Miss Blue Whale, College Park, MDAge and Occupation: 27, Graduate StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Graduate StudentEngagement Date: March 10, 2012Wedding Date: May 2013Venue: Southern Tree Plantation in Blairsville, GAAbout Me: I love bright colors, glitter, sugar, cheese, tiny animals, talking in silly accents, dancing, and all things music. I love to plan things, but when it comes time to execute the plans, I tend to panic. My friends tell me that I remind them of a mix between a cartoon character and a Disney Princess. Mr. Blue Whale and I are Southerners at heart, but we’ve been transplanted to the East Coast for school. We both love barbecues, star-gazing, bonfires, music, making up nonsense words, and generally being silly. Our wedding will be a fun-filled destination wedding in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It will most certainly feature bright colors, '80s music, and glitter.
I had several requests about what products I used to do my makeup in my last post. So at the request of the people, here they are!
In case you forgot what I looked like…here I am again!
Prepping the Face
Moisturizer: Neutrogena Healthy Defense Liquid Moisturizer SPF 50. I swear by this stuff. I have dreams of having incredibly flawless porcelain skin (read: the pastiest of pasty white). If you put this on, you will not get sun. At all.
Miss Blue Whale, College Park, MDAge and Occupation: 27, Graduate StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Graduate StudentEngagement Date: March 10, 2012Wedding Date: May 2013Venue: Southern Tree Plantation in Blairsville, GAAbout Me: I love bright colors, glitter, sugar, cheese, tiny animals, talking in silly accents, dancing, and all things music. I love to plan things, but when it comes time to execute the plans, I tend to panic. My friends tell me that I remind them of a mix between a cartoon character and a Disney Princess. Mr. Blue Whale and I are Southerners at heart, but we’ve been transplanted to the East Coast for school. We both love barbecues, star-gazing, bonfires, music, making up nonsense words, and generally being silly. Our wedding will be a fun-filled destination wedding in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It will most certainly feature bright colors, '80s music, and glitter.
I spent a while trying to come up with a creative title, but…I couldn’t. At least you now know what I’m about to talk about.
My wedding make-up. J/k. But I wish this look was appropriate for something in my life. (Image from Style Indeed)
I spent a while debating whether I would get my make-up professionally done for the big day. You can’t spend much time browsing the wedding sections of the internet without seeing the praises of airbrushed make-up. I don’t think there is a soul who will tell you that they regret making the decision to go that route. But, as the title told you, I ultimately decided against it. Why?
For one, that stuff is EXPENSIVE!! I am not prepared to shell out over a hundred dollars for my wedding day make-up.
Miss Palm Tree, Pittsburgh, PAAge and Occupation: 23, Lease AnalystFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Associate Systems AnalystEngagement Date: December 22, 2011Wedding Date: May 2013Venue: The Fez in Aliquippa, PAAbout Me: I’m Miss Palm Tree - an opinionated, loyal and outgoing bride-to-be. I currently work as a Lease Analyst by day and a catering assistant by night. Mr. Palm Tree is a Computer Engineer with a love for all things cats. Mr. Palm Tree and I are absolute soul mates. Having grown up across the street from each other (I have the scars to prove it), we have been a part of each other’s lives for almost as long as we can remember. We are far from perfect: we fight, we get annoyed with each other and we certainly take advantage of knowing one another so well when pushed to the edge, but ultimately, what truly defines us as a couple is our love.
I had my hair and makeup trial recently and I have to tell you all, I cannot believe I’ve hit THAT time. Time for a trial and vendor meetings and everything else. The Palm Trees are a little more than one month away and it’s INSANE. After a year and a half of planning, it’s so exciting to be so close.
I digress—this post is about my hair and makeup trial and at the risk of spoiling everything, it was so incredibly successful. First and foremost, I love Nicci, of Bella Brides by Nicci is phenomenal. She is so talented and just knows what she’s doing and how to do it. I’m sure this is par for the course for beauticians, but truthfully, this is the first time that I’m getting my hair and makeup done professionally for an event. In the past, I’ve relied on my friends (who are also talented, don’t get me wrong) and I was just thoroughly in awe of her abilities.
