s the time to do this if I’m going to do it.
Learning that kind of self-care and investing in yourself in that way is a good thing to take into a marriage too.
Annie, I know that you got married and you have a little one as well. So once little ones come into the picture, and then with a husband and with a family, obviously, there’s a lot to juggle, and sometimes yourself can get lost in that. So maybe one of the fun parts about bridal prep is that element of it. It’s like, okay, I’m going to do a little bit of fun for myself before I enter this new and exciting chapter.
Dianna: Yeah, absolutely.
Annie: For sure.
Dianna: You get to decide your goals too, right? Like my goal was just to look like the best version of myself, but perhaps, there are brides who do a haircut at the reception.
Annie: Yeah, I’ve seen that on TikTok.
Dianna: Perhaps it’s a fun moment to kind of decide where you want to go with it. Different strokes for different folks.
Jesa: And I know that saying looking like yourself seems like a given, but I’ve had makeup trials where I did not look like myself. Like I had makeup trials where I was like, Wow, I look like a reality TV star. It was just a lot for me.
So, I knew I had to go to a different artist. I knew that I had to tone it down. What was so nice was that my makeup artist was very much like, “You do your own eyeliner, because I can’t do your eyeliner.”
Annie: It’s so signature.
Jesa: Exactly! He’s like, “You want to look back at your photos and feel like you’re the one getting married — not this created version of you or this fake version of you got married.” But, in turn, I was so nervous. I was like, “Please just do it for me.”
Dianna: I can’t believe you did that. I don’t even remember getting my makeup done. I just opened my eyes, and it was done and then I kept it moving. I can’t even imagine stopping to….
Bridal Makeup Trials
Lexi: That was going to be one of my questions, actually. You already answered it, right? I’m in the stage of doing the trials, especially for makeup. I think that’s one of the big sticky points between like, how do you dial it up enough for pictures? Because that’s part of it, right?
Lexi: It’s not quite stage makeup, like in my theater days, but it’s kind of close in that regard, because you’re trying not…especially since I’m so pale. I don’t want to be drowned out. So, it’s also a couple of different things there from a picture perspective, but you also still want to look like you.
How did you guys kind of communicate that or decide on that with your artists as it pertained to your makeup specifically?
Annie: Yeah, I feel like that’s why a trial is so important. I almost didn’t do a makeup trial. My makeup artist — I think she was so nervous that she just kind of threw it in there.
Jesa: Whyyyy? Why was she so nervous?
Annie: Because I said I didn’t want to do a trial. I wanted to do a hair trial, for sure. But makeup trial? I was like, eh, I didn’t really care. I just kind of had faith that it was going to work out.
But my hairstylist and my makeup artist were on the same team, which I would highly recommend. If you do get two separate people, which I’m guessing the average bride does not have like…Daniel Martin on speed dial.
Dianna: My only regret about my makeup is that I didn’t time the trial to like my bachelorette party, my bridal shower, or some sort of like wedding centric event. Because I was walking around town with a beautiful makeup by Daniel Martin on and had nowhere to show it off. And, it would be good actually because you want to see how it photographs. You want to see how it works when you’re smiling and laughing and talking, so that would be one regret.
Annie: Yeah, that’s another tip too because I got mine on a Sunday afternoon, and I was just like lounging on the couch with a full face makeup.
Dianna: Right! Right!
Annie: But I was going to say that for the average bride that I found it very beneficial to have a hair and makeup team that basically came together. Because they just worked together, even during my trial. I remember the hairstylist put my hair in a bun, but the makeup artist was like, “Ahhh, but her cheekbones. Let’s do this.” Just watching them kind of collaborate helped me a lot, and I’m very indecisive, so I think they just did all the work for me, especially the makeup artist.
I remember she did the face, and then at different points in the process, she would stop and be like, “Look at your eyes. How do you feel about your eyes?” And I’d be like, “Okay, I want less shimmer in the middle.” She would literally take notes like less shimmer, more contour.
Then, I remember she was done and I liked it but I was [also] like ehh. I literally texted her two hours later like, “Scrap the eye. A whole new eye.” She’s like okayyyyy. So, this is why a trial is so so important, especially if you’re someone who is like, I want to look like myself.
Something my makeup artist was telling me is a lot of people don’t realize natural makeup involves a lot of product. It’s a lot of product to look like you’re not wearing that much. So long story short do a trial. It will benefit you greatly.
Jesa: And Lexi, you love a deck, so bring a deck.
Annie: Make a mood board.
Lexi: Yeah. So I did one trial already and I have a binder. It is robust. I will show you guys at some point. It has a lot of detailed information in it, and it has a section for the beauty as well.
