HotmailBeautiful bride: Tips to look picture-perfect
 |
 TODAY Player’s ponytail takedown sparks outrage Nov. 9: In an incident caught on camera, college students play rough in a women’s soccer match between the University of New Mexico and Brigham Young University. NBC’s Kevin Tibbles reports. |
The ever-crucial run-through
Brides are consulting makeup artists too, earlier and in more detail. Between three and six months ahead is wise, though some brides schedule a makeup run-through even before they book the reception site. “I've had brides come in for a trial the day they've scheduled an engagement portrait,” says Camille Clark, a makeup artist with the Cloutier Agency in Los Angeles.
These run-throughs are strongly encouraged by makeup pros. “I won't even do a wedding unless we do a trial first, because I don't think it's fair to either one of us if we're surprised that day,” says Carlo Geraci, makeup artist at Barneys New York, who has done big-day looks for some of Manhattan's most sophisticated brides, including Samantha Boardman, and has been flown to work at weddings in Rome and California. After a trial, he says, “The bride is relaxed and happy to see me coming through the door on her wedding day, because she's already confident about what I'll be doing.”
Savvy brides tend to already have an idea of what they want, and need some help fine-tuning their vision, says Lisa Trunda, a makeup artist who splits her time between Chicago and Miami and got her start doing makeup on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” (and has since been doing makeup for magazines, including Vanity Fair). “Usually a woman who comes to me is very detail-oriented, and so we'll do a run-through first,” says Trunda. “Plus, she needs to feel good about the people working with her that day. The makeup artist and the hairdresser are going to be working very close to her, so she needs to feel comfortable with them.”
Well before she pulls out her makeup brushes, though, Trunda begins by simply having a conversation with the bride. “I want a feeling for how she looks normally, to get a sense of her lifestyle and who she is, how makeup fits into her life.” From there, a look evolves, says Trunda.
Trunda (whose day rate is typically $1,500; for that fee she'll do makeup for as many members of the bridal party as time allows) says more brides are viewing their makeup selections as crucial to the look of the event. “When somebody is getting married at the Four Seasons and spending $50,000 for her gown, it's a comparatively small amount of time and expense to make sure you have a makeup artist or hairdresser who's taking good care of you,” she notes. While Trunda usually sticks around to do touch-ups for photos, it's not uncommon for her to be invited to stay for the reception.
For the bride whose destination (or budget) may not permit professional makeup, a makeup lesson with a top-notch artist can be the perfect compromise. Geraci, whose fee ranges from $1,200 for a half-day to $2,400 for a full-day (with assistant), notes that a makeup lesson at his counter in Barneys is complimentary with the purchase of $250 worth of cosmetics. Though Geraci provides brides with a helpful face chart (a diagram he creates to show where each product should be applied), it's a good idea to bring your maid of honor or your mother, he says, to have a "visual diarist" who can help re-create the look on your wedding day.
Just as brides collect photos of hairstyles they like, they should do the same with makeup looks. “Tearsheets are helpful, because they let you know the bride's boundaries,” says Clark. “It's good to have a visual, because her idea of a smoky eye might be different from mine.” Clark also advises brides to schedule a makeup consultation for a day when they will see many people, to get lots of feedback.
The team effort
Though a bride may be in love with a look that's hot this season, professional makeup artists advise against following anything too current, at least when it comes to the wedding day. “I like to notice the woman, not the makeup, so I do a very natural bride,” says Geraci. “I make sure the skin looks really perfect and the colors are very gentle.”
Picking the right beauty team for your wedding may be one of the most important things you do. “At the end of the day, all you have are your photographs, and if you hate your hair and makeup, that will haunt you forever,” says Tingley.
Bride-to-be Jennifer Mayer, a public relations director in New York City, will be bringing two Manhattan-based stylists from Frederic Fekkai (for herself and her bridesmaids) and a makeup artist to her seaside wedding in quaint Cape May, NJ. “This is one day I'll never repeat again, and these are pictures I'll look back on the rest of my life,” says Jennifer. “I want to look different, and the best I possibly can.”
Once the formal picture-taking is over, most pros discreetly slip away, leaving the bride to relax and enjoy her reception, and occasionally refresh her look on her own.
This article originally appeared in Brides magazine. For more wedding tips, please visit Brides.com.
- Discuss Story On Newsvine
-
Rate Story:
View popularLowHigh - Instant Message
MORE FROM WEDDINGS |
 Weddings Section Front |
| Add Weddings headlines to your news reader: |
Sponsored links
Resource guide