Weddingbee Blog

I have a confession to make. I went into my hair and makeup trials with only the vaguest idea of what I wanted the end result to look like.

I put off these very important decisions until just last week and found myself scrambling the night before my appointment to find appropriate inspiration photos. The problem is, there really wasn’t any combination of photos to illustrate exactly what I wanted… mainly because really I didn’t know what I wanted. (Oh, how I envy the bees who’ve known exactly what they wanted when it came to their wedding day looks!)

As far as my hair, I was only sure that I wanted a natural looking (i.e. not lacquered to my scalp) updo. These are the photos that I took to Mayerly, my super-patient stylist at the Biltmore Hotel Spa.

I asked her for a little bit of volume in the front, à la Eva Longoria. After all, it should look somewhat different from the plain ol’ ponytail that I tend to wear more often than not!

(source)

I just love how loose and romantic Kate Beckinsale’s style is here. The messiness in the back is fabulous, but may come off as a bit too casual for my dress. So I asked for the “height” of this style instead.

(source)

(source)

The final component of my Frankensteined wedding hair was this image of an updo with pin curls. I hoped that something like this might add the polished touch that my Kate B. style lacks.

(source)

Compared to my search for makeup inspiration, the pieced together hairstyle was a piece of cake. Like Miss Swan, I tried to find a celebrity look-alike to emulate. The only problem was that Hispanic stars with similar coloring to mine (like Selma, Penelope and Eva) tend to opt for much more dramatic looks than I’d feel comfortable with. (Remember my Carmex/mascara/blush regimen?)

So I looked for a clean and natural style that is light on the eyeliner (which tends to make my eyes look tiny). I came across this photo of Sandra Bullock and asked Mayerly to do something kind of like it, except with a slightly deeper rose lip. She suggested going with a pink eye shadow, and I let her. What do I know about makeup?!

(source)

In spite of my apprehension, I was pleasantly surprised by how everything came together. My hair was curled, teased, and pinned into an elegant woven updo that will look great with my veil and also on its own during the reception.

The makeup application was a bit more of a challenge, ha! My eyes just never got used to having brushes, pencils and wands working their way around them. (I’ll have to bring Visine with me on the Big Day, since my eyes got a bit irritated.) It took me a while to feel comfortable with all of that makeup on, but eventually I did, and liked it! Whew!

Ugly makeup face, perhaps?

I’ve even decided to wear false lashes. Can you tell?

Did you have a hard time figuring out your wedding day look? Did you stick to your inspiration photos or let your stylist make you up the way she thought was best?