Wedding Wednesday (Hair & Make-Up)

Hello, all! Today is Wedding Wednesday!! How exciting?! I love reliving our journey. It is so much fun for me to think back through everything. I hope it brings joy to those of you reading who were involved so much, as well. I cannot thank those family and friends who were by our side day-in and day-out those few weeks leading up to the wedding! I had some pretty awesome people working behind the scenes!

I have some great news to share!!!

1) I have FINALLY sorted through all 800+ of our wedding photos and designated them to folders that correspond to the Wedding Wednesday blog posts. I have uploaded the Flowers, Reception/Ceremony Decor, Dress, and Extras albums to the Facebook page. If you are not following along yet, CLICK HERE to access the page. Like the page! From there you will have ultimate access to many posts, photos, and more! The photos from today's post will be added a little later. I hope I have helped another Bride-to-be in some form or fashion through all of this! :)  

2) I am going to be blogging a second post today (Yes, again!!) on "Stocking Stuffer Ideas from P&G: Plus Discount Codes for eStore." I am so excited to announce that I have teamed up with P&G to write reviews on items that I use from the eStore. Additionally, I will be trying new products, too, and letting you know what I thought! I have promos and discounts on name brand, house hold, everyday items that you will not want to miss out on!!! These are deals that you will not want to miss out on [beauty wise], especially all the Bride-to-be ladies who are reading! Be sure to check back later today for more information and all the details on the discount deals! Click HERE to view my very first sponsored blog post! Eeeekk!

If you have missed any of the prior posts from this series, I have included the link list below.

1) Decor (Reception and Ceremony) Click Here
2) Flowers Click HERE

3) Reception Food and Cakes (Coming Next Week!)

4) Photographer Click Here

5) Make-up/Hair (TODAY!)

6) Wedding Random Extras Click Here

7) The Dress Click Here

I recently posted on Sunday about our photography team, J Franks Photography, who helped to capture all the moments of our engagement and wedding day. They are a wonderful husband and wife team who are willing to listen to your ideas, travel the distance, get dirty if needed, and go the extra mile when in doubt. I absolutely adore Jessica and Jeremy Franks! I would totally recommend them to anyone looking for wedding, portrait, or fashion photographers. If you would like to read up on a few tips for preparing for your engagement or bridal session, and wedding day CLICK HERE to access the post.

Today, I would like to highlight their hair and make-up stylist, Haleigh. Haleigh actually started working with J Franks Photography soon after Tony and I  booked them in October 2011. During December I was trying to wrap up all of the bookings because I knew the first of the year would be very busy for many vendors and last minute Brides. At the time, I had everything booked expect one thing. I was desperately trying to find someone to do my make-up. Although I thought I could make it work if I had to do it myself, I really did not want to have to be bothered with painting my face on the biggest day of my life. Since October, I had searched high and low in many areas of south Alabama. I asked around for a couple of stylists, but each were already booked. Finally, I gave up and tried my last shot of an idea. I made one final phone call to Jeremy Franks and in turn was introduced to Haleigh. It was a match made in heaven. I could not have been more thankful!

First and foremost, let me just say, I never intended to wear my hair up on my wedding day. I have never liked my hair up nor did I ever consider wearing it up when I bought my dress. However, after a bit of coaxing from others I realized that my dress was best suited for an up-do. This is one of the few cases in which I will say that having a helmet of hairspray is necessary—I did not want to be fiddling with stray pieces of hair on my wedding day. I hardly ever wear my hair up because I do not feel comfortable with a ponytail most days. Also, I did not want to look back on my wedding photos and not recognize myself. After looking at a ton of pictures and weighing many options, I realized that I did not want my long hair to cover up half of my dress and I also did not want to be pushing it out of my face all day. So, I wore it up! At the end of the day I looked like a hot mess, but we were married and that was all that mattered by then.

