Mrs. Pony, Bloomington, IL
Age and Occupation: 25, Attorney
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 34, Attorney
Engagement Date: March 22, 2010
Wedding Date: September 2011
Venue: Mackinaw Valley Vineyard; Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts
About Me: I found my Southern counterpart in law school and since he popped the question last March, we have been busy graduating, job searching, bar taking, and wedding planning. My loves include must see TV, magnets, quotes, anything green, my car, fun socks, the Cubs, and my Mr. Together we love wine, playing outside, and exploring the world together. Stay tuned to see our Midwest wedding full of Southern charm, vintage flair, lots of DIY details, and a whole lot o’ wine.
This is my basic makeup look on a daily basis (yes, the crazy hair accompanies this look as do the tired eyes):
Powder, blush, eye shadow, and mascara.
I pretty much know how I want to look on our wedding day: I want flawless skin, the perfect amount of glow on my cheeks, and eyes that pop (in a good way, not a creepy, Lady Gaga-esque way). Basically, an amped of version of my everyday wear.
I know what I want, this will be so easy, right? Psh, what am I kidding, this wedding crap is never that easy.
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Mrs. Macarons, Tampa
Age and Occupation: 26, Graphic Designer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 34, Renaissance Man
Engagement Date: September 12, 2009
Wedding Date: September 2011
Venue: Lange Farm
About Me: I'm creative at heart and a graphic designer with an unhealthy obsession with type. I love roller coasters, spicy foods, and a good glass of Crianza. We’re planning a soft and lovely vintage-meets-modern wedding in a state that’s known for its beaches, glitz and glam. I have a ton of DIY projects and lots of little details I’m dying to share and can't wait to celebrate with our closest friends and family.
I finally had the trial I had been putting off and I’m back to show you the results.
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Mrs. Sparkler, Chicago
Age and Occupation: 27, Communications Aficionado
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Publisher
Engagement Date: July 21, 2010
Wedding Date: September 2011
Venue: Chicago Illuminating Company
About Me: I’m a Southern lady living in the big city of Chicago. Well, lady may be a stretch, but I’m working hard to keep some Virginia charm in our sleek, urban, wedding-palooza! I’m addicted to marathons, not-so-famous bands, Chicago restaurants, and Mark Twain. I cry during SPCA commercials, and I think LOST was the best show to ever hit television. Mr. S and I met at a classy college mixer and, 7 years later, he’s still by my side. He’s the only child, laid back, free spirit... I’m the oldest of five kids, type-A, organizer. It doesn’t work on paper, but we’ve never paid attention to that stuff anyway. Somehow it works. And like they say, sometimes when you know…you just know.
“Ohhh… I look nice!”
I still can’t believe it, but that was the first thing I said after seeing the results of my makeup trial. Why so shocked? Well, much like my feelings going into my hair trial, I woke up on Saturday feeling apprehensive and (honestly) not expecting too much. Ever since a particularly bad experience before a sorority formal, I’d been dreading having someone else do my makeup again (“dramatic” does NOT mean the same thing as “scary raccoon eyes”). I just figured no one else really understood this face of mine, and I would be doomed to make myself up (poorly) for our big day.
Well.
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Mrs. Panther, Atlanta GA/Westport CT
Age and Occupation: 24, Web Writer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Music Recording Engineer
Engagement Date: March 13, 2010
Wedding Date: July 2011
Venue: The Inn at Longshore
About Me: I'm a total goofball who goes through life at a breakneck pace, trying not to knock anything over. I tend to fall in love with everything I encounter, but more than anything, I love my two little kitties, Bela and Josie, and my big kitty, Mr. Panther! As a wannabe crafter, I'm still waiting for my artistic talents to emerge. (Any day now, really.) In the meantime, I spend my days eating anything put in front of me, buying every pair of shoes I see and absorbing wedding inspiration from every inch of my surroundings. Mr. Panther and I are hardcore New Englanders planning Connecticut nuptials from our new home in the Dirty South, and can't wait to mix our newfound love of classic Southern charm with some modern city touches.
While I was in Connecticut for my bridal shower, I also carved out some time for the eagerly awaited hair and makeup trial. I was PUMPED. I’ve had my inspiration photos for quite a while, and couldn’t wait to see how they’d work out.
Makeup was easy. The word “fresh,” “classic,” or “timeless,” have never described me. I wanted bold, dramatic, and smoky, like this:
Photo via Powderroom.com.au
And this:
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Mrs. Pain au Chocolat, Wilmington, DE
Age and Occupation: 29, Realtor
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 34, Realtor
Engagement Date: November 21, 2009
Wedding Date: June 2011
Venue: Greenville Country Club
About Me: An ENFJ with an artistic streak who loves backgammon, sailing, graphic design, and sleeping in. Travel (near or far), good wine, and tasty food makes my heart sing. I'm a compulsive list-maker who lives to plan and organize. Mr. P and I have lived together for 4 years, all the while renovating our city townhome bit by bit. We're planning a whimsical, Anthropologie-inspired garden wedding in June 2011.
