I was also lucky enough during the morning to be shown a photo of the wedding cake which was made by Kathryn's Homemade Cakes which was decorated as half traditional wedding cake and half Disney cake.
It was an early start for bridal preparations at Rachael's house. Myself and Gemma from Dream Bridal Hair were there for 6am to make a start as they were a big bridal party. I was booked to do the wedding makeup for Rachel and her 7 bridesmaids.
It is an enchanting Georgian mansion set amidst extensive landscaped gardens, providing a true sense of occasion for your wedding celebrations.
Somerford Hall, Brewood
Rachael and Tom met through a friend on Facebook and have 3 beautiful children called Kyan, Alicia and Summer Rose.
I first met Rachael 2 years ago when she was my first wedding booking. We developed a friendship over those years and I was kindly invited to her wedding.
Rachael and Tom wanted an elegant wedding that had a mixture of traditions, and their colour theme was royal blue and pale pink.
In the months leading up to the wedding we were in close contact over Facebook and sharing ideas about how Rachael would like to look on the day.
I started the makeup at Rachael's house in the morning and finished up at Somerford Hall.
Weeks leading up to the wedding we decided to keep to the theme of pink and therefore used Urban Decay Naked 3 palette for the eye shadow of the bridesmaids.
Rachael wanted a flawless natural but glamorous look and she certainly was.
Rachael loves all things glamour and loves long eyelashes so we added individual eyelashes to finish off her beautiful look.
The wedding flowers also arrived and were supplied by Fine Flowers which were so pretty, Fine Flowers also decorated the reception tables with the coordinating flowers.
The last hour before the wedding is traditionally when everything becomes insane, but for Rachael's wedding it was the opposite, in fact she was very organised and knew where and where everybody had to be.
The bridesmaids got into their dresses which they had from China and were gorgeous dresses, then Rachael got into her stunning Christina Rossi dress purchased from Katie's Brides.
The registrars came to interview Rachael and while inside the dressing room of the bridal suite unaware of what was going on in the room, the kids locked everybody in and ran off. I was quite worried (a lot) for a while that we weren't going to get out on time but luckily the house staff found a key. Rachael looked every bit the blushing bride and absolutely beautiful.
After I topped up everybody's lipstick and checked to make sure everyone was looking perfect, I quickly packed my makeup up and put a bit of lippy and powder on myself as Rachael and Tom had invited me to the wedding.
The wedding co-ordinator came to collect everybody as the ceremony was about to start. I followed Rachel taking a few photos of her walking down the beautiful staircase. Then I snuck into the wedding reception. I was very proud of how Rachael was that day as she doesn't have much confidence in herself yet looked like such a confident glamorous bride. Maybe we need to get her in her wedding dress everyday.
The wedding ceremony was beautiful and filled with laughter, tears and memories. Rachel had even written Tom a beautiful poem which was read out by the registrar.
After the ceremony all the guests were offered a glass of champagne and asked to go to the front of the building to have their group photo taken.
This is where Curtis Jenson worked his magic charm and I saw how much of an amazing photographer he was. He took the bridal party off for an hour where he took lots of photos of Rachael and Tom and the bridesmaids. We even had a giggle at one point when Curtis Jenson was lying on his back on the grass with all the groomsmen circled around him.
While Rachael and Tom were having their photos taken I had the opportunity to meet some of their friends and relatives. I managed to speak to a group of friendly girls who Rachel had gone to school and college with, and as it was I ended up on their wedding breakfast table.
We were then called into the wedding breakfast room which I was happy about as I was starving. The tables were so elegantly decorated by the venue staff with the help of Fine Flowers who provided the centerpiece and Rachael who had put together all the wedding favours herself, which were mints in a glass jar decorated with a sticker of their wedding date and a ribbon.
We were treated to a melon starter and it was gorgeous, it just melted in the mouth. The main meal was chicken wrapped in bacon and served with fresh vegetables. The Dessert was a supprise for the guests as it was served in another room, which was a chocolate fountain which was suppied by Little Kings and Queens. I had to stop myself from going up a second time as it was delicious.
The wedding breakfast was lovely and I enjoyed the speeches too, but It was then time for me to set up and do some face painting for the children. The venue started to prepare for the evening reception and Rich Garbett from RG Promotions started to set up his DJ set. Roxie's Bouncy Castles arrived and delivered a big castle which was a hit with all the kids. I found a little quiet room where i could go and then started to face paint the children who mainly liked being Batman and Elsa.
Rachael saved cutting the beautiful cake, supplied by Amie Hodkiss, until the evening guests arrived, the cake was decorated in pink and white flowers draped in pearls and the inside of it had blue icing.
The whole wedding day was just perfect, Rachael looked amazing and very happy. I was extremely lucky to have been invited to the wedding itself, do the wedding makeup for the bridal party and to face paint in the evening. My highlight was seeing Rachael look in the mirror after she had put her dress on and was ready to go downstairs to be married, to look at herself and feel beautiful.