           

 

 

The pictures above are from the first hair trial I had with the original lady who planned to help with bridals and on the wedding day. She was not able to fix my hair for bridals, but she did do my hair for our wedding. She did a fabulous job! It was simple, elegant, and absolutely gorgeous! Also, did I mention that she knocked it out of the pack fixing all FIVE bridesmaids hair, my mom's hair, and my mother-in-law's hair! :)

 

 At first, I scheduled Haleigh to only do my make-up for my bridal portrait session and our wedding day. A few things did not go as planned with the original stylist planning to help with bridals, therefore Haleigh ended up doing my make-up and hair for bridals and only my make-up for our wedding. Haleigh also did a few of the Bridesmaids make-up. The photos above are my trial run #2 with Haleigh. The photo below is from my bridal session.

I met with Haleigh at the salon where she works a few days before my bridal session so that we could do a run through to make sure everything was perfect. I showed her this photo I found from Pinterest and she was able to mimic it exactly. My make-up and hair could have not been better for bridals or for our wedding.

I have very board straight hair. Often, my hair does not hold a style long. I wanted to be sure my hair was different for our wedding versus that of my every day hair. Needless to say, I was very apprehensive about how wedding hair was going to work. Regardless, despite my texture hair the style prevailed during the entire day through many bumps and the June heat.

 

 

This is what you really came for, right?

 

TIP- Know if you have sensitive skin. This will eliminate the use of any products that may cause you to break out or have irritation.

 

TIP-Know what colors make-up look best on your skin. Then, sit back and let the professionals do their job. Do not worry about another thing.

 

TIP- Do not be afraid to try something a wee bit different from normal. Just make sure that you schedule enough time to perfect your hair and make-up before Bridals.

 

TIP- Attend your trial session with your veil(s) and hair piece in hand. [I had two veils. I wore one veil for all photos and during the ceremony. I wore the second veil only during my bridal session to have photos with a different look. During the reception I wore a hair piece that I bought from David's and spruced up with rhinestones.]

 

TIP- Traditionally, many Brides pick the length and type of veil depending upon the time of the wedding ceremony. Since we did not wedding plan as the traditional Bride and Groom, I chose to wear a 3/4 length veil. Although cathedral veils are to die for, I wanted to be able to wear my veil through the day without pulling and tugging around a veil [the veil will literally be pinned to your head. I had it positioned under my hair instead of on top for quick exit and swap access once the ceremony was over before the reception]. Once again, the beauty of planning a wedding in today's world allows you to do just about whatever you want. Play with clips, crowns, tiaras, and just have fun. In the end, it is your day. Feel beautiful.

 

 

 

 

I do not remember what type of make-up Haleigh uses, but it is especially made for photography. Actually, one of the reasons I chose to work with her so quickly is because of the make-up aspect. I have extremely sensitive skin and am allergic to sulfur. I hardly wear make-up most days and when I do wear it, I cannot wear certain eye liners or shadows. Sulfur is in just about every single make-up, beauty, or hygiene product on the market. It works to keep the product fresh. Luckily, the make-up brand and eye shadows Haleigh uses worked perfectly for my skin! I was able to wear it without a problem.  

If you are in the Tuscaloosa area and need help with an event I would recommend using her! She did a wonderful job with my make-up and hair. I have had a few friends make appointments for just a hair cut and color. Each said they would recommend her for that type of thing, as well! She id definitely an all a round stylist!

If I could give any tips on hair and make-up I would definitely recommend going very natural and comfortable. This is the one day that you will always look back on. If your hair and make-up do not look normal or you look like a totally different person that will more than likely be the only thing noticed or remembered. Although it is important to have your make-up and hair look good in pictures and under certain camera and light settings, try to keep it as normal and simple as possible. Overall, know what you want and have different options to try.

If you would like to see more of Haleigh's work click HERE to access her personal blog.

Haleigh and Cooper recently got married! This is their wedding video created by J Franks Photography. Sit back and enjoy. :)

If you have any questions about something that I did not cover, please feel free to email me! There are a lot of tutorials and tips on Pinterest for Brides when trying to decide what type of hairstyle will best fit you and your particular style dress on your big day. I highly encourage all Brides to search the site well, just I have in past posts. It was a life saver!  

 

In other news, I have tried my second attempt at a link up. Today, I linked this post to A Happy Wife in NOLA. Hopefully, I linked up properly. If so, click the link provided and refer to all the other Wedding Wednesday posts circulating in the blog world today. Enjoy and Happy Planning! :)

 

How do you wear your hair and makeup for special occasions?

Until next time- Happy Blogging!