Wedding Blog

Thanks for all of your votes on the engagement shoot sweater poll from last week! I took your advice quite literally—I chose the tea green sweater and wore a black tank top underneath, creating a 70% to 30% ratio of green to black! Here’s a picture after hair & makeup. (Let’s work backwards, shall we?)

Once I had my wardrobe figured out, I headed to the city of Hamtramck (a small city within the limits of Detroit, where I first met Mr. Taffy!) to see my amazing hairdresser, Sandy Kramer. Her shop, Barberella, is seriously the cutest, girliest hair salon that I have ever seen.

I love the hot pink walls! Sandy collected vintage hairdryers and has them on display all around the top of the ceiling.

She painted the tin ceiling a pearl white. It looks great with the pink walls!

She has tons of vintage beauty school posters and vintage hair related ads on the walls:

She also has cute vintage perfume bottles on display. Even the wastebaskets are vintage (sorry, no photos of the trash!).

Here’s Sandy! Isn’t she cute?

I met Sandy a few years ago during a photo shoot when I was a freelance photographer for a Detroit magazine. She has been cutting my hair ever since! There are only two chairs in her salon, and she has one assistant. I love supporting her small business! She is super talented, smart as a whip, and is excellent company! She is pretty old school—she doesn’t have a website, won’t take your debit card, and it’s usually best to make appointments in advance. One of Mr. Taffy’s best friends (he is in our wedding party) has also been going to Barberella for a few years. Sandy has a lot of clients coming to Hamtramck, and clients who live down the block. She also does a lot of work with local musicians. You may have seen her handiwork on this album:

 Image Source

But I digress. OK, let’s backtrack and take a look at my before picture. Notice my 70/30 green to black ratio!

The front of Barberella:

I didn’t give Sandy too much direction. I wanted my hair to be down, simply styled, and a little bit retro. I also brought some hair accessories for her to use: a black bow barrette and a cute black headband:

My MOH waiting with a cup of tea:

Sandy chose to use the bow barrette. Here’s the after picture. You can’t really see the barrette from this angle.

When I got home, I brushed the curls out a bit so they looked more subtle, then did my makeup. I chose to buy new eyeliner and lip gloss instead of getting a manicure. Let’s take a look at the after picture, with makeup (again). You can see the barrette peeking out behind my eye.

I was really happy with my hair. This was actually the first time I have gone to see Sandy only to have my hair styled. Usually I am just there for a haircut. She did a great job!

The shoot itself was so much fun! Our photographer was wonderful to work with. She really is a girl in love—with photography! She was so passionate about getting the right shots. I am so happy that we went with Melissa, and I can’t wait to see the proofs.

One last thing—it wouldn’t be a post about the city of Hamtramck without a picture of the Kowalski sausage sign! It is a real landmark.

Did you have your hair or makeup done for your engagement shoot?