We’re starting how early?

In terms of having hair and makeup done on your wedding day morning, you can never have too much time! As a loose rule of thumb: the photographer, will arrive to us at our “getting ready” location, 90 mins before the ceremony (depending on travel time to the ceremony location and whether you’re having “1st look” photos) At this point, the hair and makeup team, plan to be finalising “finishing touches”.While we wrap up, photographers will be capturing shots of you in the makeup chair and your bridal party having a champagne in your robes. Also of the bridal gown before you put it on, your shoes, jewellery, perfume and all of the little details before they come together as one final vision . I work backwards from the time the photographer arrives, to achieve our start time. Depending on how big your bridal party is, that can sometimes be early! (or earlier than you thought) The start time, can sound like an early start, but the morning really does fly and you’d prefer to have too much time than not enough.The morning, should be remembered as a calm, relaxing, stress free part of the day and as my 5 year old daughter likes to say “beauty takes time”.What I like to do in consultation with my bride, is to sketch out a time table. The bride generally is scheduled last in most cases, so you can have a sleep in (or try to have a “sleep in” in any case) and rest assured that I have a clear timeline for everyone to follow! 

My solution:

1. I always do a timetable no matter how big or small the bridal party is. 
2. I rarely take more than 1 wedding in a day so that time is only ever dictated by what time you need to be ready by.

Myth or Legend ?

Flashback, is when you look at a photo of yourself and you have a ghostly white cast or patches of powder that show up above all else. Or your face simply looks as though, you accidentally chose a foundation 3 shades too light in comparison to your body. Every now and then in the fashion mags you’ll see a photo of a celebrity in the “hits and misses” category sporting this makeup blunder. This phenomenon is called flashback and is often caused by SPF sunscreen or powders that contain titanium dioxide within the foundation or powder. So the question remains – how do I avoid flashback??!! The short answer is, that this is only a problem in “flash photography”; weigh up the need for SPF protection v’s the amount of flash photography used. Speak to your photographer and makeup artist about your needs for the day, because this is definitely something you want to avoid!!

To be, or not to be, that is the question?

I get asked quite often “do I need to have a trial”? The short answer is no (with that being said……) You’re not wrong in thinking that its main purpose is to “check out” your hair / makeup artist and to make sure that they can achieve your desired look and indeed, that your desired “look” actually looks good. I believe it’s important for other reasons too, it helps the stylist know exactly what your expectations are on the day.

Your stylist will record the products and techniques used at the trial so that on the day there are no surprises and the wedding morning runs like clockwork! Equally important, as I have mentioned a few times already, it’s nice to start a relationship before the date and I believe this lessens your nerves in the lead up. If having a trial is not possible and sometimes it can simply be a geographical reason, pick up the phone, email back and forth, start a shared Pinterest board. A good hair/ makeup artist will answer your questions and an excellent stylist will welcome being a part of your journey.

My solution, for the scenario in which a Bride cannot commit to a trial, is to offer a “complimentary catch up” coffee date here on the Peninsula, to chat all things weddings and if that doesn’t suit we can always ZOOM ( now that I am an expert after lock down homeschooling 🙂

Photo: Iryna Matyash design

Photo: @_thelustlist_

If a pin hurts now, it will feel like a jackhammer at the end of the night! Don’t be brave, if you’re having an updo for your wedding day and a pin feels uncomfortable, let your stylist  know straight away. It’s easy to change as we’re putting the hair up,but not so easy when it’s all finished.