My hair trial was a few weeks ago. Today’s the first chance I’ve had to review the photos of the two styles we tried. Now that I’m looking at the pictures…uhmmm, I’m not really happy with either one. (Caveat: I’m my own worst critic. Throw in some lovely hormones mixed with under 12 days left until W-Day and you get a stomachful of knots.) The good news is I re-looked at my inspiration images and have isolated what needs to change. The bad news is I no longer trust my own opinion so I need to see it on me to know for sure. What I think would look good on me could be a disaster and there’s only the morning of left to figure this out.
Both images via Style Me Pretty / Photo by Bliss Wedding Studio
The first hairstyle we tried was the detailed, interwoven updo (above). Because my gown has so much detail already, we downplayed the amount of detail in the hairstyle. The detail is what I liked about those styles.
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Mrs. Prairie Dog, Cincinnati
Age and Occupation: 24, Program Coordinator
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 25, PhD/Biomedical Engineer
Engagement Date: December 18, 2009
Wedding Date: May 2011
Venue: Glendale Lyceum
About Me: I'm a pilgrim soul of a girl with a house full of books and a coffee addiction that could slay Juan Valdez. My life is a whirl of grammar correction, good music, glue-gunning, and two pets named Hazel and Winston Churchill. I'm marrying my high school boyfriend in a formal-ish spring affair, roughly themed: "Elizabeth Bennet crashes a party co-hosted by Jay Gatsby and Cath Kidston, and loves it."
I don’t know about your little corner of the world, but things are muggy as a sauna in the Midwest. This weather is throwing a wrench in my plan to wear my hair down. Too bad that I’m dead set on wearing it down—I don’t look or feel like me any other way.
Also causing problems? My complete inability to articulate what I want. This is pretty much what my hair stylist got: Uh, down. Full…kind of wavy but NOT ringlet-y or tight spiral curls. Loose, natural, but definitely different from my usual look.
Somehow, she got my hair to look amazing. The following pictures are of my hair after a few hours and a VERY humid car ride home in wicked traffic. It fell, to be sure, but you know what? I felt like myself, natural but still a little more formal than usual. If the worst that happens is that all the volume and curls fall? Well, my hair will look like my everyday hair. And I will still whip it back and forth on the dance floor.
Note: makeup trial NOT involved. Do not blame my makeup artist for the way my face looks after a long day at work.
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Mrs. Cinnamon Bun, Calgary, Alberta
Age and Occupation: 26, Stage Manager
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Theatre Technician
Engagement Date: June 22, 2010
Wedding Date: June 2011
Venue: Calgary Opera Centre
About Me: I'm a life-long crafter and bookworm living in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies. Some of my loves include Lord of the Rings, Sherlock Holmes, knitting, opera, musicals, Etsy, baking, and of course, Mr. Cinnamon Buns. We're keeping our wedding close to home---the venue isn't very far from our house, and we live within walking distance of 6 bridal salons. I'm using the wedding as an excuse to try out every craft project I possibly can, with the endless help and support of my fiance.
That’s me doing my best Blue Steel after my wedding makeup trial!
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Mrs. Hyena, College Station, TX
Age and Occupation: 23, Marketing Specialist
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Aerospace Engineering Grad Student
Engagement Date: January 8, 2010
Wedding Date: May 2011
Venue: Downtown 202
About Me: I'm a Texas girl who met my future hubby in high school, then headed up to Oklahoma for a college education (BOOMER SOONER!) before moving back to the Lone Star State to be with him. I love reading and recycling, Photoshop and reality TV, making lame jokes and then laughing at them, quoting movies, and Mr. Hyena most of all. I'm perpetually early and I like to get things accomplished. When my cat meows at me, I meow back. We're planning a laid-back, unintentionally DIY wedding with a cocktail-party vibe, and can't wait to celebrate our nuptials with our nearest and dearest!
In early February I had my bridal portraits taken, and I’m so excited to share those with y’all! They turned out really well, and I love them. 
In the meantime, getting bridal portraits done means I needed to become beautimus, so I knocked out a couple birds and had my hair trial then as well. You may remember my previous hair inspiration. In addition, I decided I wanted my veil to sit at the back of my head, and I wanted my hair to have a little bit of volume.