I think, honestly, my biggest takeaway from the first trial, is the way I envisioned things from my Pinterest boards and my vision boards — once I saw it on me, there were things that I was like, No. I don’t look like that woman. That might be AI. I think we need to also be realistic.
And they said that too. They’re like, “We get pictures that we know aren’t real people, are not real faces.” You have to also kind of set expectations for what it’s going to look like on your skin or with your hair. That was my biggest learning. So I have some feedback now too, Annie, similar to you. Like, now that I’ve seen it, I actually don’t want my hair quite like that. I want it maybe more like this.
I also think that, after wearing it for hours afterwards, for example, my makeup faded very quickly. So now I’m like, okay, in that case, do you think it’s best to come back and say, “Okay, I think I need it heavier or maybe I need a better setting spray.” I don’t know. How did you guys deal with the makeup wearing off throughout the wedding or preparing for it in that way?
Dianna: I think you should tell them what’s happening, and then they’ll have advice from there. Take note of like, Is it creasing under the eye? Or is it your lipstick that’s wearing? Like, where is it wearing, and how? And they might send you with a little go bag with the lip color or blotting sheets or that sort of thing. So take very specific notes.
Jesa: I wanted to wear a specific cream lipstick with a matte finish. My makeup artist was like, “This is not going to last.” So what he did is, he put a liquid lip underneath that was very similar, and then layered the cream on top so that whenever I ate something, drank something, there was still color on my lips ultimately. It stayed all night—the liquid lip. If you have a good formula, it’ll stay all night.
Lexi: I’ve been thinking a lot about that too, because I love a bold red lip. I really do, but I’m thinking for the actual portraits, maybe I’ll go softer. And then my friend was like, ”Okay, what if you came out in the reception with a red lip?“ I was like, “Oh my gosh! What a great idea.” Did you guys change anything to your look?
Dianna: I did that. We got married at the Central Park Zoo, and Daniel and Tommy and Miss Pop, the manicurist, all went back with me. We did a full beauty-fashion change. We put on a red lip. We changed my hair. We put this big floral- My husband’s Indian, so we sort of shifted to the red dress, the traditional sort of music and dancing.
So, that was the moment of changing things up. Miss Pop even put rhinestones on my nails, because I had plain nails, and she was gluing on rhinestones in the moment. It was so much fun.
But yes! There’s nothing like a wow moment. Are you changing fashion or are you...?
Lexi: I don’t think I’m going to change fashion. I’ve gone back and forth on this. I think I’m just going to stay in my wedding dress, really get my money’s worth on that.
Dianna: Yeah, then do a lip. That’d be a fun little way of like the party’s starting.
Lexi: Yeah, I might even pull…So I always wear my hair down and I’m going to pin...I’m going to wear some of it up, but I also was like, What if I just take it out, rezhuzh it a little and then it’s just a loose casual look, you know?
Dianna: Love that. Yeah.
Annie: Yeah, I changed my dress just to be more comfortable. My makeup [laughs]…I cried. I cried during the ceremony. I bawled my eyes out.
I didn’t want to, but it happened. And that, honestly, I told my makeup artist after, I’m like...put this on your resume, because my face didn’t budge.
Dianna: What mascara did she use? Do you know?
Annie: We did lashes. We did fake lashes.
Dianna: Ohhhh, that’s a good tip actually.
Annie: Yeah, so we didn’t do mascara. And the setting spray that she used, we know it, we love it: the One Size Setting spray — that apparently Beyonce also uses. So yeah, my face did not budge. I did have some streaking, but I was able to kind of cover that up. When I looked at my pictures from the reception, you would have no idea that I cried that much.
Bridal Hair
Annie: But something else I did do, Lexi, if you’re like… You think you’re going have so much time on the day to do all this and that. I know I didn’t. I didn’t have time to sit and breathe.
So one small thing is like I had my hair in a half-up half-down for the ceremony with a bun in the back, and I just basically took the bun out for the reception, and it was still half-up half-down, but instead of a bun, it was a half-ponytail half everything down. It was enough of a new look. Think of things like that, especially if you want to change your hair.
Think of a hairstyle that can easily be like shifted into something else without maybe you needing to sit. Like, say you did a slick-back ballerina bun, that’s a lot to take out and make into something else, you know?
Lexi: It’s a good point. It’s almost like you have to have hairstyles that easily transition to each other.
Annie: Yeah I would definitely recommend that.
Lexi: I love that too. That’s so fun.
Jesa: Are you doing accessories at all, like hair accessories or anything like that?
