Everything You Need to Know About Drinking Alcohol on the Morning of Your Wedding

On the morning of the wedding, you'll want to enjoy yourself, but planning professionals urge their clients to remember that pacing yourself is essential, especially when it comes to consuming alcoholic beverages. Drinking too early in the day can cause you to burn out well before the real partying has begun, and it could even risk your sobriety during the important parts of your big day-your ceremony and vows.

Leah Weinberg, wedding planner, owner, and executive planner at Color Pop Events, doesn't recommend drinking alcohol while getting ready. "Prep time is the time to fuel yourself with food and water because you've got a long day ahead of you and will have huge chunks of time (like photos) where you won't be eating or drinking anything," she says. "Alcohol is only going to make you more dehydrated." Vicky Choy, owner of Event Accomplished, agrees, adding that drinking alcohol too early in the day can cause you to get tired faster. "Don't forget that the entire day is being captured in photographs and video," she says. "You want to look your best in every way and don't want photos that capture you holding your head out of pain."

Of course, you know yourself and how your body reacts to alcohol, so the guidelines you follow might be different than for someone else. To help you determine when sipping alcohol on your wedding day is probably okay and when you should avoid it, we asked both Weinberg and Choy to share their best-kept advice.

Shouldn't: If you're hungover.

If you overdid it at last night's rehearsal dinner, refrain from drinking the day of your wedding. Doing so will only leave you dehydrated and risk making you more tired. Instead, stick to water and lemon slices to perk you up. Be careful when mixing in caffeine as that could make you even more dehydrated and worsen a hangover headache.

Should: With your breakfast.

If you want to have a mimosa while you eat a full, hearty breakfast, that's perfectly fine, but try to limit it to one or two glasses. There's nothing wrong with getting the party started and doing a little cheers with your bridesmaids in celebration of the exciting day ahead of you, so long as you don't go overboard.

Shouldn't: Post-hair and makeup.

Once your own hair and makeup starts, Choy recommends avoiding drinking. "You don't want to mess up your look or, worse, get anything on your beautiful wedding dress," she says. "Stopping yourself around the time you do hair and makeup should also provide you with enough time to get the alcohol out of your system before the ceremony starts."

Should: At the reception.

You made it to the final portion of your wedding day and you totally deserve to celebrate. Of course, you still don't want to overdo it, since there are plenty of photos still to be taken and dancing left to do. You don't want to be the sloppy bride on the dance floor or the bride who didn't make it to the end of her wedding!