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Ms. Gazelle, Calgary/Vancouver
Age and Occupation: 32, Engineer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 32, Technology Analyst
Engagement Date: September 3, 2010
Wedding Date: July 2011
Venue: Brock House Restaurant, Vancouver
About Me: I am a marathon runner, cyclist, Ironman triathlete and beautiful shoe fiend who also loves kicking back and watching Glee. I grew up a bit of a nomad as I traveled around the world with my family, living everywhere from Australia to England to South America and Indonesia. I finally settled in Calgary a few years ago and met Mr. Gazelle who loves me even though we cheer for different hockey teams. We are planning a bit of a destination wedding in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia and we can’t wait to share the day with our close family and friends.
My hairdresser in Calgary is also planning a destination wedding right now. At my last hair appointment we talked about wedding hair, updos, and hair trials. She encouraged me to get a hair trial done when we went to Vancouver for our food and cake tasting in the spring and to not wait until the week before the wedding. This way I’d know how I felt about the stylist, and if there were any problems I’d have plenty of time to figure out a backup plan. I’d also know how I felt about the style I had chosen!
Trying to find someone who is good at updos when you don’t patronize their salon frequently? Tough. Trying to find someone good who works on a Sunday, plus has multiple coworkers also good at updos that work on Sundays? Tricky. Luckily a lot of the bigger salons in downtown Vancouver are indeed open on Sundays, so I had a variety to choose from.
I decided to try Suki’s on West Georgia. Why? Mostly because they were across the street from the hotel I thought I’d be staying in (although those plans have since changed). And because the one time I had been there I swear I had the most amazing shampoo experience in my entire life. Luckily Suki’s website is really informative, and all of the stylists have a blurb about their expertise and their prices. I called to find out who worked on Sundays, picked one of the stylists with the most experience, and booked a hair trial.
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Ms. Sloth, Philadelphia
Age and Occupation: 35, Account Manager and Fashion Blogger
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Design Admin
Engagement Date: December 25, 2009
Wedding Date: May 2011
Venue: Bartram's Garden
About Me: I'm an internet junkie and music snob with a good eye for a bargain. I couldn't live without thrift store shopping, cheeseburgers, sushi, Coke Zero, websites devoted to silly photos of baby animals, Photoshop, and Mr. Sloth. Speaking of which, he and I are a pair of goofball homebody nerds who love our beagle (the most ridiculously adorable dog EVER) to an embarrassing degree. We're planning a low-key and intimate yet festive and quirky outdoor wedding with DIY details and deeply personal touches, and it's all taking place in the city where we fell in love and call home: Philadelphia.
If you recall, my first makeup trial just didn’t do it for me.
My DIY trial looked better, and I liked having an alternative to fall back on, but I didn’t think it was dramatic enough, and I decided that I’d rather leave my face to the professionals.
Luckily for me, Bridesmaid K works with a woman who does professional makeup as a side business. She came to my home a few weeks ago (when I was sick as a dog) and worked her magic. Or at least her semi-magic. She said that, for my wedding day, she’d go full-on with primers, but she didn’t do that for the trial. She also said that she usually does just one eye at first, and only does the second one if the bride requests changes. And this was fine with me, because all I wanted to do was go take a nap on the couch.
I told her I wanted to look fresh, but dramatic, but not too dramatic for a garden wedding in late afternoon. Whatever the eff that means. But she managed to nail it!
Here is me, before:
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Mrs. Lox, Baltimore
Age and Occupation: 33, Government Worker
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 35. IT Consultant
Engagement Date: May 8, 2010
Wedding Date: May 2011
Venue: Vandiver Inn
About Me: I’m an East Coast gal born and bred and a suburban brat turned city rat for the last year. Now Mr. Lox and I enjoy walking all kinds of places, having the coolest things around in our backyard, and especially our garage parking. I love gadgets, toys, Ben & Jerry’s Chubby Hubby ice cream, monkeys, and our insane cats. I’m a blonde by birth and a redhead by choice. I’m that girl in the cubicle farm with all the cool toys and the file cabinet covered in magnetic poetry. I still use smiley faces in my emails, whether people like it or not. This is not the first rodeo for Mr. Lox nor me. And together, we are planning an intimate afternoon wedding on a budget we can afford by ourselves.
So the other trial I had this weekend was my makeup trial. I know…busy busy!
Unlike my hair trial, I didn’t go in armed with inspiration pictures. I did show her pictures of my dress and give her a general idea of what I was looking for. Basically, I want to look polished and have my skin look fantastic. I’d like a sort of natural look but with some oomph to the eyes. And of course, I had to go in bare-faced.
Here’s the deal. I know you all love a confident woman. And I’m totally cool with who I am. But who I am is a chick who doesn’t leave the house without a little bit of makeup at the very least. So what I’m showing you here is a testament to my love for you all. And visual proof of why I wear makeup even to the grocery store.