As I’ve mentioned a fewtimes, I love big hair. I’ve always known that I’d want my hair half-up, half-down, big and curly. Of course, as I learned when we searched for both my dress and the bridesmaids’ dresses, sometimes what you think will work just doesn’t. I am so excited to say that this DID work and I’m in love with the result.
I brought Nicci four inspiration pictures, including the following:
The other three were all Carrie as well, of course. As far as makeup, I had zero inspiration. I told her that I wanted something that really made my eyes pop. She delivered on both counts, in my opinion.
Mrs. Lemur, Greenville, South CarolinaAge and Occupation: 22, Graduate StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 22, Security OfficerEngagement Date: October 9, 2012Wedding Date: May 2013Venue: Pleasant Ridge Camp & Retreat CenterAbout Me: I may fancy myself a doctor after too many episodes of House—but in reality I'm finally almost done with my degree in business administration (less than three months left!). My fiance and I met at school in undergrad hundreds of miles away from either of our hometowns and have been happily running and hiking together ever since. We're undertaking a long distance relationship as I finish school and we plan our casual wedding for a day after graduation—needless to say, it will be the busiest and most exciting weekend of our lives so far!
I actually really enjoy doing my own makeup. I’m not particularly good at it—but over the years I’ve gotten into a routine that I really like. It takes less than 10 minutes for me to wash my face and put on my daily makeup, and only slightly more than that if I’m trying to “dress it up” for a special occasion. It’s a good way to start the day—I find it calming before I head out to work.
That being said, I considered how nice it would be to have someone do my makeup for the wedding. I wouldn’t have to worry about it at all, and I’m sure they would do a better job than I could! Unfortunately, it’s also expensive and really not practical given the time constraints on the morning of the wedding.
I decided that instead of paying a makeup artist for one day, I would invest a smaller amount of money in makeup that I could wear repeatedly for nice occasions. I’m looking to spend less than $100 on some staples I can have for a while—a basic primer, a nicer concealer/foundation, and a subtle yet polished lipstick. I’m also thinking about trying out some different eyeliners, but I like my mascara and eyeshadow.
Sorry for awkwardly cropping most of Mr. Lemur’s face out of the picture. It’s the best shot I could find of what my makeup usually looks like! Also, it was so windy that day and my hair went everywhere.
Miss Mongoose, New Haven, CTAge and Occupation: 28, Digital AdvertisingFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Business DevelopmentEngagement Date: November 19th, 2011Wedding Date: May 2013Venue: Hotel Nelligan in Montreal, CAAbout Me:
I was born and raised in Queens, NY (though you would never know due to my lack of a "real" New York accent) but currently live in Connecticut with my fiance. Anyone who knows me knows that I have a crazy obsession for planning and organizing things, so it comes as no surprise that I'm currently obsessed with planning our wedding. I love dancing, music, traveling, reading fiction novels, cooking, the color blue, cupcakes, all things space science-related and TV shows created by Joss Whedon and J.J. Abrams. My fiance and I have been together for seven years and are so excited to finally get married next year. We are planning a peacock-themed destination wedding in Montreal, one of our favorite cities in the world, with 100 or so of our closest family and friends. While we may look very different on the outside, we have eerily similar personalities (probably due to the fact that we share the exact same birthday) and share very similar passions. But above all else, we love each other and love to have FUN!!!
Aahhhhh, to have your hair and makeup professionally done every day…what girl wouldn’t want this kind of pampering?? Sadly I’m neither a rock star nor a gazillionaire, so I’ll just have to settle for getting beautified on this one special day in May.
While up in Montreal this past weekend, it made sense to schedule my hair and makeup trial at this time to determine the looks for the big day. As I mentioned in a previous post, my “hair-spiration” was a fabulous Tyra Banks updo, and for makeup, some kind of semi-smokey-eye look. Ladies, do yourself a favor and make sure to schedule a trial before your big day—the last thing you want is to be (unpleasantly) surprised the morning of the wedding because you hadn’t previously given your looks a test run.
My trial started with makeup first—and I even remembered to take a few “before” pics specifically for the blog.