Lexi: I have a veil, right? But other than that, no. And I don’t think I would wear the veil for the reception. That would go out at that point.
But I’ve gone back and forth, if I wanted to do a pretty barrette. Cause I’m also, I’m very deeply sentimental, so I keep trying to find all these cute little things that I can keep and pass along and, you know, stuff like that.
So I’m like, what if I got like an antique? I asked my grandma if she had any, and she was like, “What are you talking about?” But no, I would love any advice on just some subtle accessories you can keep for years after that. I think it’s sweet.
Jesa: I did a headband.
Lexi: Oh, that’s right. You did.
Jesa: Yeah, I did a Jennifer Behr headband, and I loved it. And now it’s in a box that’s airtight. And I’m like, that’s exactly it. I’m so deeply sentimental, and if I have daughters, I want to let them wear it if they want to. I think any kind of accessory can act that way.
There’s like the pearl appliques and the rhinestone appliques. There’s rhinestone clips that are super pretty, if you just put one or two. During my hair trial, I had tried rhinestone hair clips, and it was great in the way that I kept my hair out of my face.
I just, you know, wanted the headband. The headband really kept things out of my face. And when you’re dancing, it was great.
Wedding Fragrance
Dianna: If you’re sentimental, I would highly recommend choosing a special wedding fragrance. Because then, that’s something, if you’re wearing it that day, now, whenever I spray what I wore on our wedding day, I think of our wedding day.
And even, going down to as simple as like the candles that were in the room I was getting ready in, like now I burn those in our home, and it reminds me of the day. You really can create memories through fragrance.
Jesa: What was your fragrance?
Dianna: I wore Sweet by Ellis Brooklyn, and then I wore Salt on our honeymoon. So every like wedding activity, I had a different fragrance.
Annie: Wowww. I love that. My husband and I, we tried to figure out what fragrances we would wear at like…probably 1 A.M. while the baby was… it was a mess. It wasn’t 1 A.M. We basically had to put the baby down. It was earlier in the night and our bathroom is attached to our bedroom, so I’m holding the baby and he’s laying out fragrances on the bed in the dark. And he’s like, “Smell this one.” And I’m like, “Oh this is nice.” And he’s like, “Shhhh. Do you like it?” It was a mess.
So, I ended up going with All of Me [by] Narcisco Rodriguez. The name was very romantic. I’d never worn it before that day, which was a risk. But it’s funny, because like, I don’t remember. I don’t think I stopped and was like [sniff’s wrist].
Dianna: But have you worn it since?
Annie: I haven’t.
Dianna: Try it! Try it one day and spray it, and and see if you aren’t feeling good feelings.
Annie: What did you wear Jesa?
Lexi: Yeah, did you have one?
Jesa: I wore DS and Durga I Don’t Know What. And that’s one of Bianca’s favorites, our social editor. Every time she walks by, I’m reminded of our wedding.
Dianna: You’re probably like, Why do I want to hug Bianca right now?
Jesa: I was like, Why am I getting so emotional right now? Because we had a last dance. And I remember right before our last dance, I re-spritzed it. I was like, “Wow!” Every time I walk by Bianca, when I go to a DS and Durga store, whenever I sniff like my personal bottle, I just get very emotional.
Then my bridesmaids wore Ellis Brooklyn Salt, because I gave it to them as a gift and everyone loved it. And they were like, “We’re going to wear this for the wedding. We’re going to wear this all the time.” And I’m like, “Great. I’m so glad you liked it.” So whenever I smell it, it reminds me of my girls. That’s so nice.
Wedding Trends
Lexi: That’s so nice. And it’s funny you bring up Bianca, because one of my questions is sort of social media related, I would say, and it pertains to beauty and to weddings in general, but because we are like constantly consuming content and people are constantly talking about- I’m so inundated with bridal content right now. It’s out of hand. I’m trying not to engage, because then I just get more of it, but it’s still there.
Dianna: It’ll mess up your feed for like a year.
Lexi: It is like inescapable, truly. And one of the things that’s highly debated a lot are trends, right? Like how you make certain decisions about your wedding, either aesthetically, but also about yourself, your dress, and your beauty.
You’re influenced by the trends, but you also don’t want it to be, you know, That wedding was 2016. They know exactly when it was, because it was too trendy almost at that time.
Jesa: But is that a bad thing?
Lexi: Exactly. That’s kind of my take on it. When people are like, “Oh, it looks like they got married in the 80s.” It’s like, they did get married in the 80s! What do you mean?!
