Wedding day trials: Hair & Makeup

I thought I'd share some pics from my past trial sessions.  The hair and makeup stylist I hired started in the movie industry and got to the point where she didn't like traveling so much and so she focuses mostly on weddings now.  Your hair/makeup trial is included in her price if you decide to book with her once it's done (if not, you have to pay like $75 for it).  I really loved her as a person and as a stylist.  She listened to me and has done great work.  I liked what she came up with based on the few photos I showed her:

  

But after seeing it on me, I wasn't feeling it pulled back so much.  So I asked her to put it 'down around my face' more:

Ok, I don't know who that person is in that photo but it really isn't me!

So after mulling it over, I also decided I didn't like the 50's beehive 'bump' going on at the top of my head.  And the 'white' shadow she used in the corner of my eyes to 'open them up' just wasn't cutting it for the more romantic and soft dramatic look I wanted. 

For my engagement session in July, I went to the MAC counter at a Nordstrom's and took a picture in to show the girl.  I have to say I have never loved the makeup someone did on my face more:

One thing I noticed is that I will definitely have to invest in some oil absorbing cloths as those of us who suffer from oily patches must have these to carry around to dab at our faces on wedding day during photos.  This is a task that my lovely Matron of Honor will help me out with :)  You can get these cloths in any drugstore or makeup aisle.

So I went ahead and paid my stylist to do a second trial run just before Christmas.  I showed her the pics we had from the first trial many months before and compared them to my engagement pic makeup.  She said even she wasn't feeling the 'shininess' on my face or the bright white look in the corner of my eyes and thought my e-pic makeup was better.  This was our new result (excuse my truly stupid half smile):

The lipstick I had on in the e-pic session makeup just above is the same lipstick she used on me in the new makeup trial.  Look at the difference!  I had purchased some Covergirl lasting wear lipsticks/lipglosses and she took the two I love and worked them together and now I love that color on my lips! I am also in love with the more dramatic and just slightly darker look of my eyes. Though I told her I may want to do just a little less blush on wedding day.  And you have to remember I will also be tan on wedding day like in the pics above whereas in December when we did this, I was definitely *not* tan!

So I showed her some new pics and inspiration for the hair as well and we came up with this:

 

For the hair, I loved it as well but was still getting just a little bit of a 'bump' from her...mostly because she was using it to cover up the clip on extensions I had in :) So I e-mailed her that on wedding day, I definitely don't want any teasing done on top of my head :)

You'll have to excuse the two different shades you see in my hair...I had my hair colored and will be getting a touch up before the wedding. When I do, my hair stylist is going to color my clip on extensions as well so they'll match and blend right in. :) 

Here's a great shot of hair and makeup all done with my new and final look:

Side note:  Can you please just look at the stupid crows feet around my eyes in this pic above?  Now go back and look at the pics from back in July...notice the difference?  It's called BOTOX!  I am a huge anti-plastic surgery fiend...I think it's silly to alter your looks, body or appearance in any way that you can't do on your own with diet and exercise.  However, I just thought I'd try out a little botox back during the e-pic session and hair trials and I loved it!  So come wedding day, I will definitely use a little botox one more time to be sure those nasty little wrinkles and crow's feet don't become a part of my eternal photos!  Just something us late 30 something brides should be able to treat ourselves to without any guilt.  :) 

Last tip for wedding day makeup: FALSE EYELASHES!  I would normally never deal with them (I never even wear mascara), but your makeup artist should definitely know how to put these on and they are like $3 at the drugstore.  If you get the darker ones, you don't even need to apply any mascara at all which is huge if you are like me and know that you will end up crying at some point on wedding day.  :)  But after wearing them in the two above trial runs, I found that she has some ridiculously stay put mascara that we can use and I am on the fence about whether or not to use the falsies.  I think I will just go for the more natural eyelashes first and see if I think I need falsies on wedding day.

So, what do you think?  Any suggestions?

Do it yourself wedding videography - Should you or shouldn't you?

I have seen many bride's blog posts in which they debate or justify their reasoning behind whether or not to hire a wedding videographer.  But in today's DIY age, the question has also become whether or not to handle the wedding videography on your own to save money.  While this might seem like a good idea, I just wanted to quickly share the pros and cons of this service...and yes, to some, luxury item for your wedding.

To me, the video is even more important than the photos.  Why?  Because it captures the tears falling, the laughter ringing out, the sweet comments, funny jokes and moment by moment events as the day unravels.  As fun as the photographer's shots of your guests on the dance floor are, nothing beats getting to pull out your wedding video each Thanksgiving and show the family all over again how Grandma got down doing the hustle with the bride and groom on their big day!

My sister's husband was one of those grooms that didn't want to spend the extra money on a videographer and did not see the point.  So I helped split the cost to hire a professional wedding videographer for her wedding...but with a twist.  We contracted him to simply shoot the entire day with an assistant and then fork over all the video tapes to us before he left that night.  The cost was much cheaper than actually having him edit a video together of her event because the editing process is the time consuming portion of wedding videography.  In addition, instead of just getting a 90 minute video recap of the entire day and the ceremony vows, we received ALL of the raw footage of everything he shot.  Granted some of it was obviously shaky and him running around to get in the right location, but we had it all.

