If you ask me, getting ready the morning of ANY wedding, is one of the most fun parts of the day. All of the excitement of the day is ahead of you and you are making core memories with every breath you take. It is truly surreal.

The morning of the wedding was something I charted out with my planner, Amy, MONTHS in advance. It was very important to me that the morning was relaxed and organized. Of course, there were still a few bumps in the road but I couldn’t imagine what would have happened if we didn’t have such a strict, color-coded schedule for my 17 bridesmaids, 2 moms, 2 grandmas, and 3 aunts who all needed hair + makeup the morning of the big day.

Here is how it all went down:

A few months out from the wedding, Amy put together an A+++ team of makeup artists and hair stylists. Chante Cutter did my makeup and I worked with Renee from Shears of Elegance on Long Island for my hair. Before the big day, I had (1) trial with Chante and a few visits to Renee. Renee has been doing my hair for YEARS (she did my junior + senior prom hair), so we had months of prep to get the perfect style that I was looking for (including a few hair extensions). Once we had all of our stylists + artists in place, we allocated two bridesmaids/aunt/grandma/mom to each ahead of time. I didn’t want us flying by the seat of the pants when everyone showed up. I wanted to know exactly when each person would be getting done. Not because I’m a control freak (which I’m only a little bit) but because I didn’t want anyone to feel rushed!

This organized approach allowed for a bridesmaid arrival time of 10 AM. We were lucky that our wedding didn’t start until 7:30 PM but even still our bridesmaids got to have a full night’s rest. Many of them were paying for a hotel room that night and I wanted it to feel luxurious not a scramble. Before the bridesmaids arrived, I woke up at the crack of dawn because I couldn’t sleep and just hung out with my immediate family. We ordered Starbucks delivery and just soaked in the moment before the craziness ensued.

At 10 AM it all began. The bridesmaids arrived and put on their silky monogrammed pajamas and fuzzy slippers that I bought them. Funny enough, I was supposed to wear matching pajamas in white and the robe I’m wearing in all of these photos was just what I threw on before everyone got there. When my cousin Mae walked in, she reminded me that she wore that same robe to get ready in the morning of her wedding and thus a tradition began. I never put my white fuzzy pajamas on.

After my bridesmaids changed, they also handed over their dress so we could steam anything that got wrinkled in transit. While the girls were getting ready, I had all of the dresses hung with pearl hangers and personalized bows that they were able to take with them. All of it was from Etsy.

Bridesmaids Dresses: Jenny Yoo

The hair and make-up process was fairly chill. Everyone just talked amongst themselves, ate breakfast, and enjoyed the moment. Before the big day, I sent out a text asking everyone to share 2-3 songs that remind them of Tom and me and I created a playlist of their suggestions. I loved the eclectic mix of songs that brought me through childhood with my cousins, high school sleepovers, my college days, and even some new Levitsky family songs that Tom’s cousins added to the list.

One of my favorite parts of the getting ready process was a surprise visit from my brother and boy cousins before they headed over to Tom’s hotel room to get ready. I know a lot of people make a ‘No Boys Allowed,’ rule when they are getting ready for their wedding but after growing up so close to these men, it was a pinch-me moment for each of them to walk in to wish me luck on this special day. I call this moment an ‘altered brain chemistry’ moment because it almost felt fake.

Bridesmaids Pajamas: Etsy

Once everyone was done with glam, we took very few getting-ready shots, which included one of my favorite moments. My mom did an unplanned ‘mother of the bride’ reveal with all of my girls and it made for the best photos and celebratory moment. This really was just an effort to have everyone ready to go on time but I loved how it created this special moment. This is also when I gave my bridesmaids their gifts. The day can feel SO self-centered so I made sure to bake in a few moments that weren’t about me and Tom and were about the people around us. It was so important to me that they didn’t feel like an afterthought but a huge part of our big day.

After our group photos, Tiffany, my sister, and the maid-of-honor got dressed and had some finishing touches to do on her hair and I didn’t want to get ready without her so I gave myself a minute to collect myself before putting on my dress. Roey, my photographer, had the idea to do some solo shots and I’m SO happy he did. I feel like these are photos I’ll show my children one day. đŸ¥¹

I put my dress on with just my mom, grandma, and sister. As much as I absolutely LOVED all of my bridesmaids being there, I felt like I wanted a bit of privacy in this moment to make sure I felt comfortable and didn’t forget anything major. These moments were truly precious and I wish I could go back and do it all again.

Once I was ready to go, all of my bridesmaids came into my room for a very tiny reveal. I did show most of my bridesmaids my dress before the big day so they knew what to expect but I have to say this was one of the more emotional moments of the day. This is where it really started to feel real!

Okay, that was A LOT, and I could truly go on! Thank you for getting this far and check back tomorrow for a look at what Tom’s morning looked like.