"bridal suite"

Check with the venue again and confirm that you have 2 hours for the bridal suite secifically and ask can you and your bridal party get ready there. Some venues only allow for the bridal suite for the bride and party to stay while guest are being seated. It all depends on how much time you have. Venues know that some bridal parties take more than 3-4 hours to get ready. Even on my wedding day timeline from theknot, it has "getting bride ready" scheduled for 5 hours prior to even reaching the venue. Now for me, I don't need 5 hours to get ready.

You're not wrong but you're also not right. Different venues, and other vendors for that matter, have different policies. This is why asking questions and reading contracts is important.

Typically the bridal suite is where you do get makeup and hair and get ready--- is it going to take longer than 2hours to get ready?

That's a great question! I have my venue from 9am-12am the day of the wedding to do whatever I so choose. We have a bridal room where we will be getting ready and doing pictures as well (and a grooms room). Honestly, I've seen pictures of people who got ready in a hotel room and you don't notice the background. It would be frustrating to me knowing that I expected to be able to use the venue to get ready and now I realize I'm not able to. Are you able to get a larger timeframe to be able to get ready there? Maybe they expect you just to show up and put on your dress in that room or final touches. I'd call and explain that you were wanting to do your hair/makeup at the venue. It would just be you and your MOH and you've already timed it and you'd be able to do both your hair/makeup in the two hour time you've been given.

When I talked to the makeup artist and hair *one person) she said it shouldn't take longer than 2 hours , I'm actually the only one getting professionally done that day. Its only myself and maid of honor, no other bridesmaids . It the venue says 2 hours go by fast and there are others that tie up that time frame . So .....I dint know what to do now

What does everyone do in there lol if we get ready at a hotel?

View Quoted Comment Yea I think I may have to do that. When we originally talked to the venue they said we have the place for the entire day , maybe 11 hours. But when I got the suggested intinery its alittle different. They actually live at the event space so the rooms they do allow us to use is actually part of their living quarters

I will also be getting my hair and makeup done before going to the bridal suite, we have the venue starting 2 hours before the ceremony starts. The same as you. They recommended I do this because that would allow us to do a first look and take the majority of the pictures before ceremony. We will take pictures of the dresses and the cute pics in our robes in the bridal suite as well. If you think that 2 hours is enough for you to get completely ready before ceremony time and to take those kind of pictures (if you want them) I would talk to them again. It might not be a rule, but they may just be trying to help you out with timing.

For my friends wedding we got ready in the hotel (just hotel room for 6 girls+ two makeup artist was soo crowded). Took our pictures somewhere and then came back to the hotel, and had to be at the Bridal Suite an hour before the wedding. We toasted drank a little and tried to calm the bride. Her dad met us in there for his first look, and it was fine. It was more like place to hide before the guests arrived!

My venue has the same policy. We only have access to the venue 2 hours before the ceremony and they ask that the bridal party comes with hair and makeup already done. I ended up renting a cottage on VRBO just down the street from my venue for us girls to get ready (and my then husband! and I will stay there that night). Then we will just get dressed in the suite and do all of our pictures. I think the room is more ceremonial for brides to hang out in while guests are arriving and not necessarily for the actual “getting ready”.

So you have two hours prior to the ceremony in the bridal suite? I would think that's enough time for two people to get ready? If not, you could take pictures "zipping up" your dress and putting on your shoes and all that. And you could snack prior to the ceremony.

Really helpful, thanks ladies . Now I just need to put everything in place .

View Quoted Comment Perfect .....

To answer your last question - other than get ready, the bridal suite will act as a "holding room" where you can hide from guests until its time to walk down the aisle. It avoids the chatting before, delaying the ceremony, let's you chill out, and allows for a grand entrance!

Am I able to ask the photographer to go to the hotel first for the "getting ready" or wait til we go to the suite to put on the dress and etc?

At my venue in my bridal suite is where i will be getting ready doing hair and makeup. I would double check with the venue so it is more clear.

So we also have a bridal suite at my venue, but like you we can only arrive two hours early which just isn't enough time to do everyone's hair and makeup (6 people, 1 stylist). We'll be doing final touches and putting on the dresses in the bridal suite.

The venue may simple think 2 hours is not enough time and that's why they ask people come with hair and makeup ready (keep things from running late). I would ask, if you only need 2 hours, then I can't image they would have an issue with it

If you're hoping to do hair and makeup AND get dressed in two hours, you're likely kidding yourself, especially if you want any bridal party photos of you and your attendants to be taken before the ceremony.

You get access to the room two hours before your ceremony. Figure by the time you arrive it will take at least 15-20 minutes just to get everything in the room and set up. Figure you need to line up for the ceremony no later than 10 minutes before start. There's 30 of your 120 minutes, leaving you 90.

My daughter (the bride) needed 35 minutes for professional makeup and 75 minutes for hair. There's 110 minutes...she'd have been 20 minutes overtime and still not in her dress.

And this is JUST the bride, never mind even just one other attendant.

We started hair and makeup for seven people (four attendants, two mothers and the bride) at 10:00am in the morning for a 4:30pm ceremony. All hair and makeup was done by 2pm (so four hours) so that everyone could be dressed by 2:30 and bridal party photos taken. Ready and resting before the ceremony by 3:45 to freshen makeup if needed and ready to line up at 4:15. it was a gloriously relaxing day - no one felt rushed.

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Yes, you can ask. I don't think it's an exorbitant ask as long as your hotel and venue are close to one another. Our photographer will be at our place for the guys and then come over to the venue. I think that's done often but it will be up to your photographer.

If you're doing that I would do hair and makeup at your hotel and getting ready photos there. Then I would put on your dress at the venue and get photos of that there if you want. I personally wouldn't want to put on my dress and then drive somewhere but that could just be me.

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Kathy, you could ask the photographer to go to the hotel if you get your hair and makeup done there. The photographers job is to be wherever you are for the allotted time you signed contract for. But I believe travel in between is included in that time, could be wrong. I might do something similar in which hair/makeup are done at my mom's then we'll go to the bridal suite to get dressed. Me personally, I do not need professional pictures of someone else doing my hair/makeup. The detail pictures and getting dressed/jewelry are more important to me so my photographer will more than likely just go to the venue when we do. It's completely up to you!