Table of Contents
1. Hair/make-up for bridals
2. New Low Updo Hair Inspirations
3. Hair Trial 1
4. Original Half-Up/Half-Down Hair Idea Inspirations
5. Make-up Ideas
6. Jewelry
7. Hair Accessories
8. Veil
9. Shoes
10. The Dress
11. Bustle and Alterations
12. Dress Steaming
Actual Hair and make-up from my Bridals session
New Hair Ideas
Update as of 9/10: I have now decided I want a low updo. I had my hair trial today and we tried out a half-up/half-down look, which is originally what I wanted. While it was still very pretty, I really don't have the hair for it. I could get extensions, but I don't really want to pay for them. AND I'm afraid that the curls will either fall out as the night goes on or I'll be worrying that they will, and I really don't want to be thinking about my hair the whole time. Sooooo I've decided to change things around.
Here are my new inspiration photos.
Hair Trial 1 - 9/10
For whatever reason I don't think the make-up photographed very well. I thought it looked nice in person, but these pictures just don't look like me. I accidentally dabbed on WAY too much concealer around my eyes so it's glowing weird and messing up how I look. I know I'm going to have her change the eye make-up a little to make it a bit more dramatic, and maybe lighten up on the blush (I was also very hot in that dress in that room, and my face turns red very quickly when I'm overheated, so I don't really need any extra blush).
Also, the bangs were not styled in these pictures. I just had them down but not curled like I would have had them done for the real thing.
I've been collecting the hair pictures for a while and I just found another knottie's wedding page. She was absolutely gorgeous and her hair and make-up is exactly what I'm looking for. Now I'm just hoping that I'd be able to pull that off with my hair, assuming I can grow it out more and mine isn't too fine/thin. Hers are the first 4 pictures, credit goes to KappaUCF20 and her photographer Jamie Smith Photography.
Make-up Ideas
I'm going to try to go for something natural but still romantic and dramatic, if that makes sense. Again, KappaUCF20 had gorgeous make-up as well.
Haha. Ok so my possible hair/make-up lady works for Mary Kay and sent me her site to play around with their virtual make-up thingy. Here are some of my creations. I put my before shot first so you can see how much of a difference it makes. And that's not exactly how I'm planning on doing my hair, but that particular hair choice is close, and the color is not too far off my normal color either.
I don't know how much difference there really is in the blush and lips from my regular color. I'll probably just wear a little bit of blush and some gloss on my lips. Not a huge fan of lipstick. I'm hoping the eye colors look good in person.
Jewelry
I just bought this set on Etsy from seller Handwired. I did customize it a bit so that there are only white pearls, clear crystals (as opposed to aurora borealis ones), the chain on the necklace is shorter, and there are some extra pearls and crystals along the length of the chain. The earrings were $26 and the necklace was $30. Definitely an awesome price considering the quality of the necklace.
Hair Accessories
Here are some examples of the pins I'm going to try to make and how I'll probably wear it.
Veil
I ended up ordering this one from Chicbridals.com for only $80. I got the 36" in white. It finally came in early July and I love it! The only thing I'm not crazy about is the length. I think I might take it in with me when I get my dress hemmed and see if they can shorten the length of the longer tier to about 2" below the shorter one. I haven't actually tried it with my dress so maybe I'll end up loving the long length, but I'm not thinking so. I posted some pics below of it on my head. I'm sure it'll look a lot better with my real dress though. ;o)
Shoes
Here are my shoes! They're Touch Ups Nona Pumps. I got them from endless.com (awesome site, btw) for $51. The size I ordered is just slightly too big, so I was gonna send them back and get the smaller size, but I managed to get the side dirty and now I'm thinking they won't take them back. Sooo I ended up dyeing the larger size to wear for my bridals and will be keeping the white ones for the day of.
Here were some other ones I was looking at. The top ones were my favorite style, but they just don't fit quite right.
The Dress! - Tyler don't look!
Finally! My dress has arrived! Quick back story first: after I got engaged, I started looking at dresses online. I found one on Maggie Sottero's website that I just fell in love with. Well unfortunately it was a newer dress and none of the stores in town had it yet. I went and tried on probably about 15 other gowns in case I could find another one I loved, but I still kept comparing them all to this one. Finally one store that I called recommended that I come in and they would try to find me all of the gowns in their shop that would fit similarly to my dream one. After doing that and deciding that the style would be good, I ordered my dream gown without actually having seen it in person. It took almost 4 months for it to finally come in, and needless to say I was super nervous about it. I even had nightmares about it coming in and being completely hideous. When I finally got the call that it had arrived, I was out the door in about 10 min and on my way to see it. Fortunately for everyone involved (I do think Tyler had had enough of me complaining about not having my dress), I absolutely loved it when I put it on. It needs a few alterations, but for the most part fits wonderfully. And it makes me feel like an absolute princess. I'm so excited!
Here are some pics of me trying it on for the first time. I'll add more once I get the wrinkles out of the dress.
I loved the way the others ended up fitting, so I just went ahead and ordered this one.
It's Maggie Sottero Harriet, and it's perfect. :o)
Bustle and Alterations
I turned my dress over to the seamstress at Joan's Alterations on 9/11 and she said I can come back in a month to pick it up. It ended up just needing around a 1" hem in the front and the bustle in the back. I told her I liked the multiple point bustles and showed her some of the pictures below. She suggested a 3-point under bustle (French bustle). I'm really excited to see how it turns out!
This last one is actually called an Austrian bustle. I think it would be really pretty, but I'm assuming it would also have a large bill to go along with it.
Dress Steaming
So, for those of you trying to figure out how to get out wrinkles, I would highly recommend buying a steamer and doing it at home. Worked like a charm!