In wedding photographs, the hands appear more often than anything but the face. Exchanging rings, holding the bouquet, steadying a glass for the toast, passing flowers to parents. Pre-wedding shoots are no different: the camera moves in on the hands almost as often as on the face.
Preparations for the dress, the hair and the complexion begin months ahead. The hands tend to be left until last. Yet unlike the face, the hands cannot be composed on the morning itself with make-up. What the photographs record is the habit of the preceding months.
This article is a calendar for preparing the hands for a wedding or a pre-wedding shoot, set out at four points: three months before, one month before, one week before, and the day. Nothing in it is special. It is all habit, and protection.
Three months before: begin the habit
The foundation of hand beauty is making wash, then moisturise a single movement. After washing, smooth a hand serum from the backs of the hands to the fingertips and the nail contours. Morning, after each wash, before bed: the same movement at the turning points of the day.
Three months are needed because a habit takes time to settle into the body. Decided upon a week before the ceremony, the sequence will not have become second nature. Spend the first month not on quantity or thoroughness but on arrangements that make forgetting unlikely: a small bottle at the basin, one on the desk, one in the bag.
If the pre-wedding shoot comes before the ceremony, count back from the shoot. The calendar starts from the first day the hands will stand in front of a camera. Where the shoot and the wedding are some weeks apart, keep the sequence running through the gap rather than letting it lapse and restarting.
Sun protection begins now as well. The backs of the hands are not covered by clothing and receive more sunlight than the face. Apply sunscreen to them every morning and, on days spent outdoors, reapply roughly every two hours. Whatever the season of the wedding, keep this up for the whole of the preparation.
One month before: the evening, and the nails
Once the habit has taken hold, give the evening a little more time. On clean hands after the bath, smooth in the serum and draw it slowly along each finger, around the joints. On very dry nights, follow the serum with a thin layer of cream.
The nail contours are the closest thing to the lens in any photograph of a ring. The skin around the nails dries easily, and finishing an application by pressing gently around them is one of the ways Soie suggests using a serum. For those planning nail polish or gel, it is the health of the nail itself and of the cuticle that lets the finish look its finest.
This is also the moment to settle on a fragrance. Used unchanged until the day, it will carry the memory of the preparation when the hands come together on the morning of the wedding. A scent pitched to be enjoyed close to the hands will not intrude on anyone else in the room.
Gloves for wet work become a habit from this point too. Washing up and cleaning expose the hands to hot water and detergent, and handling detergent without gloves is among the common causes of brittle nails.
One week before: protect, and change nothing
In the final week, try nothing new. Not the intriguing new fragrance, not the cream a friend swears by. However appealing, whether a product agrees with the skin is unknown until it has been used. Save experiments for after the wedding. This week, use only what three months have made familiar to the hands.
Gloves for wet work, sunscreen for going out: a week devoted to protection. If packing or a move happens to coincide, wash the hands after each session and replenish with the serum straight away.
Sleep shows in the hands. A week of late nights surfaces the next morning as tightness across the backs of the hands and dryness at the nails. Of all weeks, the last one is the week to turn out the light early.
The day: the ring photograph, and gesture
In the morning, wash the hands and apply the serum: the usual amount, the usual sequence. A serum that leaves no stickiness gives no reason to hesitate before touching the dress, the gloves or the ribbon of the bouquet. Choose a fragrance pitched to be enjoyed close to the hands, so that it does not compete with the flowers or the food.
What the photographs capture is not only skin but gesture. When the rings are exchanged, let the tension leave the fingertips and keep the fingers lightly together. Support a glass with the fingers rather than gripping it. When handing over a bouquet, match the height of the other person's hands. Hands kept supple make these movements naturally; hands that feel tight at the knuckles brace without meaning to.
The groom's hands are photographed just as much. Exchanging rings, signing, shaking hands, raising a glass. Men's hand care tends to be postponed, but with a serum that leaves no stickiness and a routine that takes under a minute, three months is not a demanding ask. This calendar suits being started by two people on the same day.
One small bottle in the dressing room, for a single drop after washing between the ceremony and the reception. With that, the day's preparation is complete.
From the giver's side: a note from Soie
This calendar is not only for the couple. For anyone giving a hand serum and a hand soap as a wedding present, three months ahead is the right moment: the gift accompanies the preparation and remains as a habit afterwards. Our gift selection lets the two be combined in the recipient's preferred fragrance.
Soie's hand serum is a beauty serum designed only for the hands; it sinks in without stickiness and its formula reaches the nails and fingertips. The basic sequence of hand beauty is set out in our hand beauty guide.
The hands in the photographs are not made on the day. They are the record of a small movement repeated every day for three months, and the calendar can begin today.
