I Did My Own Wedding Makeup — And I Regret It

Recently, I came across a bridal portrait of a friend that was posted on a social media website a couple of months after she got married. Looking at that, I could feel a rush of memories coming back to me. Those memories were from a momentous occasion in my life — my wedding. Those memories brought up a mixed bag of emotions in me.

Just to clarify, my wedding was a fun event that I celebrated with my very loving but boisterous family. It was just as I had imagined it to be, a short, sweet, and simple affair. It’s only now when I see these luminous, blushing brides I feel a tiny twinge of regret. You see, I had decided to scale down my wedding budget massively since my fiancé and I had decided to save up for a dream vacation. We had decided quite early on that we would splurge on a great honeymoon rather than a lavish wedding. And a part of scaling down had also affected my makeup budget. Since I was a makeup fanatic, I thought to myself how hard it could be to do my own makeup. Also, I’d watched a million wedding makeup tutorials and I felt quite confident about pulling of DIY makeup stunt for my wedding.

As the D-day approached, I could feel myself getting nervous. Being a control freak, I wanted to take care of everything by myself, so I would often end up butting heads with other family members over decisions about décor, flowers, etc. I was so focused on these details that I never even sat down to do a makeup trial. Perhaps, if I had done that, I would have realized what a gross error in judgment I had made. So, the day of the wedding came, and I stood looking at my reflection in the mirror in a fix as to what I should do. Since there had been no trials, I had no idea what to do. As it was a one-day wedding, I decided not to go heavy with the makeup, which was a relief because there was no way I could have done a smoky eye all by myself. In the end, what I did was what I did every day — put on some kajal, some concealer. I put the finishing touches to the look by swapping my usual pink lipstick for a bright red one and putting on some taupe eyeshadow instead of my usual brown one. This was my skewed idea of a festive look.

The wedding took place in a small temple near my house and was followed by a grand (by our humble standards) reception in a nearby banquet hall that we had managed to book. I entered the temple all decked up with my friends cheering me on from the sidelines. The entire ceremony was done amazingly and since I had a close gathering, everyone could participate. But looking back at the pictures from then I feel if only someone else had done my makeup, someone professional, I would not have had that streak of highlighter shining like a beacon on my face. They would have made use of their skills to make sure that my kajal wasn’t smudged by the end of the evening (which it was), or that my concealer actually matched my complexion (which it didn’t).

Between the bright sunlight during the actual ceremony and the harsh fluorescent lighting of the banquet hall during the reception, I looked like a totally different person. While the sunlight still managed to make me look fresh and lovely in the pictures, the evening pictures turned out to be very unforgiving. They made me look like an anemic patient. I am not a vain person, but I am sure no one would want to look like that in their wedding pictures. And while my wedding was celebrated just the way I wanted it to be and I don’t want to change a thing. Still, if I could go back in time and give myself some advice it would be to hire a professional to do my makeup. Even though, whenever I think about it, I only have fun memories and joyful moments in my memory reel. However, the actual picture reel from the wedding tells a different story and leaves a bitter taste in the mouth. Time and again, that regret always comes back to me when I feel like I should have known better because, after all, the memories might fade one day but the pictures will remain.

To all the other brides-to-be, if I could give just one piece of advice, it would be this — your wedding is about you, if you are thinking of pinching a penny, do not let it affect your personal budget. Set some money aside and hire a professional to do your makeup so that whenever you look at those wedding pictures, you feel like the star of the show! After all, it’s one day that’s all about you.

What’s your wedding story? Share your own wedding makeup stories in the comments below.

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