So I kind of go back and forth on it, and I think that’s the case with beauty too. People are like, “You don’t want to like go too trendy with your beauty.” So how did you guys balance that? Almost like, how did your look feel like you in a timeless way, but also was a current you, you know?
Annie: I’d say…to hell with the trends from someone who literally writes about trends every single day.
Lexi: You’re a trend writer.
Annie: But I say that because, if the trend does happen to be you, then do it. But I really am not an advocate for like, if red nails were trending at the time I got married and I hate red nails, I would not force myself to wear red nails.
I would look back and just be like, What did I do? Looking at my wedding day beauty, everything felt very me. If you told me it wasn’t on trend, I’m like, “Okay, it is what it is.” I’m going to have to look at these pictures for the rest of my life.
Lexi: Not you! Me!
Annie: Yeah. But I mean, the thing is like trends come and go. So if you like decided that you were going to do something that isn’t trendy, God knows in 10 years, it could be trendy. And all of a sudden, look at that, you’re the only person who hopped on that trend.
Lexi: And this goes the other way too, where it’s like…there’s the debate about the basque waist wedding dresses or, I don’t know, the Hollywood curls. Some looks that a lot of people were doing them, right?
I think it goes the same: Like if you love that and you love it love it love it, just because other people are doing it too, that doesn’t diminish it, you know?
Annie: I tried on a basque waist dress because I saw it on TikTok, and I was like, Oh my gosh, Daniel Frankel. I looked crazy. I was like, Wait, what?
I wanted to love it so bad, because I loved it on other people, but if I hopped on that trend, I would have been depressed on my wedding day, because it’s just not what I wanted to wear.
Jesa: Piggybacking off of that, I got married in 2023 when it was Euphoria makeup looks absolutely everywhere and face gems, and all that stuff.
So I remember thinking, I want to do face gems for my reception, just like pearl little appliques. And my makeup artist was like, “You shouldn’t feel like you have to follow a trend. If that’s something that you are okay with looking back at… You could be like, Wow, Euphoria makeup was so in at that point. But if you think you’re going to cringe at yourself, then maybe not.”
And also, I will say that the thing that actually ultimately deterred me from it was: he said that if you put anything small like above your eyes or anything small on your face and the flash hits you the wrong way, it’s going to look like acne. Or, it’s going to look a little strange. So he’s like, maybe just don’t.
You’re paying for your pictures and it’s a lot of money, so maybe just don’t. So, I kept it as classic as I wanted to make it. The only thing that I thought that was a little bit trendy is that I did wear a stronger lip for my ceremony. But yeah, I won’t regret that, I don’t think.
Day-Of Emergency Bridal Kit
Lexi: No regrets. No regrets. I know we’re getting close to time, and it is Friday afternoon and you are very busy women. So I just have a couple of final ones here and then we’ll wrap.
Okay, this will be second to last, but I’m working on this right now. What was in your day-of emergency bridal kit that you actually used? Because I’ve seen so many of them and I’m like, I don’t need 600 things in this dang box.
What did you say Jesa?
Jesa: A Tide-to-Go Pen, a….oh my gosh, what did I use?
Annie: I didn’t have like an emergency- So I had a bridal attendant — highly recommend. Her job was me that day. I didn’t even have to think about the emergency things, because anytime I was like, “Oh my god!,” she would literally just be standing there.
Lexi: I need someone to follow me around every day.
Dianna: I had one too, Annie. I didn’t think I needed one. I was like, “That’s diva-ish to have someone following you around all day.” And I’m sooooo glad I had her: Lizzie.
Annie: Shout out to Alexa. Love you girl!
Dianna: Agency Eight. Look her up. You need her, because yeah she brought the emergency bag.
Annie: Yeah, but in my little clutch that I had at my table, at the reception, I had whatever lip I was wearing just to touch it up. I had the Fenty Beauty blurring little thing — I don’t know what it’s called. I’ll find it. It’s like a little white…
Lexi: Oh the…[shows a product]?
Annie: No. It’s like a little white…
Lexi: Oh yeah yeah yeah yeah.
Annie: It’s a translucent powder with a little puff — just to keep the sweat and the shine…and, lotion, I think. And, if you’re a germaphobe, hand sanitizer, because a lot of people are going to be touching your hands.
Jesa: We had sushi at our reception, and I was like, soy sauce. Soy sauce is going to be a problem, because it’s so easy to be a problem. And it ended up being a problem on my train. My mother-in-law packed me chalk, and I was like, “What is that?” And then she was like, “If you get anything on your dress, you can like cover it with chalk. And it came in handy, because I was eating. [laughs]
Annie: That’s such a good tip.
