The Wedding Beauty Timeline: 6 Months Out to the Morning Of

A good wedding beauty timeline starts about six months out with bookings and skincare, puts every trial four to six weeks before the wedding, finishes hair color, facials, waxing and nails before the spray tan, and puts the tan on two days before the wedding. The order matters as much as the dates: each step should be finished before the next one can undo it.

Rosie has tanned brides in Brooklyn for more than ten years, and the most common wedding-week problem she sees is not the tan. It is the pedicure booked the day after it, or the hair color that lifted it along the hairline. This timeline is built to avoid that. Adjust the dates to your wedding; keep the order.

Six months out: book and begin

• Book your beauty team. Hair, makeup and tan artists who work weddings book up quickly in season. For your tan, call or text Rosie at (917) 326-0303; a $150 deposit holds the date.
• Settle your skincare routine. If you have skin concerns you want to address, now is the time to see a dermatologist, not three weeks before.
• Plan treatments that take several sessions. Laser hair removal and similar treatments need spacing. Ask your provider when your last session should fall relative to the wedding and your spray tan.
• Decide on your hair. If you want length or a big color change, tell your stylist now so the plan has room.

Three to four months out: refine

• Start regular facials, if you have them, so your skin knows the routine well before the wedding.
• Brows. If you are growing them out or reshaping, start with a brow specialist now.
• Teeth whitening. If it is on your list, talk to your dentist about the timing.
• Book your bridal party. Bridesmaids, sisters and mothers need dates too. Bridal party tans are $120 per person at the studio (ask Rosie about mothers and grandmothers), and she can come to you for groups of five or more, quoted per booking.

Four to six weeks out: the trials

This is the most useful stretch of the whole calendar. Book your trial spray tan ($120) four to six weeks before the wedding, then schedule your hair and makeup trial for Day 2 of that tan. Your makeup artist matches your foundation to your tanned skin instead of your untanned skin, and you see the whole look together.

Bring a photo or swatch of the gown to both. If you have a dress fitting around the same time, let it fall after your trial tan’s first rinse so you can see the color against the fabric. More on that in spray tan and your wedding dress.

Two to four weeks out: the last changes

• Stop trying new products. No new creams, serums, masks or makeup from here on.
• Haircut and color: roughly one to three weeks before, depending on your stylist’s advice, so it looks settled rather than fresh.
• Last facial: one to two weeks before, and gentle. Ask your esthetician about anything stronger.
• Brow shaping and tint: about a week before, so any redness is long gone.

Wedding week: the order that protects the tan

Everything in the final days is arranged around one appointment: the spray tan, two days before the wedding. The tan develops over about eight hours, gets its first lukewarm, soap-free rinse, and looks most natural on Day 2. Anything that involves soaking, scrubbing or chemical processing has to happen before it. The short version is in nails, hair, facials and spray tan: what order to book everything; here is how it looks on a calendar.

Three days before

• Body waxing, at least 24 hours before the tan.
• Manicure and pedicure. Gel or regular polish is fine. Soaking after the tan would lift color from hands and feet.
• Any hair color touch-up, so the hairline is done before the tan.
• Lash extensions or a lash lift, if you are having them.
• That evening: a gentle exfoliation and a shave.

Two days before: the spray tan

Arrive with clean, dry skin: no lotion, deodorant, perfume or makeup. Wear loose, dark clothes. Rinse about eight hours later. If you want to understand why two days is the number, read how many days before your wedding to spray tan.

The day before

• Moisturize, morning and night.
• No pool, ocean, sauna, steam room or hard workout.
• Pat dry after showering instead of rubbing.
• Lay out your morning-of kit: wipes, blotting papers, deodorant.
• Go to sleep at a sensible hour. It is the best skincare there is.

The morning of

1. Deodorant first, so it is fully dry by the time you dress.
2. A thin layer of lotion on hands, elbows and knees only, nothing where the bodice sits.
3. Hair, then makeup.
4. Wipe your palms, then step into the gown.

If your wedding is on a Sunday

Many Brooklyn and Deal weddings are on Sundays. Rosie is shomer Shabbat, so the studio closes on Friday one hour before sunset and stays closed until Shabbat ends. For a Sunday wedding, the tan goes on Friday morning. Everything that comes before the tan moves to Thursday: waxing, nails, any hair color, exfoliation and shaving. In summer the eight hours of development and the first rinse fit easily before candle lighting; in winter, when Shabbat starts early, they may not, so Rosie plans the exact Friday slot with you when you book.

The timeline for the rest of the family

Mothers, sisters and bridesmaids follow the same order on a shorter schedule: hair and nails first, tan two days before, light lotion on the morning. Mothers have a few extra considerations, from drier skin to a softer shade, covered in mother of the bride beauty tips.

Putting it together

1. Six months: book your team, pay the tan deposit, settle skincare.
2. Three to four months: facials, brows, bridal party bookings.
3. Four to six weeks: trial tan, then hair and makeup trial on its Day 2.
4. Two to four weeks: last new product, haircut, color, last facial.
5. One week: brows.
6. Three days: waxing, nails, lashes, exfoliate and shave.
7. Two days: spray tan.
8. One day: moisturize, stay dry, sleep.
9. Morning of: deodorant, light lotion, hair, makeup, gown.

For the tan in depth, from shade to the morning of, read the bridal spray tan guide. For packages, bridal party options and Deal visits, start at the bridal page, or call or text Rosie at (917) 326-0303 with your date.