Miss Mongoose, New Haven, CTAge and Occupation: 28, Digital AdvertisingFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Business DevelopmentEngagement Date: November 19th, 2011Wedding Date: May 2013Venue: Hotel Nelligan in Montreal, CAAbout Me:
I was born and raised in Queens, NY (though you would never know due to my lack of a "real" New York accent) but currently live in Connecticut with my fiance. Anyone who knows me knows that I have a crazy obsession for planning and organizing things, so it comes as no surprise that I'm currently obsessed with planning our wedding. I love dancing, music, traveling, reading fiction novels, cooking, the color blue, cupcakes, all things space science-related and TV shows created by Joss Whedon and J.J. Abrams. My fiance and I have been together for seven years and are so excited to finally get married next year. We are planning a peacock-themed destination wedding in Montreal, one of our favorite cities in the world, with 100 or so of our closest family and friends. While we may look very different on the outside, we have eerily similar personalities (probably due to the fact that we share the exact same birthday) and share very similar passions. But above all else, we love each other and love to have FUN!!!
With my hair & makeup trial coming up in a month, I’ve been scouring the interwebs to find the perfect looks and started off with hairstyles. I pinned ones that would look great with a feather fascinator and veil, like the images below.
Mrs. Armadillo, Houston, TexasAge and Occupation: 23, Graduate StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Armed Security OfficerEngagement Date: September 28, 2011Wedding Date: March 2013Venue: First Presbyterian Church/Bay City Civic CenterAbout Me: I’m an oldies-loving, board game-playing, coffee addicted fine arts junkie from Southeast Texas in pursuit of her master’s degree in communication studies who met the goofy, strong, artistic, and unexpected love of her life in the beautiful piney woods of East Texas. Serendipity threw us together again and again (and again) on our college campus before we eventually stuck, but when we finally did submit to destiny, we hit the ground running and never looked back! We’re planning a religious, small town, budget-friendly, DIY-infused “winter becomes springtime” ceremony and reception to celebrate the beginning of our lives together with the people we love the most, and are pouring our hearts and souls into making sure our wedding represents us as a couple down to the nitty gritty details and balances tradition with the quirky individuality that is uniquely and unequivocally “us”!
H’OK, guys! Remember a couple of months back when I did a DIY makeup trial? Well, after reading everyone’s helpful comments and suggestions as to ways I could improve on my look, I’m back with an update!
Just as a refresher, here’s what I originally came up with:
Since my last trial, my skin has lightened to the color it’ll most likely be for the wedding (fall and winter months turn me pretty pale!), and I also ran out and bought a couple of new products: one was black liquid liner by Maybelline, and the other was some long-lasting coral-colored lipstick, also by Maybelline. The only things missing from my most recent trial are my falsies (so just imagine my lashes being just a bit more lush and dramatic than pictured) and a bit of brow filler. OK, enough talking! Here’s the new (and improved?) Miss A:
Mrs. Sword, ChicagoAge and Occupation: 28, Nanny/ActressFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Software EngineerEngagement Date: February 19, 2012Wedding Date: March 2013Venue: Embassy Suites Bloomington West in Bloomington, MNAbout Me: I am a true girly-girl originally from the great state of Minnesota and my fiancé hails from the beautiful country of Scotland. We met and fell in love in our favorite city, Chicago, and are having a blast blending our cultures for "A Highland Fairy Tale" wedding! We are truly a case of opposites attract in that he’s a world traveling introvert and I’m a social butterfly who is never too far from home. We both love hanging out with family and friends, fine dining, and laughing at ourselves. He drinks a lot of beer and I talk too much. We wouldn’t have it any other way!
Another item that got checked off the list while in MN was my hair and makeup trial with my awesome stylist, Laura. If you want to read me rave about her some more, read this and this.
Warning: This is a Miss Sword photo heavy post! If gets too overwhelming staring at my face for the next few minutes I suggest taking a break after the extensions go in.
I’m so happy because Laura nailed my bridal look! I gave her my smokey eye inspiration photos and after decided to do a softer colored lip than you’ll see in the photos, I was in love with everything. I decided to go with airbrush makeup, as are most of my girls, because it will last us all day and all night!
