FLOWERS AND DECOR WEDDING ATTIRE WEDDING DAY TIPS

Setting Up the Bridal Dressing Room

Setting up the bridal dressing room
— Tips for getting the bridal dressing room ready 

— I was decorating bridal dressing rooms before I became a mother of a bride.  Actually, my youngest sister was doing it for friends even before I had a chance to try my hand at it. I was amazed and awed by her creative touch and how she transformed a classroom in our church into a beautiful sanctuary for the girls in the wedding party.  She borrowed the vanity from my mother’s house, brought in some wicker furniture, pillows and small tables, and swathed the walls with tulle, ivy, and lights. It was gorgeous!

Inspired by her finesse, when I was asked to decorate the dressing room of my daughter’s best friend, I jumped in with gusto to transform a plain conference room into a haven of delight. I helped another friend of the family design a bridal dressing room as well. Soon it became time for my own daughters to need a bridal dressing room.

My first daughter’s wedding location did not have a room available for dressing purposes.  We had rented a lodge at a park for both the ceremony and reception. My mother volunteered to let us use one of their bedrooms as a dressing room for the bridal party. It worked out beautifully.

Since my parents had married off four daughters, my mom decided to put photos of all her brides in the room, as well as her own bridal photo and her mother’s.  It was wonderful to see all the generations of brides in one room. I brought over some tulle, ivy, and the girls’ bouquets to dress up the room some more. My mother prepared some refreshments for the girls on the day of the wedding. It worked out perfectly for the girls to have a pretty place to get themselves ready, as well as have some pre-wedding photos taken. I came over there as well to get myself ready for the big day.

When my second daughter got engaged, she requested to use the bridal room at Grammy’’s house for her wedding preparations. This time we added photos from her older sister’s wedding to the bridal gallery.  We are thinking this might become a tradition for the rest of the granddaughters in the family. 🙂

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Setting up the bridal dressing room

16 Tips for Setting up the Bridal Dressing Room

1. It’s easier to have a dressing room in a home than to transform a room at another location.  You can gradually work on it ahead of time instead of having to bring all the furniture and decorations.

2. If you do need to transform a room on location, ask a friend to take charge of it.  You will have enough to do to get ready for the wedding.  Letting a friend do this for you will take a load off your mind and may give them great joy.  I really enjoyed making bridal rooms for my friends and was glad to take one more thing off their plate.

3. Use the girls’ wedding bouquets to decorate the room.  This works best if they are made of silk flowers and can be arranged in advance.  Having some vases to put them in works beautifully.  

4. Strips of tulle and garlands of ivy can make any room look more bridal.  Tulle comes in different widths.  I like getting a 45-inch width for draping. I bought a bolt of tulle on Amazon (it’s quite cheap) and used it both for the bridal room and decorating the reception. It’s a great way to create an atmosphere.  It can be reused for future brides if you carefully roll it up for storage.

How much to help your daughter plan her wedding

5. If you have or can borrow a vanity with a mirror, it makes make a wonderful focal point for the dressing room, and provides priceless picture opportunities. Plus, it’s a great work area for the hairdresser or makeup artist. Extra hand mirrors are also a good idea.

6. Have a full length mirror in the room or nearby. My daughter had a free-standing mirror that we brought over to put in the room. Over the door mirrors also work great.

7. If you have a dressmaker’s dummy, that makes a wonderful way to display the wedding gown in the bridal room while the bride is getting her hair and makeup done. My sister had purchased one for taking photos of the dresses she was selling on ebay, so we were able to borrow hers.  You can also display the dress on a pretty hanger from a nearby curtain rod or wall hook.

Setting up the bridal dressing room

8. Bring some nice hangers to display the bridesmaid dresses as well.  Felt-covered hangers work really well for this, since the straps or sleeves won’t slip off. Be sure to take pictures of all the dresses on display before the girls get dressed!

Setting up the bridal dressing room

9. Purchase some nice tote bags for the attendants to stow their street clothes in after dressing. We got some pretty ones from the Marshalls check-out line for $1 a piece.

10. Have some light refreshments available — food that is easy to eat and doesn’t make a mess.

  • Grapes
  • Pineapple chunks on toothpicks
  • Cheese & crackers
  • Finger sandwiches
  • Vegetable sticks and dip
  • Kettle chips
  • Bottled water
  • Small cookies
  • Pretty paper plates
  • Absorbent napkins
  • Baby wipes
Setting up the bridal dressing room

11. Display some photos and memorabilia related to the wedding. Weddings have a way of bringing generations together and it’s nice to represent that in photos.

  • Save the date
  • Wedding invitation
  • Wedding program
  • Announcement
  • Family bride portraits
         — Mother
         — Sisters
         — Grandmother
         — Aunts
         — Great-Grandmother

12. Folding dividers or trellises can be used to create additional walls in a room.  In one room I decorated, we set up some trellises around the bride’s dress and it really set it off nicely.

Setting up the bridal dress room

13. Savor the moments spent in that room.  Invite the photographer to be in there taking photos while the girls are putting on their makeup, fixing their hair, and putting the final touches on their outfits.

Setting up the bridal dressing room

14. As the mother of the bride, plan enough time for you to get yourself ready before your daughter needs to put her dress on.  Most likely you will be called upon to do that final zip and some hooks and eyes or tie the bow just right.  The photographer will want to capture that moment.

15. Make sure you include a box of tissues in the room to wipe away any tears of joy or gratitude. 🙂  Some pretty travel tissues for the girls to tuck in their purses can be useful, or some nice handkerchiefs they can hold onto with their bouquets.

CONCLUSION

Having a beautiful room to get dressed in sets the stage for a happy and more relaxed wedding. Whether it’s in a home or a room at the wedding site, adding some personal touches to transform the room into a bridal haven will make all the females getting dressed there feel extra special.  Your daughter is a princess for that day, and you are the queen-mother, so why not create a space to make you feel like royalty?

Please feel free to share your ideas for making a bridal dressing room in the comment area below.  If you wish to get a free checklist for creating a bridal room, please sign up for my e-mail list and click the download button.

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

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