The white dress usually clues in all but the most shell shocked groom - even if the bride looks like a completely different person.
(But I understand what you are saying and agree - wedding day is not the day to decide you need to look like Devine.)
Yes, a thousand times yes! IF you decide to wear make-up, go with a mineral foundation, not a liquid one. You’ll hate how a liquid feels, and it looks heavier than minerals. Bare Escentuals doesn’t feel like anything on your face.
If you have a Sephora in your area, they usually carry it. You can order it online too, but it’s always better to try in person. They do sell kits that come with brushes, a few different shades of powder, and instructions on how to use it, too.
I get a lot of compliments on my “nice skin”. 
I recently attended a wedding where a make-up person came to fix everyone up. She brought little disposable palettes of makeup that were color coded somehow. The ladies who were having their make up done asked that she just smooth their skin tones and enhance their looks a little. I was very impressed with the results. I believe the make up lady was from Merle Norman.
I recently attended a weeding where a make-up person came to fix everyone up. She brought little disposable palettes of makeup that were color coded somehow. The ladies who were having their make up done asked that she just smooth their skin tones and enhance their looks a little. I was very impressed with the results. I believe the make up lady was from Merle Norman.
I don’t normally wear makeup, and when I do it’s pretty minimal just some mascara and natural-looking lip stuff. I was convinced by well-meaning family and friends to have my makeup done for my wedding. Even though the makeup applier was very skilled, and she really did stick to my “No weird colors!” rule, I still felt like I had a cake baked on my face. All day long I was afraid to even touch my face, like to brush a stray hair away, since there was all this concealer and foundation and powder and blush and hooderah on my face. It schmeared if I rubbed it, ick.
On the plus side, in the pictures I’m not shiny and have mannequin-like perfectly even colored skin.
I just didn’t feel comfortable, so my vote is to go with what makes you feel good. If the undereye rings are always there, well then he already knows about them and adores you anyway, right? Do the cucumber thing, or is it tea bags, the morning of, but don’t goop yourself up for the big day.
ETA: If you’re worried about shine, arm the bridesmaids or sisters with those rice papery things. Let them do the worrying for you, they can do shine maintenence and you won’t be all made-up. 
I was a bridesmaid in a friend’s wedding and the hair stylist was AGHAST that I did not want full clownface for the ceremony. I told her that I can’t even wear “normal” lipstick without licking it off in 10 minutes, so the chances that I would keep my makeup pristine for more than 10 minutes were about 0.
I did some eyeliner, and dark superlast lipstick (I favor Max Factor Lipfinity), and a bit of powder. I looked a heck of a lot better than I would have with full makeup smeared across my face and clothes from intemperate scratching/fussing/klutziness/etc.
You should feel comfortable on your wedding day… don’t let anyone talk you into something that will just be a distraction and a source of anxiety, if that’s how you feel about full makeup.
Be strong sister!
My suggestion is that you go to a professional make-up artist.
If you don’t do that, for the love of god and money, do not go to someone who sells make-up to learn about make-up.
A professional make-up artist will consult with you. Feel you out about how you feel about make-up and do several looks for you to see befor hand so you can decide what sort of makeup look you would feel comfortable with for your wedding day.
zebra professional photographer and make-up artist
I would say this is no time to start, but I would never wear it so I am biased. Your pictures will come out natural and really reflect you and not you as a bride. It sounds like you aren’t going outside your comfort zone with the dress and hair so don’t do it for makeup.
And you just won’t feel like yourself with makeup on if you never wear it.
Just MHO.
Another vote for, if you have the spare time on the day and the money, a professional. I can’t imagine they’d cake stuff on if you asked for a very light, natural look.
For people who never, ever wear foundation, a “light, natural” amount of foundation feels like it has the same lightness and naturality (?) as wearing frosting on your face.
In my experience, of course.
And if conversely all they’re going to do is apply some lipstick and eyeliner… does that take a professional?
I am also a no-makeup girl, but I had a big formal wedding, so I thought I should have it done for me. It was GREAT. I had it done at a salon (had my hair done at the same place), and I went a week earlier for a test run. I told the makeup artist that I’m not a makeup person, and that I wanted it to look like I wasn’t wearing any (or, at least, not much). She made it look very natural, but I think I looked much better in the pictures than I normally do, because they know how to highlight features in the right way. I highly recommend going this route.
You don’t need makeup - as you know, you’ve gone along fine without it for years, and so far, nothing bad has happened.
On the other hand, if you can find a really good makeup artist (really good, not just “ok” and many of the people at makeup counters fall into the “ok” level), you might ask him or her for advice because good makeup can make you look more like “you.” Bad makeup, though, looks like crap. Try it before the wedding day, and go through the day with it on. That morning is not a good time to experiment with makeup.