Below is a little video i put together
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Thank you
xxx
If you would like to book me to do your makeup. Please take a look at my website www.helenpearsonmua.com
It was the wedding of Faye and Mark today who got married at the stunning Alrewas Hayes estate, which is a grade 2 listed manor house and countryside wedding venue nestled alongside the picturesque Fradley in Lichfield.
I love the drive up to Alrewas Hayes, especially when it's a bright sunny morning, seeing the water fountain in the little lake out the front.
Alrewas Hayes
Gemma Neville from Dream Bridal Hair was booked to do everyone's wedding hair and i was booked to do everyone's wedding makeup. I arrived and was greeted by Faye, Jenny and Donna in the entrance room, everyone was calm and looking forward to the day.
I went upstairs to the bridal suite where everyone was getting ready and everything in there was all set up.
The wedding dress and bridesmaid dresses were all hanging from the wooden beams and the shoes were neatly laid out to the side of them.
The Dresses
I got all set up whilst having a chat about school politics as all the girls were teachers we were setting right the education system.
Next up was Faye and I used Illamasqua skin base for her foundation with the same colour's as Jenny for her eyes but going a little bit darker. I added individual eyelashes to thicken up her own lashes, MAC blush and sculpting powder was applied with a slight dusting of highlighting powder from The Balm.
Faye the bride
We were then joined by the third bridesmaid Chloe, who was just eight years old. She was such a good girl throughout the morning and didn't hear her at all other than to say she had ran out of lives in candy crush lol. She didn't even complain when she was having her hair done by Gemma who for part of the process had to have her turn her head upside down so she could do a plait "very technical".
The flowers arrived at this point from Fine Flowers in Rugeley, who also decorated the venue with flowers, and fine flowers they were. They were so pretty and beautiful the colours fitted in well with the colour and theme of the wedding which was rustic vintage in dusky pink and grey colours.
The wedding flowers
The very talented photographer Les from Barry James arrived and got to work straight away with the posed and natural makeup shots from all around the room to get the best shots.
Donna was next for her makeup and asked to have a vintage look so I decided on a neutral eye with winged black eyeliner from Bobbi Brown and red lips using my favourite MAC lipstick. Donna’s skin was beautiful so went with a light coverage of MAC's face and body foundation and Motives Blusher. Donna photographed lovely and with such a different style of makeup I couldn't stop taking photos of her.
Donna the bridesmaid
Faye was looking through the window of the bridal suite which has full view of everyone that comes into the venue and noticed that Mark had arrived, she got so excited. Not long after a beautiful arrangement of flowers were delivered alongside a card and present off the groom. As Faye was reading the card she got a little emotional until I told her she wasn't allowed to cry. She opened her wedding present which was a beautiful jewellery set from Pandora which happened to be the jewellery that Faye asked Mark if she could buy a few weeks previous only to be told no. She giggled as she told the story. You could see just from that smile how much she loved him. Faye and Mark met a few years ago in a park when she was 14 and he was 16, this was also the park where he proposed to her. Faye loved her jewellery so much she decided to wear it for the wedding day after previously deciding she wasn't going to wear any. The necklace and earrings looked so perfect and was just so meant to be there. This was also the point that Faye handed her bridesmaids a little present of a beautiful Pandora bracelet which they both wore for the wedding day.
Faye putting her wedding earrings in
Faye slipped away into the humongous and very glamorous bathroom with her bridesmaids to get into her Stella York designer wedding dress which she bought from Shropshire Country Brides and her super sparkly designer shoes from Kurt Geiger. When she came out she had the biggest smile, she looked stunning. She came into the room where her bridesmaids were and then started that stressful job of doing the dress up which they did an amazing job, I don't think Faye could breath after it was finally done up. This was when we were joined by the last flower girl Chelsey who was all dressed and ready to go. The other bridesmaids got dressed into their dusky grey dresses and enjoyed a few moments of calm.
Soon Faye had just 15 minutes before she had to go downstairs for her interview with the registrar and then finally, after a year of planning, to get married.
I quickly packed up my kit and went downstairs where I saw some added features to the wedding. There was a white and gold English post box from Fine Flowerswhere wedding cards could be put into and a white frame hung on an iron easel with little brown paper hearts for people to write their names on which was made by Lemon Mill Designs which I thought was an amazing idea.
Faye with her flower girls Chelsey and Chloe
Postbox from Fine Flowers
Heart Board from Lemon Mill Design
Gemma and I sneaked into the marquee to hopefully get a glimpse of the wedding cake as I knew Carole Gregory had made it and she makes great cakes. We saw a sweetie table and a cool little chill out area with a photo booth inside which was all done by Faye and Mark.
It was so cute and pretty how it had been set up so far.
The bride and groom with their wedding cake
It was such a lovely morning with Faye and her bridal party. Thank you so much for booking me to do your makeup and I look forward to stalking your Facebook for wedding photos. Congratulations to Faye and Mark on your special day.
Faye and myself
If you would like to book me to do your makeup. Please take a look at my website www.helenpearsonmua.com
