Hot Weather Wedding Survival Guide: Expert Tips to Stay Cool
It has been HOT recently in the UK, and this warm weather doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. If you’re due to get married on one of these hotter than usual days, you might be feeling a bit anxious on how best to manage the heat. Don’t worry though, with a little planning there are plenty of things you can do to make things more comfortable. Here are a few heat busting tips I’ve picked up as a hair and makeup artist that’s worked at hundreds of weddings.
Photo by The Bostons
Plan your bridal getting ready space
As someone who has worked in the wedding industry for over 6 years, I can tell you there in nothing worse than being crammed into a tiny, crowded room when it’s 30 degrees plus and you’re trying to have a relaxing wedding morning! It’s good to have a little think about how well your getting ready space will work for your wedding morning, and make plans so it can be as comfortable as possible.
If you have a big bridal party and want everyone to get ready together, you’re going to need a big room with lots of space - it’s amazing how much having lots of bodies in a room raises the temperature. Before you book a space, check if they have air-con or decent fans available, for summer weddings these are an absolute must have! If you’re in a hotel with smaller rooms and there are lots of you, consider booking multiple rooms or a meeting/conference area so people can spread out more.
Photo by Lissimore Photography
Be an organised queen!
The less you have to do on your wedding morning the better, especially when it’s hot. You don’t want to be running around flapping, trying to sort out last minute bits and getting hot and sweaty in the process. Here are a few things I recommend -
If you need to check out or change rooms before leaving for your ceremony, try and have your bags packed and organised as early as you can to avoid a last minute rush.
If possible steam any dresses or outfits the night before, adding steam to an already warm room when you’re trying to get ready is never a good idea!
Try to keep your getting ready space as tidy as possible. A tidy space equals a tidy mind, so you’re less likely to get hot and stressed if your surrounding environment isn’t chaotic.
Allow plenty of time! Rushing in the heat is a recipe for a sweaty disaster, so speak to your suppliers about their timelines and make sure enough time is allocated so you won’t need to rush.
Photo by Liam Gillan
Consider wearing your hair up
Lots of you guys love wearing your hair down (and I’m here for it), however it’s wise to really consider if you will feel comfortable with it down in the heat. When your hair is down and it’s hot, your neck and your back are going to sweat more. Sweat equals moisture, and moisture equals a higher chance of frizz and curls dropping. Once your hair gets damp from sweat, there’s no magical hair spray in the world that’s going to save it unfortunately! The same goes for having lots of hair around your face, consider how practical that is going to be if you’re prone to getting a sweaty forehead (we’ve all been there!).
If you’re one of the lucky ones whose hair tends to hold well, and you don’t get that sweaty in the heat a down style might be fine. However if that’s not you, just have a think about whether an updo might be more practical.
Photo by James Thomas Photography
Be prepared for makeup touch ups
Makeup breaks down faster in the heat, so whilst your makeup artist will make your makeup as long lasting as humanly possible, it can be good to have a few bits with you in case you need to touch things up throughout the day. When it’s hot the main thing you’re going to need to worry about is shine. Your best tools to combat that are either going to be blotting papers, or a pressed powder. Press your blotting paper, or a dab a bit of powder gently over the area you’re looking a bit shiny, and that will knock things right back.
Photo by Annie Bradney
Be careful in the sun!
As a makeup artist, I BEG you to be careful in the sun in the run up to your wedding. Some of the hardest things to cover and deal with when it comes to makeup are sun burn and tan lines. If you’re going to be out in the sun before your wedding, try to wear something that isn’t going to give you tan lines (especially if you’ve got a strapless dress) and PLEASE wear SPF!
Sun burnt skin is dehydrated and flaky, it will want to suck up all the moisture from your makeup, meaning its very difficult to not end up looking patchy with makeup stuck to dry flakes of skin - not much can be done skincare wise to combat this as your skin is literally burnt and needs time to heal. Tan lines are also incredibly difficult to correct, especially if it cuts through an area where your dress/outfit is going to be sitting. Do your makeup artist a favour and be sensible in the sun in the run up to your wedding.
If you’re thinking you’d like to wear SPF on your wedding day, there are a couple of things to consider -
Makeup doesn’t sit that well on top of all SPFs, so speak to your makeup artist in advance for their advice on facial SPF.
A lot of body SPF products make white/light clothing go yellow, so be really careful with what areas you apply it to on your body.
You can have a gorgeous wedding day whatever the weather! But if yours if looking to be a scorcher, hopefully these tips will help you feel a little more prepared to stay cool, calm and collected in the heat on your wedding day.
If you still need to book your hair and makeup for your wedding day, make sure to check out my services here (I cover Essex, London, Suffolk and beyond!).