What was cool was that in today's computer era, just about anybody can purchase a simple or extensive video editing program for $100 to $2000 and make a video themselves.  This is what we did.  I have become an amateur videographer shooting things like my daughter's soccer season, all-star softball season, etc and then editing the footage into montages set to music and clips of big events to pass out to the parents of the team as a keepsake.  I love doing it and was able to create a wedding video for my sister from the raw footage the professional videographer shot.  Granted, it's just a hobby and I am by no means a pro, but I did do some research browsing wedding videographer web sites for samples and styles of things I could replicate.  And it was all our own and to our exact desires.

Now, don't get me wrong...there are definitely brides out there who will tell you that you can just have friends and family bring their camcorders to shoot everything from their persepctive and give you the same raw footage at the end of the day.  My best friend had a friend do that and I took the footage and edited it into a simple wedding video for her...it was the first video I ever made.  However, as you will see in the excerpt below, it's always better to hire a pro who knows where to be when, how to get the right shot, use good lighting and will be respected by the guests to get out of their way.  :)

The following is an excerpt from a comment posted on Blogger Brides of one girls experience with DIY wedding videography:

Being a bride that took the diy approach with video, I have to write about my video. Family and friends will do your video for you because they love you, but they are not pros, know that going in. We can barely hear our vows at the ceremony. Our first dance got cut off half way through because they all turned the cameras off to join us when the DJ asked them to. It's all pretty shaky and hard to watch. The cameras are of different qualities, so some look good when the reception lights went down and others look like a grainy mess. Also I notice that the color is different, my flowers look bright and colorful on one camera and dull on another.

 I agree with the previous poster that the editing is what makes video so expensive. When I asked videogrpahers in my area what they would charge to make this into something watchable, they said it would cost as much or more than their full coverage packages because of all the corrections they would need to make.

If you really want a video and it is important to you, don't skimp on it. If a pro is just not in your budget, look for a college student (ask for the best in the class). There also may be a pro willing to shoot and hand over the tapes like the poster above mentioned, but in my area, they all said no. If I were doing it again today, I would try asking them if they would shoot the wedding and allow me to pay for the editing later when I could afford it.

This is great advice.  Ladies, I am telling you...figure it out and make it work if you think this is something that will be important to you.  Heck, most brides don't realize how important it was to them and then end up regretting not having a videographer afterwards...especially since the day flies by so quickly and with you off taking pictures, you will possibly miss half of your guests arriving, mingling, etc.  You will miss the way the reception room looked before all the guests broke in and tore it apart.

Many girls say that their proposals were a blur and they could not remember anything their fiance said to them as he popped the question...do you want the same experience when you are reciting your once in a lifetime vows to each other?  To me, the videographer is the absolute most important part of my day.  We couldn't afford what I wanted, and so I negotiated a phenomenal deal with a very understanding and amazing company...but there is no way I wanted to spend so much time and effort and thought planning this one event and then not have it permanently recorded to revisit throughout my life. 

And for some final encouragement, here are some samples of people's video clips from weddings that friends and family took (in a future post, I will share some clips I edited of my sister's wedding video):
):

 Holy Shakes-a-lot!

 Blurry, people walking in front of camera, BACK of Bride & Groom!

Try try again - wedding day trials and test runs

We've all heard that you should not get a facial the day before your wedding or you should break your shoes in by walking around in them in your house for a few weeks before the wedding. Those are great tips, but just a friendly reminder to be sure to TEST everything well in advance of when you want to use/do/try it before your wedding. From my own personal bridal beauty journal:

* Tanning: Tried it out this month for my engagement pics to see how often, what kind of bed/spray and how much I will need to pay. So far, working well.

* Teeth whitening: Used Crest Whitestrips (recommended by my dentist) before my engagement pics 14 days in advance (10 day system). Definitely brightening up my teeth a bit but noticed that I did have slight tooth sensitivity and that my gums were starting to get red bleeding spots above my teeth. Stopped for a day or 2 and they were fine but glad I found out that can happen so that I be sure to have this done at least 4 or 5 days before the wedding.
* Hair & Makeup: I'm visiting with a potential stylist for the big day this weekend to test out hair and makeup WHILE I am tan for my engagement pics since I will also be tan for my wedding. The rest of the year, I'm pale white...so I want to be sure the makeup trial is done while my skin tone looks as it will on wedding day. And be sure to BRING YOUR VEIL! You definitely want to try your veil on with your potential do as sometimes you may love a hair-do but once you try to find a place for the veil, it covers your favorite part or either has to be placed way up high or way lower than you were hoping for. Be sure to bring your veil for the sytlist to place and TAKE PICTURES so you remember everything and can remind your vendors as well.

* Hair cut/color: I do this every 4 to 6 months but am trying to let my hair and bangs grow a bit and get back to my more natural hair color. Definitely want to have this done several months before my wedding to allow plenty of time for growing out and getting to the perfect shade. Even have clip in extensions I used at my sister's wedding which I may have colored to match my current hair color for the wedding.

* Weight loss/gain: For me, I'm opposite...I am trying to GAIN 15 lbs before the big day which is almost impossible for me for most of my life. But if you want to gain or lose weight before the big day, be sure you do it in a healthy natural way and don't go excessive by starving yourself or cramming your face. You don't want to look sick and be exhausted on the biggest day of your life. And it isn't always a good thing to try to figure out how to alter a dress a few weeks before your wedding when you've suddenly lost 50 lbs!

Anyone have any additional info or tips on trying and testing things for your wedding beauty or details?