I guess covering up the circles is a bigger task than I thought. Maybe just powder then. I’m going for a trial run on the hair next week, so I’ll ask about make up then. The less I can get away with, the better, but you all have convinced me that some is necessary and might not be that bad.
The right lighting is more important than your makeup. If you get photographed during the hour right before sunset aka “the magic hour,” the sun will cast the most beautiful light and provide all the color you’ll need.
I would like to chime in and emphasize that you probably want to try out the makeup stuff before the wedding. I used makeup almost every day, but sometimes a new brand will irritate my skin.
On my lighter days I usually use concealer under my eyes (I always have dark circles), pencil in my brows, and dust my forehead and nose lightly with powder (MAC’s Select Sheer works pretty well for me). If you have severe dark circles I recommend Bobbi Brown’s under-eye concealer. It conceals quite well, but is rather heavy. Lately I’ve been using Yves St Laurent’s Touche Eclat, which highlights the shadows rather than conceals. Although it doesn’t hide all the darkness I prefer it because it looks more natural.
By the way, Bobbi Brown specializes in natural-looking makeup looks - if there’s a counter near where you live you could give them a try.
I am putting a vote in for having it done. Get some recommendations for a pro. Make sure to tell them that you never wear makeup and you would like to look as barefaced as possible but polished enough to look good in photographs. It sounds like you probably don’t even own that much makeup to begin with so in terms of costs you would probably be better off paying for the application than paying for the actual makeup which you may or may not F-up
I wear make-up very rarely, too; I did wear make-up for my own wedding and as a bridesmaid for my sister’s recent wedding. I wore light make-up for my wedding, and looked great. I wore heavy make-up at my sister’s insistence at her wedding, and looked the same. The only difference was that I was very uncomfortable with all that goop on my face at my sister’s wedding. I would also vote for you having it done at the same time as your hair, and having a test run for hair and face before the wedding so you can fine tune it if you need to. And don’t let them tell you you have to have foundation; you don’t. If you have oily skin, a light powder will work just fine. You will probably be very uncomfortable in foundation if you’re not used to it (how people can get used to having shit all over their face every day, I will never understand).