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Mrs. Lox, Baltimore
Age and Occupation: 33, Government Worker
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 35. IT Consultant
Engagement Date: May 8, 2010
Wedding Date: May 2011
Venue: Vandiver Inn
About Me: I’m an East Coast gal born and bred and a suburban brat turned city rat for the last year. Now Mr. Lox and I enjoy walking all kinds of places, having the coolest things around in our backyard, and especially our garage parking. I love gadgets, toys, Ben & Jerry’s Chubby Hubby ice cream, monkeys, and our insane cats. I’m a blonde by birth and a redhead by choice. I’m that girl in the cubicle farm with all the cool toys and the file cabinet covered in magnetic poetry. I still use smiley faces in my emails, whether people like it or not. This is not the first rodeo for Mr. Lox nor me. And together, we are planning an intimate afternoon wedding on a budget we can afford by ourselves.
This weekend was the weekend of trials for me. And first up? Was the hair.
Now before we get started, let’s take a walk down memory lane. We talked about my original hair-spiration. We also talked about how much I hate my natural curls. (I know, a bad curly girl is me. But that’s the way it goes.) And then we talked about new hair-spiration for straight lox. (Sorry, couldn’t help it.) Let’s revisit the final chosen inspiration…
From The Knot/Photo by Mary Claire Crow, Old Hickory
With side swept bangs like these…
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Ms. Gazelle, Calgary/Vancouver
Age and Occupation: 32, Engineer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 32, Technology Analyst
Engagement Date: September 3, 2010
Wedding Date: July 2011
Venue: Brock House Restaurant, Vancouver
About Me: I am a marathon runner, cyclist, Ironman triathlete and beautiful shoe fiend who also loves kicking back and watching Glee. I grew up a bit of a nomad as I traveled around the world with my family, living everywhere from Australia to England to South America and Indonesia. I finally settled in Calgary a few years ago and met Mr. Gazelle who loves me even though we cheer for different hockey teams. We are planning a bit of a destination wedding in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia and we can’t wait to share the day with our close family and friends.
Ready for some fun and embarrassing pictures?
My hair is super-duper fine. I think I’ve had an updo twice in my life. The first time was probably the hair trial for my brother’s wedding. The second time was at my brother’s wedding. When they got married back in 2003, my hair was also quite likely the longest it has been in my life. I don’t have a great picture to show how long it was, but this probably gives you an idea of how fine my hair is.
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Mrs. Tartlet, Rochester, MI
Age and Occupation: Age & Occupation: 27, Post-Doctoral Research Fellow
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Medical Student
Engagement Date: May 2, 2009
Wedding Date: May 2011
Venue: The Royal Park Hotel
About Me: I'm an exuberant gal from the Midwest with a penchant for Neuroscience and anything sparkly. I'm not afraid to poke fun at myself, and I'm a believer that given the right pair of shoes, a girl can conquer the world. While an interest in the sciences threw Mr. Tartlet and me together (again, and again, until it finally stuck), we share a love for many things---food, video games, car dancing, food, bad puns, travel, did I mention food?---that ultimately led us to where we are now, less than five months from becoming Mr. and Mrs. We're planning a laid-back, romantic, garden-inspired affair with organic and quirky touches that reflect our love for the unexpected!
After many a past hair calamity, I made darn sure to schedule a trial prior to our wedding day. I deliberated between a handful of styles, and thanks to the input my besties and the Hive settled on the soft, loose updo. The half-up-half-down was an equally strong contender until I was reminded on a brief, glorious 70 degree day here that my back sweats excessively when I get warm. Hair plastered to my neck and back = no bueno. My appointment at Posh Studio ended up being a double-whammy with my makeup trial scheduled the same evening. I wanted a fresh and natural look with just a hint of color:
Image via sheknows
I also coveted a shimmery, sun-kissed glow that the oh-so-lovely Rachel Bilson pulls off to perfection:
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Ms. Gazelle, Calgary/Vancouver
Age and Occupation: 32, Engineer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 32, Technology Analyst
Engagement Date: September 3, 2010
Wedding Date: July 2011
Venue: Brock House Restaurant, Vancouver
About Me: I am a marathon runner, cyclist, Ironman triathlete and beautiful shoe fiend who also loves kicking back and watching Glee. I grew up a bit of a nomad as I traveled around the world with my family, living everywhere from Australia to England to South America and Indonesia. I finally settled in Calgary a few years ago and met Mr. Gazelle who loves me even though we cheer for different hockey teams. We are planning a bit of a destination wedding in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia and we can’t wait to share the day with our close family and friends.
Mr. Gazelle and I wanted to get engagement photos taken, and in preparation for that I needed a little help on the makeup front! I don’t wear a lot of makeup anymore, and I figured if I was going to try and DIY my makeup for the engagement photos, I could probably use a little tutorial. I got home from work, changed out of my office clothes, and snapped a picture of my typical look:
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