Mrs. Toadstool, Obregon, MexicoAge and Occupation: 23, Research AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Sales ManagerEngagement Date: October 1, 2011Wedding Date: December 2012Venue: Hacienda los AgavesAbout Me: I’m a born and bred Mexican girl with a severe coffee addiction, an obsession for books and an aversion for exercise. I like to plan things, so this wedding’s my dream project---I just need to remind myself from time to time that I’m the bride and not just the planner. I recently realized brown’s my favorite color as I was trying to incorporate it in every aspect of our wedding and I'm dreaming of an autumn vibe since we don’t have that around here. I’m marrying my best friend and partner in crime on the day of our nine-year anniversary! He’s an awesome, smart, fun guy who is patient, and crazy enough to spend the rest of his life with me. We’re planning our not-so-dreamy dream wedding in December in a non-traditional way and making it our own.
I know I’ve failed to blog about my hair and makeup, and the simple reason is I had no idea what to do about it. Of course, I pinned inspiration, but I just had a vague idea of what I wanted.
I booked my hair and makeup artists a couple months ago. I’ll be getting them done at the same place, but I booked my trials for two different days. I had to wait until I had my veil to have my hair trial, and I reserved my makeup trial for the day of our engagement shoot. (Two birds, one stone.) I had both trials last week.
My hair inspiration was very simple. I saw this picture and fell in love.
Ariana, my hairstylist (who turned out to be Aunt A, my dad’s younger sister’s, long-time friend and happens to have known me since I was little) did a fantastic job. I said soft, loose, a little messy and showed her the picture, and she did this to me:
Excuse the bad quality and the odd face—I was very sleepy.
I LOVE it. It’s the trial run so she didn’t use as much hairspray and used too many bobby pins, just to give me an idea. After I saw the finished product she undid it and sent me home with beautiful soft curls. I’m a bad blogger and didn’t get a picture with the veil on, but it looks great. You’ll have to take my word for it.
For makeup I have an even vaguer idea. I said earthy tones and I showed her this picture.
I envy those girls who say they can leave the house without makeup, because I just don’t like it, and although I wear very little makeup and in natural colors, I wear it every day. See my natural look above for the before.
So after almost 40 minutes in the chair, I ended up looking like this.
Hair courtesy of Sister Toadstool, who woke up at 7:00 AM on her day off school to curl my hair.
It’s a big change from my everyday look; it was my first time getting my makeup done professionally and it took me a second to get used to it, but I love it.
I love how my eyes look and, although I think it looks fantastic in pictures, in person the makeup looked thick. It didn’t feel that way, but it looked like I had layers and layers of it. Even Mr. Toadstool commented about it, joking that if he shook me really hard the layers would fall off my face as a mask that I could re-wear the day of the wedding. Nice, babe.
Oh and the lipstick—it lost the shine after an hour, but I had breakfast and lunch and the color was still there, so I’m very pleased about it. I just needed to retouch with some shiny lip gloss and that was it.
Fun, disgusting fact: The fake lashes are “natural,” AKA made from human hair. Yuck! The makeup artist told me it was absolutely normal, until I mentioned it felt similar to wearing someone’s clipped nails—now she’s a bit disgusted too.
Hair and makeup trial: Check! Now I know how I’ll look on the big day. (Yeey!)
Did you book hair or makeup without a trial? Did a trial keep you from booking someone for the big day? What did you do to take advantage of the nice makeup the day of your trial?
Mrs. Otter, Indianapolis, INAge and Occupation: 22, Freelance Social Media ConsultantFiance's Age and Occupation: 23, CVS Shift SupervisorEngagement Date: November 11, 2011Wedding Date: April 2013Venue: Mustard Seed GardensAbout Me: I'm a born and raised Hoosier girl, but a diehard Michigan Wolverines fan. I have a tendency to take too many photos and spend full days having TV marathons. Mr. Otter and I met in high school, started dating a couple years later, and moved in after a month of being official. He is easygoing and makes plans on a whim, while I'm color coordinating my planner and organizing everything in sight. He hates glitter, but it's my favorite thing. I have tattoos and he still won't get one, despite my attempts to convince him. We're planning a small, rustic, and (hopefully!) peony-filled wedding to get our married life started. (And yes, there will be glitter involved!)
