Olivia Hunt

 The Moat House, Acton Trussell

17 April 2015

I arrived at Olivia's hotel room to five excited children bouncing up and down on the bed. Olivia was quite chilled I think until me and Gemma from Dream Bridal Hair turned up. I then bribed the children that if they behaved I would let them have a bit of my princess lip gloss with extra sparkles, to which they all sat down. But excited children can't sit still for too long, especially when there's a wedding happening. Olivia's friend was in the room helping whilst Olivia's mom was at the hair dressers and decided it was probably best she took the kids off for a while to give Olivia peace and quiet. 

The wedding was at the privately owned Moat House which has been one of Staffordshire’s most popular wedding venues for the last 25 years. Located alongside the Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal in the picturesque village of Acton Trussell, the venue is set in stunning grounds and surrounded by tranquil waters. The moat house is certainly one of my favourite venues because I had my wedding reception there 8 years ago. 

Gemma and myself were all set up and ready to make a start on Olivia's hair and makeup. Olivia decided she wanted a dramatic glamorous look as she never wears makeup and wanted something different. 

I prepped and primed the face first then as always did her eyes.  

I used MAC's paint pot in "soft Ochre" then Urban Decay's Naked eye shadow palette. I smoked the eye shadows out then used Bobbi Browns gel eyeliner to give a dramatic wing, mascara applied then lashings of lashes. 

Olivia's finished makeup

This was the point that Cris Lowis the photographer arrived and made a start taking his fantastic photos. 

Olivia had amazing bone structure so we complimented it with a Kim Kardashion contoured look which Olivia loved. I did this by using 3 different coloured Illamasqua's skin base foundations. The makeup was set with my Anastasia Beverly Hills contour kit and blushed out using MAC's rosy outlook. Then I used one of my favourite MAC lipsticks and set all makeup with my Urban Decay Setting spray. 

It was getting closer now till the ceremony and Olivia was beginning to panic. This is the normal with most weddings when the last hour is near. I helped move the wedding dress, bridesmaid dresses and shoes into the bridal suite as there was a lot more room for everybody to get dressed. 

Olivia had 3 bridesmaids who were her 3 children Scarlett, Isla and Rosie. And their dresses were white like their moms.

The colour theme of the wedding was plum purple and this was incorporated into their gorgeous headband halos and corsages that were from VaVa Blooms. The flowers for the main bouquets arrived perfectly safe and secure from Lavender Florist, Penkridge and were made up of white and purple roses, purple lilies and green foliage. 

While Olivia was getting dressed in the main bedroom of the bridal suite, Gemma and myself started to get the bridesmaids dressed. At this point the Registrars arrived and everyone went into panic mode lol although there was plenty of time. 

I overheard the gentleman Registrar and Olivia's dad talking about the building trade and farming to which they were having a good chat about and I was talking to the lady registrar about my blogs and how much I've come to love writing them from practically laughing at someone even suggesting to me to write one. I'm having to learn to get with the times. 

Olivia opened the door and looked amazing! Totally amazing. She looked as if she'd just finished a photo shoot for vogue. Olivia's dress was designed by Mori lee and purchased from Princess Brides, Stafford. The sound of the cameras were what I noticed next, everyone wanted a photo, including me who then started to snap away. I was quite proud of myself for getting this nice shot of the bride looking at herself in the mirror, I was even more so when Cris said that's a good shot and took one himself. 

Olivia and her dad then started to have the pre wedding interview by the registrars to which Olivia had her back to me and thank god she did as I noticed her buttons to the back of her dress were not fastened. I sprinted back to the first hotel room to get my loom band hook to pull the elastic hoop over the button. Phew www!

The bridal party was then all ready to go. I could see the nerves and excitement in Olivia and so I wished her all the best. They gave the Registrars a couple of minutes to get downstairs before they left themselves. 

Gemma and I then left with big smiles on our faces like proud parents and went back to the room to pack up. 

Before we left I noticed the wedding breakfast seating plan so thought I'd have a sneak peak and take a photo which was absolutely beautiful and very elegant. There was also a lovely white postbox and guest comment book on another table. Everything was so well thought out. 

The room was decorated by the team the Moat House and Design Elegance provided the postbox with the wedding cake made by Decorative Cakes by Donna. 

I think Olivia did an amazing job of organising the wedding in just a year and two weeks, a lot of detail must of gone into the planning of it. 

I'd like to thank Olivia for booking me and I wish you and John every bit of happiness. Hopefully I've made another friend for life. 

If you would like to book me to do your makeup. Please take a look at my website www.helenpearsonmua.com 

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or ring me on 07826 542 676