"I want to look like me, only better."
That is the general mantra of most brides. The trick is communicating what the baseline "you" is to the artist so that the "you only better" is not so far off that you end up looking like someone else. The last thing you want is for your groom to look down the aisle at the bride coming towards him as he wonders, "Who is that person?"
If you are the type of person who wears chapstick on a special night out and occasionally wears moisturizer in the winter, a natural glow is a good goal to aim for when choosing your makeup look. A little shimmer (not glitter!) will give you a nice glow to your skin. Make sure you don't put it all over your face or you will just look greasy. Put it along the tops of your cheekbones and on your eyelids if you don't have oily lids.
Use a tinted moisturizer instead of a full coverage foundation to even out your skin tone without the heavy feel or look of foundation. Set this with a powder brush and translucent powder if you want to stay on the lighter side or with a powder foundation if you need a little more coverage.
Choose a light blush to dust on the apples of your cheeks. NARS Orgasm is always a favorite. In place of blush, you can also use a light multi-colored bronzer. Bobbi Brown makes a couple different colored compacts for their shimmer brick. The advantage to using a multi-colored bronzer or blush is that no one color will stand out and the color will blend nicer into your skin, leaving you with a natural glow instead of a bright streak.
To make your eyes stand out, use a dark brown waterproof eyeliner in a thin line on the top lashline. Make Up For Ever makes a great product called Aqua Eyes. The colors 2L and 19L are both great browns that will not only stay put but are smudgeable before they set so you can soften the line to make it more natural looking. Using your pinky finger or a Q-tip work well to smudge the line so you can have definition without a harsh line. A couple coats of mascara add the finishing touch to your eyes. 
For lip glosses, one of the best out there is Tarte's lip gloss. It has natural ingredients and feels great on your lips--no matter how dry they are. They come is great colors that lightly add enough color to enhance your lips as if the color were just how your lips are everyday. If you want some color on your lips under the gloss, use Make Up For Ever’s Aqua Lips lip liner and color in your lips with the liner before applying the gloss. Now for those who wear makeup on a regular basis and love the smokey eye effect, having a professional do your eyes will help others see your eyes more and your smokey eyeshadow less. The great thing about smokey eyes is that it can work with any color palette: browns, blacks, grays, purples, taupes, greens, blues, and the list goes on. Shimmer or matte, a smokey eye can add depth and also change your natural eye shape making it appear bigger or more open.
Generally you want to choose to either have a smokey eye or a bold lip. Having both can be too overpowering on most people. A glossy nude or mauve lip balances out a dark smokey eye. A neutral eye balances out a statement-making bright red or pink lip.
It is most important to remember that no matter what you choose as your look, it should be some version of you. Look at pictures in magazines and on the internet but remember that those pictures are not what those people look like when they wake up in the morning before all that makeup is put on their faces and their pictures are taken.
Whatever you choose, just be sure that you feel beautiful. It’s not every day that you get married, wear a white dress and have a fabulous party with your closest friends and family--and you want to make sure you can enjoy yourself and not worry about how you look. We always say a happy bride is the most gorgeous.