Under 200 days to go…WHAT!? This is beyond crazy to me—especially since Halloween, Thanksgiving, my and my FMIL’s birthday (which are the same day—fun fact!), Christmas, and NYE all fall into the next few months. I feel like once the holiday season gets going, we’ll be putting some of the wedding tasks on the back burner, so I better get in gear now!
While I’ve already secured my hairstylist (my lovely aunt, whom you will be hearing about along with my hair inspiration!), I have yet to secure makeup for me and the girls. My fear with the makeup is that I book a makeup artist, and then have my trial, and it isn’t exactly what I want. Now, of course this is the point behind a trial, but booking a vendor without seeing their work actually on my face makes me nervous.
Oh and also…I can’t do makeup. At all.
The lovely makeup that you see in my engagement photos was done by one of my very favorite people in the whole entire world, Jenna.
Mrs. Armadillo, Houston, TexasAge and Occupation: 23, Graduate StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Armed Security OfficerEngagement Date: September 28, 2011Wedding Date: March 2013Venue: First Presbyterian Church/Bay City Civic CenterAbout Me: I’m an oldies-loving, board game-playing, coffee addicted fine arts junkie from Southeast Texas in pursuit of her master’s degree in communication studies who met the goofy, strong, artistic, and unexpected love of her life in the beautiful piney woods of East Texas. Serendipity threw us together again and again (and again) on our college campus before we eventually stuck, but when we finally did submit to destiny, we hit the ground running and never looked back! We’re planning a religious, small town, budget-friendly, DIY-infused “winter becomes springtime” ceremony and reception to celebrate the beginning of our lives together with the people we love the most, and are pouring our hearts and souls into making sure our wedding represents us as a couple down to the nitty gritty details and balances tradition with the quirky individuality that is uniquely and unequivocally “us”!
I attempted a DIY makeup trial about a month back after a spontaneous false eyelash purchase at Walmart. I know I want to wear falsies on my wedding day, so I thought I’d try them out and see how they felt and how good I was at applying them and all that jazz. (Also, I tend to get tension headaches pretty easily and was curious as to whether the falsies would cause one. Good news: after hours of wearing them, I was headache free!) Anywho, I know I can trust you lovely people to give me pointers and/or ways I could possibly improve upon my DIY makeup skills, so here we go!
(All upcoming photos by Miss Armadillo)
First off, a picture of me wearing everyday makeup:
Mrs. Gray Wolf, Washington DCAge and Occupation: 26, Business Development ExecutiveFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Research ScientistEngagement Date: November 11, 2011Wedding Date: February 2013Venue: Whittemore HouseAbout Me: I'm an ultra-organized, pun-loving, list-making, cheese-enthusiast bride-to-be. Although my day job is in cubicle land, I'm happiest in the modern art wing of a museum, having recently earned my Masters in Museum Studies. Shortly after a chance meeting five years ago, I moved in with Wolfman and haven't looked back since. We love music, movies, TV, and all things pop culture; we have an unspoken competition to be the first to share the latest YouTube sensation or indie song. Together, we've filled quite a few pages in our passports, but also love quiet nights in with a Game of Thrones marathon and our French Bulldog, Tonks (Harry Potter, anyone?). I'm planning a small, cozy winter wedding---think mercury glass and candle light---in the heart of DC. Our venue is a historic home with a lot of political charm, but needs a bit of work to be wedding-ready.
I experienced first hand how long my look would last, how it photographed, etc.—as well as just how nice and luxurious it felt to have my makeup done for me. Melissa was available for my date and lives close by—decision done. I even thought I’d skip a trial altogether, but Melissa recommended that I still do it—I knew I wanted a different look for my indoor, winter wedding than I had for MOH K’s summertime, outdoor affair, and she mentioned that my skin would be pretty different in February than in June. Here’s some inspiration pictures I’m bringing to the trial. First off, a smoky eye (definitely with some falsies):
Mrs. Potion, Herndon, VAAge and Occupation: 23, ITFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, SalesEngagement Date: November 26, 2011Wedding Date: November 2012Venue: St. John’s Catholic Church / SpringHouse, Alexander City, ALAbout Me: We are two complete and total geeks that met at engineering camp, of all places, and after several years of being in love long-distance, we’re finally at the beginning of a lifetime together. We’re working with a modest budget to plan a long-distance wedding full of handmade details, Harry Potter references, and, most importantly, lots of love. I could spend an entire afternoon watching Food Network while shopping for shoes online, while he’d prefer to pwn some n00bs on Halo while blasting Deadmau5 on his stereo. I taught him how to swing dance and he taught me to appreciate Tolkien; he introduced me to LOST and I introduced him to the BBC’s Sherlock. I’m a Gryffindor, he’s a Ravenclaw, and we can spend hours discussing and debating the finer points of Rowling’s masterpiece. We’re so excited to be setting out on this adventure and I can’t wait to share all the details with you!