When I do wear “everyday” makeup, it tends to be foundation (custom mixed by Prescriptives - I haven’t found another line that even gets close to my skin tone/shade, no matter what they claim) & mascara, and when I can find a good color, blush. It evens out my skin and makes my eyes less invisible. But those choices were made after a lot of playing with makeup and knowing what I can and can’t do (based on features and skin). If you’ve never played with the stuff, and you choose to wear it, rely on the judgment of someone with excellent taste.
I’m going to go against the tide here and say if you’ve never worn makeup a day in your life, you can do it for just this one day. This is a once in a lifetime (hopefully) chance look your best. It is totally possible to have makeup on that isn’t cakey/fakey and still look like yourself, only better. Even if you look terriffic sans makeup in person, on camera may be another story. You could potentially look washed out compared to everyone else (bridal party and guests included) since they probably will choose to kick their makeup up a notch. If you’ve ever watched “What Not to Wear” they get clients all the time that never wear makeup - and they tell the makeup artist to keep it simple. She does everytime, and everytime, the client is amazed at how much better they look and how easy it was to do.
I can just imagine now your new mother-in-law saying something like “What - she couldn’t even manage a little lipstick on her wedding day?” I wear powder, blush, mascara and lipstick during the work week. If my mom ever sees me without it she asks if I’m tired. Years later, you don’t want to look back at your photos and think - gee, I looked tired - or like you didn’t care.
No offense, but screw (hypothetical) her. Hopefully Ruby’s MIL is not such a nasty witch.
I do speak from a little experience - when I was 16, I hated makeup and had never worn foundation before in my life. I ended up getting makeup for my high school graduation done professionally. I asked for something light and natural, it didn’t feel gross at all and I looked really nice.
I will ask at the salon where they’re doing my hair. Believe it or not, never occurred to me to ask them. If they don’t do it, I’ll try out some of the suggestions here. I’m also not having bridesmaids, just two best men, so I will be the only one wearing any make up, so I can do whatever I want. I am going to see if I can cover up the dark circles, maybe try some translucent powder, but nothing beyond that aside from mascara and lip gloss. Like Hello Again, I will feel very self-conscious if I have a lot of stuff on my face, if it has to extend down my neck, etc. I know I can’t deal with that.
What really cracks me up is that my fiance definitely has worse skin than I do, and he isn’t considering getting a make over. I can’t imagine him worrying about his future father-in-law saying, “What, he couldn’t even take the shine off his nose for this one day?”
This is coming from a girl who fluctuated between completely bare-faced except for powder and lip gloss in her early teens, to light foundation, to concealer-foundation-powder-AND-blush back to completely bare faced again, with the occasional cherry red lips or crazy eyeshadow colors in between.
Light makeup, when applied correctly, will help you look like you, but better, and help you avoid looking washed out or ho-hum in your photos. Especially since, as someone pointed out, your wedding party and guests will most likely be wearing makeup, and probably more than they normally would.
If you wear nothing else, mascara and lip gloss. I only started wearing mascara very recently, and it doesn’t feel like you’re wearing anything but it makes your eyes really pop. I’d recommend a trick I read somewhere, where after applying a coat to all your lashes, use the tip of the brush to add a bit more to the very outer corners of your eyes, just a few of those lashes. It makes a huge difference.
And a lightly tinted lip gloss will accentuate your lips without looking fake, and is easy to touch up every so often, or at least before you pose for pictures.
Any more than that and you might not be comfortable, but eyeliner will bring out your eyes and won’t give you that cake on your face feel. Although- after 10 years of wearing eyeliner, I still suck at applying it, so I’d recommend enlisting a friend to help with that part. Maybe a translucent powder, it’ll keep shine away and even out your skin.
But like others have said, if you won’t be comfortable, even with just lip gloss, don’t bother. There are too many other things to stress you out, and you don’t want the makeup to be more of a hassle than it’s worth.
Sure, but he doesn’t get to wear a pretty white dress either.
Ask them to do it ahead of time, they may be willing to comp you a trial run. Or if they sell makeup, they may have some samples.
Some foundation does feel really thick and icky. Other types of makeup really don’t feel like much at all - I’m a special occasion makeup girl myself.
Worse comes to worst, you can wash your face.
(I’d be cautions about trying to cover up dark circles - I think if you go there, you’ll find yourself wearing more makeup than you want to wear - dark circles take a lot of coverup - and then that takes a lot of foundation to even out, and then powder to make the whole thing blend. I’d go for “even out the skin tone.” At least, I’ve never managed to cover anything up without having a “heavy” face. It can be natural looking when done, but it feels anything but.)
Depending on how dark the circles are, you’ll have a tough time concealing them with just powder. You’ll need concealer, or foundation. (which is really just concealer, spread over a larger area)
If your salon does not have a in-house MUA (make up artist) drop me an email. I know where to find them on the web and I’ll be glad to sift through their portfolios with you.