Lexi: A great tip.
Jesa: Yeah, I had no idea. Thank you mother-in-law!
Lexi: And a cheap tip as well, you know? Just get a little chalk. It doesn’t cost very much. It’s like a dollar.
Jesa: And a hair tie, because you’re going to want to put your hair up.
Lexi: Some of the basics, I know. I’ve seen some versions of it where I’m like, That’s all going to come back to my house, isn’t it? That whole entire like box of things from the Dollar Tree. But I wanted to know what were the main ones — the kind of stuff that you keep in your clutch, so it’s with you. Definitely going to need some powder for, you know, sweatiness and everything. We’re dancing.
Wife Wisdom
Lexi: Um, awesome. So then my final question is: what would you say your main advice is for me? For other brides? Whatever that might be. Now that I’m in the home stretch, and it’s really coming on, as it pertains to beauty but even generally. Once you’re in the home stretch, it becomes such a reality and you start panicking. What am I missing and what do I do? What would you say is your biggest takeaway and biggest advice for that period of time and really just enjoying the wedding and leaning into the beauty?
Jesa: Someone else go first. I have so many.
Dianna: You just shouldn’t think about it that day, frankly. Like I was not thinking about it. You work with people you trust and you put it in their hands, and that’s not going to be on your mind that day. So yeah, do the “work.”
Do what you want to do beforehand. But there’s going to be so much going on. It’s going to be the last thing on your mind. Like, I don’t remember going to touch myself up. I don’t remember even being aware of those things.
Jesa: It happens so fast.
Dianna: Yeah, it happens so so fast.
Annie: The day goes by fast. I would say, um, if you’re not an organized person, find an organized person. My husband was my organized person, and even down to my beauty appointments, he had it on a schedule. Annie gets hair done xyz day. Annie gets facial xyz day, so that helped me kind of make sure that I was on a proper “timeline.”
But, to Dianna’s point on the actual day, if you really get a team around you from hair to makeup to attendance, the venue that you can really trust and on top of it, you’re not going to be thinking about really anything.
And I also, this is so cliche, but looking back at my wedding photos, joy is your best accessory. If you look stressed, that’s going to come out in your photos. You’re probably going to clench or whatever. So literally, just enjoy it. Be happy. Don’t think about all the little, little things.
And, this is also very cliche, but we’ve seen from Big and Carrie, and the whole leaving her at the altar thing. Just find your partner. Find your husband throughout different spots of the party — just be like [points at her eyes, then outward, and then forms a heart with her hands], “Love you!” [Shoots finger guns.]
Lexi: Step one for all of this.
Jesa: It’s about us.
Annie: Yeah, this is about us! Remember it actually is about you guys, and just even be in your own bubble. PDA it up, because when you look back at the photos, just being happy and having a huge smile on your face, that’s what’s going to really make your day right.
Jesa: And that was going to be my advice was just remember that at the end of the day, the napkins don’t matter, the personalized… or your signature drinks don’t really matter, because it’s about you and your person.
Cause I get nervous talking in public sometimes, so it’s everyone I know and love in a room looking at me saying vows. And I was just looking at my husband dead in the eye, I was like, “It’s just us.”
Lexi: Block out all the noise.
Jesa: Block out all the noise and feel your feelings. All of them. Don’t worry about what you’re going to look like in your photos.
Annie: Yeah, cry. Cry if you need to.
Lexi: Cry. Just be there. Thank you guys! That was such beautiful advice. Very, very touching. I’m going to get emotional, because I’m at that stage too, where you’re just overwhelmed with the joy of it and everybody coming together to celebrate love.
And, I think that you are so right at that beauty is about that moment, and beauty is about the joy and the love and the family and the friendship and all of those things. And everything’s going to come into place, you know?
So thank you guys so much for talking with me today, for giving me this advice. I really appreciate it. Probably won’t be the last time I ask you some questions over the next 30 days, but I really appreciate it. And I hope you guys have a good rest of your day.
Dianna: Yay! Congratulations.
Jesa: Congrats!
Dianna: We’re so excited for you!
Editor’s Note: This interview was conducted in late September. The bride to be, Lexi Herrick, got married last weekend, and it went off without a hitch. 🥂
Wedding Prep: Real Talk from Three Brides-to-Be
In this special episode of The Beauty Chat, Angela Trakoshis (Commerce Editor, Allure), Lexi Herrick (Senior Director Audience Development, Allure), and Erica Sloan (Senior Health Writer, SELF) open up about the emotional rollercoaster of getting ready to walk down the aisle. From figuring out the right veil length to last-minute skin-care experiments, …
