Weddingbee Blog

I actually can’t tell the difference between the two pictures except for maybe the lipstick. But I say to go with what you feel most comfortable in. Maybe ask for some advice from make-up counters, try them at home, take some pictures. I you think you need more or less, than that’s your call. As in a previous post by Miss Jasmine, you managed to snag your love being just who you are. ^^

I went through the same thing…I convinced myself that I needed to hire a makeup artist and found one a few months before the wedding. She was going to come and do my makeup and three of the bridal attendants. Three days before the wedding she called me and canceled. I had no choice but to go visit the MAC counter (no Sephora in my area) and beg for help. I bought foundation, powder, eyeshadow, liner and lipstick and practiced for the next three days to get it right. In the end it was just fine. I was able to copy the look she did during the makeup trial and even with buying all that makeup I saved $300 by DIY. PS…I recommend Smashbox makeup primer to help control the shininess. It also helped my makeup last through pictures, the wedding, and the after party.

Miss Dahlia, I hear ya! I don’t wear make-up on a daily basis — only when I go out or for more important occasions. So for me I knew I couldn’t do my make-up myself.

See my endless make-up trial saga here: http://tinyurl.com/2z5sct and take it for what it is — a hunt! Don’t assume someone will be able to give you what you want, you HAVE to go to trials until you get it right.

That being said I know there are bees and other brides who went the DIY route and looked stunning. I didn’t want the stress and wanted to be 100% confident that day. I mean, brides spent thousands of dollars on the rest of the event — the dress, the location, the photographer — why take a chance with how you’ll look and how you’ll look in pictures for years to come! I’d say unless you’re 150% confident you can look fantastic on your own, hire someone.

Fellow Cleveland bride here! Wow, I feel like I could have written this post.

When I got married back in June, I had little to nil make-up application experience. I used the makeup artist at the salon where me and my girls had our hair done. I was wedding planning from afar (NYC) so I didn’t have the luxury of having a trial far ahead of time.

I went to the salon and had a hair and makeup trial run just a few days before the wedding and it worked out perfectly.

It probably helped that I wasn’t super specific about what I wanted - just even skin tone and a nice lip stain. She actually convinced me to go with mascara too even though I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of tarantula eyes.

If you’re having your hair done at a salon, inquire about whether they have a makeup artist on staff.

I have two places that I go here in Cleveland, and both do makeup. I’ll be using Simply Esthetics for my makeup - and the owner, Sarah, does the makeup (as well as nails and everything else fun). Her website is:
http://www.simplyesthetics.com She’s on the west side, and she’s so wonderful (and her prices are reasonable).

I’d say hire someone. I’m a makeupaholic and even I hired someone for the day of as you never know how composed you’re going to be on that day. I thought I might be too nervous and poke my eye out with a mascara brush or something. ; )

On the other hand, you mentioned that the mu you bought was Clinique. I actually work for Clinique at their corporate offices in ‘my real life day job’. I’ve tried everything they have. I swear by Clinique’s ‘Perfectly Real’ both the foundation and the powder are great and in particular great in photos. Clinique is good in the way that typically the product does what the name of it says. Perfectly Real is basically you, but better.

Good luck!!

I just got married on Labor Day weekend and I went with DIY make up and I don’t regret it one bit. The pictures came out amazing and everyone kept asking me who did my make up on the day of the wedding. Now I admit, I’m a little bit of a girly girl and I love wearing make up to begin with but I had to practice. If I’d hired an artist, I would’ve had to spend a minimum of 750 going up to a 1000 dollars (yes, those are NY prices for ‘reasonable’ make up artists) but instead, I bought two make up books, a bunch of expensive make up (smashbox primer is essential to holding the foundation in place), co-ordinated the colors by practicing on my kid sister, replicated the look on myself, separating everything that worked together in a separate make up bag and voila! I was set for the wedding
Mail me and I’ll mail you pics!

I second the MAC recommendation. I was in a wedding this summer and the bridal party had our makeup done at the store (for the cost of $50 in products) and we all looked fabulous. I did not feel like I was wearing a mask at all. The artists at MAC are real pros, go through regular training, keep on top of new products and techniques, etc. As you can tell, I’m a huge MAC fan.