Weddingbee Blog

Confession: I don’t have any pics us getting ready, and that’s how I wanted it. Why? Because it was a process pretty similar to when we get ready for work in the morning, but with more hairspray and fancier clothes.

All of our getting-ready efforts took place here:

Our one and only full bathroom. I started by taking a shower. I shaved, plucked, scrubbed and conditioned.

Then, I dried my hair upside-down with a blow-dryer to try to add a little volume (like I do pretty much every morning). I used a flat-iron to give it shape, then back-combed some more volume into it (fake it if you ain’t gonna make it, right?). I pinned back my hair with my flower (secret to a solid grip? I used a strong, tight barrette to actually hold the hair and then clipped the flower in just above that to help hide it).

And then I sprayed the living hell out of it. Seriously, I took this stuff:

[source]

And emptied probably a third of a can in to my hair. Worked like a charm, too. My hair still looked pretty much the same at the end of the day… even after tromping around outside in the 80+ degree heat for over an hour. Bees and other flying insects loved me. But anyway, where were we? Oh yeah… getting ready.

After hair came face. I have been taking a cocktail of prescription acne medications since last December. It consists of Differen gel, Benzaclin lotion, and a pill called Keflex that I take twice a day. I also use Cetaphil SPF 15 lotion each day to help counteract the dryness from the meds. On this day, my wedding day, my face was clear enough that I did not need any concealer whatsoever. No foundation, either. This is a huge victory for me, as I’ve been fighting acne since I was 12 or 13. Woohoo!

So without needing to worry about zits and scabs, I focused most of my attention on my eyes. For my under eye area, which is always dark and nasty, I dabbed on a bit of Clinique concealer. Then I used some Clinique pressed powder blush to make the area a little pinker. (I always think that concealer alone makes me look like a raccoon; I’ve never found one that’s the right color by itself.) After that, I took my tube of Wet ’n’ Wild (94 cents, baby!) glittery eye stuff (aren’t you just loving the technical names) and mixed it with a tiny dab of the Cetaphil lotion for maximum ’sticking’ power. I smushed that around on my lids under my brows. Sparkly. I lined my bottom lid with my silver Cover Girl Eye Slicks fat liner pencil. I love those Eye Slicks; the only place I can ever find ’em is Walmart. I finished off my eye-styling with BADGal Lash Waterproof Mascara.

By this time, Mr. Mary Jane was elbowing me for sink-space so that he could shave and then shower. While he fogged up my mirror (don’t worry, my hair was fine! Thanks, load of hair spray!), I dusted on a little Bare Minerals bisque powder to help combat shine (when you slather your face in lotion and chill for an hour in a humid bathroom, there will be shine). Finally, I put on a little Burt’s Bees tinted lip balm. Since this was a special event (our wedding!) I decided to go all out and use TWO kinds. First Raisin, then Shimmer. The result? Shimmery Raisin. Or something like that.

Since I’m really bad at describing my products, here’s a photo of everything (except the lip gloss).

And here’s what they did for me.

[by Shawna Noel Photography]

Once I was all prettied up, I put on my jewelry and slipped in to my dress. Mr. Mary Jane zipped it up for me (and safety-pinned it to my bra for me). He tied his tie and I tied my sash. I slipped into my green shoes.

It was 2:30 and it was time to drive to Hillsboro: we were to meet our photographers in an hour, and be married in two.

Previously…
1. Leading up to the Big Day
2. Cake, and DIYing the Bouquet