This past weekend, Friday, June 5th to be exact, one of the best weddings of the year just took place--The Trend Wedding produced by The Wedding Guys, Bruce Vassar and Matthew Trettel. We had the pleasure of being a part of this amazing event again as we did the hair and makeup for the bride and bridal party. To see the details and read the story of this incredible wedding, see the soon-to-be-out Summer 2010 issue of Inside Weddings Magazine. The bride and her bridal party were a fairly low-maintenance group, however, as The Trend Wedding winners, we had to have them step out of their hair and makeup comfort zone of ponytails and chapstick, even if only for a day.
We decided to go with a romantic, loosely tied back updo with twisted sides and the curls cradled in the back of the style for the bride's hairstyle. We decided on a modified version of this for the bridesmaids based on the hair type and amount each bridesmaid had.
One bridesmaid even got the pleasure of receiving an entire head full of temporary extensions. We offer temporary extensions over permanent ones mainly because it allows the client (bride, bridesmaid, mother, etc.) to have the hairstyle she wants with the length and volume where she wants without being stuck with a full head of hair (that can be painful to the neck when one isn't used to the additional weight), which is often times undesired for the honeymoon--especially when the honeymoon is to a warm, tropical island.
Before even starting the makeup, we went on brow patrol--completely reshaping some and cleaning up stray hairs on others. While no one thoroughly enjoyed the "beauty is pain" speech in the midst of the plucking, everyone ooohed and aaahed at the results, thoroughly happy with what they saw (and/or didn't see!).
Next was makeup. Most who don't wear makeup on a regular basis (and even some who do) dread this part--being in the hands of a makeup artist and fearing that they will end up looking like some version of a clown or a stripper. While I have nothing against clowns or strippers, generally the type of makeup they wear is not the type one would think of for her wedding day look. Now being that this group of ladies generally didn't wear any makeup, any amount of makeup would seem like a lot at first until they got used to it. This is very common among many of our brides, which is one main reason they hire a professional--because they don't do makeup on a regular basis, they don't know where to start for their wedding day. One thing I do, and have trained all of our artists in, is use certain products and techniques to ensure not only the longevity of the makeup but also to ensure that it feels lightweight on the skin and that it looks like real skin (not makeup) in person and in pictures. This is done through the use of particular products I have tried and tested to know work on an individual based on the skin tone and type as certain brands and product lines may work great for some but not others--especially when it comes to lasting for 30 hours and still feeling lightweight on the skin. The bride agreed and ended up being quite surprised and pleased that the makeup didn't feel cakey or thick as she had imagined it would.
For the makeup look, I started with a long-wearing crease-resistant, waterproof creme-to-powder eyeshadow from Senegence called Candlelight. This brightened the eye area and also served as a great primer for the bronze crease color I used. I also highlighted the lid and under the brow bone with a lighter shimmer shadow to mimic light reflecting from those areas of the face. The eye was lined with a dark brown waterproof eye pencil on the top and a black one on the bottom. Waterproof black mascara was a must however sans any clumps. Her face was contoured with some bronzer and a light rose blush was used to give just a hint of color. Her lips were a combination of Praline Rose and Rose Ice Senegence Lip Colors and topped with the Senegence Glossy Gloss.
With her hair and makeup done, the bride was almost like a new person, giggling and reveling in her beauty. Brides like this always make my job worthwhile, seeing their face when they see their outer beauty match their inner beauty. It really is like my 6 year-old son says--my job is to help Cinderella get ready for the ball to meet her Prince. And on June 5th, 2009, that she did.
With her hair and makeup done, the bride was almost like a new person, giggling and reveling in her beauty. Brides like this always make my job worthwhile, seeing their face when they see their outer beauty match their inner beauty. It really is like my 6 year-old son says--my job is to help Cinderella get ready for the ball to meet her Prince. And on June 5th, 2009, that she did.
Photo credits: Coppersmith Photography
