As most of you will probably know by now,I just got married in June, so I've been through all the supposed stress and dilemma's to have the best day of my life...so far!

Ok, on the subject of your wedding make up what should you go for? DIY or go to someone or have them come to you?

Well, i decided in advance i was going to go to someone to have my make-up done!

I phoned around a lot of places in the phone book to find out prices for doing my hair and make-up as well as my bridesmaid's and my mums, and the price ranges were very bizarre i can tell you!

It ranged from one shop saying it would be approximately £50 per person (Depending on our skin type?????) RIGHT!! Give that one a miss then!

The non-weird price ranges were from £55 per person to £100 per person. Obviously the latter end of the scale is ridiculous, and its more expensive to have someone out to your house to do it!

I found the girls who did ours, at a Wedding fayre.
This is an IDEAL opportunity to get bargains, Everyone there is planning on getting married, so all the companies there are in competition with each other to try and outdo them so they all have special offers and deals.
If you pay a deposit then and there to seal your booking!Its totally worth it!

Like i said, i found our girls by accident. I had already planned to go to a local salon i had occasionally got my hair done in, and knew them to do make-up too. The beautician i had spoken to wasn't particularly helpful when i'd called and said she would call me back with more accurate prices, which she never did. So i called her and she advised me for all 3 of us to go to the salon and she would take a look at us and give us prices then!???
(Maybe if she thought she'd have to work a miracle or some plastic surgery it'd cost extra??)

Anyhoo, i hadn't paid a deposit as i was a bit wary, so when i happened to come across a group of girlies doing the hair and make-up for the models at the fayre i was very impressed!

I wanted my hair up in curls but some of it hanging down too! (I've probably lost you now !But trust me its nice!!) and some of these models had just that look, they also had ranges of make-up styles from the very subtle, to the more wintery evening look!

By now i was Very impressed! One of the girls came over to me and started chatting about my wedding and couldn't believe it was only 4 months away!! everyone else she'd spoken to was next year or the year after! (Jeez im running late!!)
She asked me what kind of thing i was looking for and i told her as it was a summer wedding i wanted something light and refreshing! I wanted my hair in curls up and down (There i go again!) and very natural looking make-up. Not like i haven't any on, but not like ive "Tried" to look natural which can sometimes go horribly wrong!!
She knew exactly what i was talking about! (Glad someone did! By now my mum and sis had walked away from me!!)

She brought some of the models over and showed me their hairstyles and the colours they used on their make-up. The girls looked STUNNING!

She told me they had a special offer on today, if you booked your wedding hair and make up today & paid a £5 deposit per person you would get 20% off!!
This was a really good deal as this included your trial hair/makeup as well as the actual procedure (A lot of places charge a bit extra on top for your trial)
All in all it worked out at just under £60 for each of us!

Generally when you book with a salon you get a trial run so you can test colours shades etc first! You want someone to discuss what you like and dislike before they paint your face! after all you don't want to end up looking like Krusty the clown on your big day now do you?(Just check with whoever you have booked that the price includes your trial run ,as ive mentioned some charge slightly extra on top for that and you don't want to be caught out!)

Anyway. 4 weeks before my big day, my mum sister and myself all went to the salon for our trials.
I absolutely loved it!
Firstly we all got our hair washed and conditioned (So relaxing having someone else do this for you! Ah! bliss!) then dried off and as i was having curls i got curl enhancer serum and rollers in my hair and then i was put under the dryer to set the rollers (I have very long hair and although it has a natural kink for some reason when i put rollers in the curls fall out after about 3 hours even after a can of hairspray!)

Meanwhile, mums hair was cut and my sisters hair set too. mum went first for her make up ,closely followed by my sister. (They have 2 make-up artists,so by the time i was set my mum was finished! no waiting around!)
I almost cried when i saw my mum. (She doesn't wear make-up very often and when she does its the same colours all the time) She looked gorgeous! It took years off her! She had discussed colours with the girl and advised her that she was wearing a pale turquoise suit with a scarf which had lots of vibrant colours in it like, pink, yellow, blue etc.
She had used silver and turquoise on her eyes (Sounds strange But it brightened up her face and made her eyes look so much larger) a natural blush and a pink lipstick, (Not too pink, but a deep pink)
It was fantastic! And they'd styled her hair perfectly!

My sister came out looking like a model! (She's so pretty but almost never wears make up!) They had used browns on her eyes, Pinky blush and cranberry coloured lipstick! and her hair was up in curls!

I discussed with the girl that i usually wore natural colours during the day and darker coulours for nighttime. I told her to give me something fresh and natural. She did!

She had used a dark brown on my outer eyelid and lining my socket, with a lighter brown/beige on the eyelid and a light creamy colour on the socket under my eyebrow.Black mascara to make my eyelashes longer and a natural frosted peach colour on my cheeks.
My lipstick was a brown/pink colour (Boots No.7 Barely plum) It looks pink but when it goes on it looks light brown with a hint of pink.My hair was exactly how i imagined it,up with flowing curls at the back and a few wispy ones at the side!

Now i couldn't wait to get married!

At any time we could say to the girls we didn't like something and they would change it to exactly what you wanted! It's your day after all!

The wedding day arrived, (Id been to the salon the night before to get my hair set in rollers so that the curls would stay in) and we all went down to the salon again! I got some mighty strange looks from passers by with those HUGE rollers on my head!

From the minute we walked in we got pampered! Tea,coffee, champers! They took my mum and sister first since i already had my rollers in all i needed was my make-up done and my hair finished! (Or should i go like that?? hmmm?)

The place was buzzing with excitement, i was the only calm one there! Everyone was congratulating me and hugging me! I felt like a celebrity!

I was taken in for my make-up and i told the girl just to do it as before ,but slightly darker just to ensure it lasts all day! So she did, same colours again all natural, just a bit darker on my eyes and on my cheekbones. I loved it!, I felt so glamorous
and my hair was even better this time!.
She pinned my tiara in place and then she burst out crying!she told me i looked so pretty (And that made me feel really special)

They got us all together and took our picture, (They wanted a before and after, but we couldn't let them have a before!! nooo!)
They asked me to send a picture of me from the big day, as they all said they'd love to see the whole ensemble!

My experience was a fantastic one, and i would certainly advise anyone to go for it. I certainly could not have done my own make-up, i would have been too nervous for that! And we'd all have been fighting over mirrors and i'd have been sweating tons incase i made a mistake!

We were made to feel so special and were pampered all day (Even at the trial) You are in charge and you choose what you want, they will only advise you.

We had no worries and i ended up feeling like Cinderella! My fiancée broke down in tears when he saw me! (He says he was so overwhelmed at how gorgeous i was!) I think that says it all!

I'd advise anyone to do it! save yourself the hassle and look as good as you always wanted to!

Thanks for reading

Cheers fee :0)