That’s right—I splurged. Oh boy did I splurge. There’s always one item you go a little overboard with when wedding planning, and I decided makeup was an acceptable item for a bit of ridiculousness, for several reasons—I’m doing my own makeup on The Big Day, meaning I need the best quality equipment to ensure a good job; I’ve never owned real makeup brushes before, so I might as well grab some of the best; and makeup is something that I can actually use after the wedding day is over, so I’m looking at it as more of an investment, not just a splurge.
Mrs. Turkey, PhiladelphiaAge and Occupation: 29, Brand ManagementFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, ConsultantEngagement Date: February 2011Wedding Date: May 2012Venue: The Rittenhouse HotelAbout Me: I'm a marketer who loves a good glass of wine, anything pumpkin-flavored, every crime drama on TV and, of course, Mr. Turkey. It's funny to say out loud, but we're former coworkers turned betrothed---now planning a wedding in the city of Brotherly Love. For three years, we've been eating our way through Philadelphia, playing tourist at home, and cheering for every sports team in the 215. Although we've hit some unplanned snags along the way, we're determined to have a rocking party this spring with our loud, fun families and friends.
I’m a big fan of vendor reviews…heck, reviews in general. From Trip Advisor to Yelp, I often rely on the “wisdom of the masses.” So, to pay it forward, I will be reviewing our wedding vendors over the course of two posts. I have also put all of these reviews online, although in slightly different form (not as narrative).
I’ve also chosen to give a quick “rating” for each vendor to somewhat mirror the online starring systems (Weddingbee vendor reviews use five stars, for example). I came up with four ratings:
Highly Recommend
Recommend
Recommend with Reservations
Do Not Recommend
Essentially, we gave the highest recommendation to anyone who we felt went above and beyond what was required for their role.
Before I jump in, I want to mention that all these comments/thoughts are purely mine and Mr. Turkey’s, based on our experiences. For information on when we booked each of these vendors, you can reference my post here. If you have any specific questions, feel free to reach out.
Miss Bracelet, Frankfurt, Germany/Rapid City, SDAge and Occupation: 26, Post-Graduate StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 31, Electrical Engineering Student/ Ex-Navy Cal TechEngagement Date: May 11, 2011Wedding Date: September 2012Venue: Schloss Heiligenberg/ Spearfish Canyon LodgeAbout Me: I'm a half-American from Germany who fell in love with a wonderful guy from Montana. We met in Japan and have been in a LDR for most of our relationship. I love organizing so much that it could be my middle name (Post-Its, anyone?). I have a serious addiction to paper products and milk chocolate. My fiancé totally gets my tomboy-princess-combo personality and will bring me chocolate when I need a pick-me-up. After a legal ceremony in Germany, we're planning a down-to-earth (semi-destination) wedding with our friends and family in the US.
Somewhere between always doing my own makeup (I’ve never had professional makeup) and the difficulty of meeting with vendors when one isn’t local, I decided to do my own wedding makeup. I don’t wear much on an everyday basis, but glam it up for special occasions.
My main makeup goal was to look like myself, “only better.” The photo below comes closest to what I was envisioning: a natural look with a bit more definition around the eyes.
I was aware, however, that I didn’t have the eye makeup to create this look. And as I spent my summer in Boston, I made a trip to MAC (oh, how I wish that Montana had fancy stores like this). I explained to the makeup consultant what I was looking for and threw in some celebrity shots for good measure.
