Emma Platt

Ardencote Country Manor, Warwick

23 May 2015

The Bridesmaids

I was booked to do the bridesmaids makeup of Becky who got married at the super glamorous Ardencote Country Manor. The bridal party got dressed at home and Becky the bride had the very talented Ganga Bhambra do her makeup who were good friends at school. I was excited about working alongside Ganga, as not only is she amazing at makeup but she works in TV, Film and magazines. 

I arrived bright and early on a lovely day to the Platt household and was kindly greeted by Emma's dad Peter. 

I had been allocated the bedroom upstairs where there was a lot of space, light and was where all the bridesmaid dresses were. 

I got set up and ready while everybody had breakfast and I was even treated to a delicious warm croissant with jam and a cup of tea, so I was a happy girl. 

I did the makeup of Emma the chief bridesmaid first so she could be in hand to help the bride when she was done. 

Emma's face was prepped and primed and I made a start on her eyes using MAC's 'all that glitters' with Urban Decay's 'Darkhorse' in the corners with Motives 'cappuccino' in the crease. I lined her eyes with Makeup Geeks 'corrupt' and used the same colours under the eye. Mascara was applied and a pair of beautiful long false eyelashes. 

With Emma's fair complexion I applied Estée Lauder's double wear in a very pale foundation colour then warmed it all up using contouring, highlighting and bronzing. I then used Motives Blush in 'lust'. Emma wanted me to use her own lipstick so she had the lipstick to top up all day. Her makeup was completed and set in place using Urban Decay setting spray.

Emma Chief bridesmaid

My next client Nicky couldn't wait to get into my chair after seeing Emma's makeup. Nicky is the sister to the groom, Ben. It was so sweet hearing how Becky and Ben met after one of Nicky's salsa classes and hearing how welcoming each of the families have been towards each other.

Nicky had a very natural look as she doesn't wear much makeup, and has beautiful skin so doesn't need too! 

I prepped and primed her skin and then went straight onto her eyes with MAC's 'naked Lunch' on the lid and Motives 'cappuccino' in the crease. Then using Makeup Geeks 'corruption'  to line and define her eyes finishng the look with mascara. Nicky liked Emma's eyelashes so much so she wanted some but wasn't keen on the thought of the weight of them so I applied individual lashes. 

I used Illamasqua Skin Base foundation with MAC pro longwear concealer under the eyes. Then contoured using my Anastasia Beverly Hills contour palette and added MAC's Rosey  outlook to blush then finishing with Estee Lauder's Tiramisu Lipstick. 

Nicky the bridesmaid

While I was doing the makeup of the girls we were joined by the very talented photographer Neil Bowler, he was taking lots of natural shots of me doing the makeup and of the general goings on around the house. 

Elliyah the next bridesmaid into my chair was very excited as she is only 12.  She was super super beautiful with gorgeous blue eyes and she even said that she had "sunflower" eyes. She then went on to tell me that as a little girl she did lots of modelling and appeared in the Littlewoods Catalogue, was a life size cardboard cutout at Clinton Cards and modelled for Asda promoting their garden toys etc like the paddling pools. 

Apart from the odd hormonal spot to cover Elliyah had gorgeous dark olive skin. I used MAC face and body foundation and set with mineralize powder from MAC. 

I wanted to emphasise her eyes even more, so I used the beautiful pink toned eyeshadows from my Urban Decay naked 3 palette and lightly applied a base colour with Urban Decay 'Heavy Metal' eyeliner on her lid for a bit of sparkle and my favourite Max Factor mascara. 

I finished off with a little bit of No7 lip gloss in 'pink veil' and a light brush of MAC's 'Melbra' blush. Both Elliyah and her mom were happy with the makeup. 

Elliyah the bridesmaid

Whilst I was doing Elliyahs makeup Becky and Emma had gone into the bedroom to start and get the wedding dress on. Emma was very conscious she wanted to be the one to help her sister get into the dress. It was very important to her, you could see how close they were as sisters. 

When I finished the bridesmaids makeup I was on hand  to help with anything, but mainly bring calm as you could see the nerves kick in. 

I went into the bedroom to see if there was anything I could do to help and I was taken a back at how stunning Becky looked. Her dress, hair, makeup, everything was perfect. 

Becky the Bride and Hair and Makeup by Ganga

Then Emma mentioned that the mini hook from the back of her dress has broken. I got my sewing kit out and got a new mini hook out. But I just couldn't thread the needle, and the more I tried the more I was struggling. Emma said she was happy to leave it but looking from the back it would of looked odd and not perfect. So I did the next best thing and I used a safety pin. I was now happy she looked perfect and knowing that it was secured. 

We all went downstairs and the bridal party had their photos taken by Neil before he had to shoot off to the venue. 

This was when I had a slight panic and realised there was no flowers, to be told they were going to be at the venue, phew.

The cars arrived and omg they were amazing, very posh and very ...... Gorgeous, the chauffeur even let me have a good look in the one car. 

That's when they all came out to go to the venue. The sun was shining and not one cloud was overcast, it was glorious, they were all going to have a good day and hopefully Becky can get married outside. 

Then Becky came out! She looked like a supermodel and a figure to die for. She waited for her dad and gave a few waves to the neighbours before getting into the car to get married. 

Such a lovely family who welcomed me so warmly into Their home. I had a lovely morning and Thank you for booking me. 

                                            A short video of the wedding morning

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

You can also find me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pintrest, LinkedIn you can email me helenpearsonmua@hotmail.com 

or ring me on 07826 542 676

Lisa Lloyd

The Moat House, Acton Trussell
10 May 2015

Myself and Gemma from Dream Bridal Hair were contacted by a bride in distress. Unfortunately she had not had a positive outcome from a previous hair and makeup trial. She came across us after a recommendation from her seamstress and luckily we had the date free. 

Gemma and I were messaging Lisa for a few weeks before we finally met her at the trial. Lisa initially only booked me and Gemma for herself as her mom and daughter had been put off from the previous trial.

We completed the trial and Lisa was happy with us doing her makeup and hair for her wedding, so much so that her mom and daughter wanted a trial. 

Lisa married Jon at The 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. 

The wedding theme was cornflower blue and vintage in style. 

I arrived at the Moat House on the morning of the wedding to Lisa and her step daughter Charlotte outside very nervously excited and also tired from having an unsettled crying baby in their room next door. We went into the Moat House where I discovered they had a lift - after 8 years of knowing the Moat House yet not knowing there is a lift. Years of struggling up the grand staircase has come to an end hahaha. 

We all got settled in and got my makeup kit out then made a start on the beautiful Charlotte who wanted a Kylie Jenner look. 

While I was doing her makeup we were joined by our third partner in crime Laura from Laura's Mobile Hairdressing to blow dry and style the mother of the bride. And Gemma started to style the hair of Lisa. So everybody was having something done, and enjoying a glass of champagne. 

For Charlotte's makeup it was pretty simple as it was more about the eyeliner and the lips so I created a very simple eye using Makeup Geek "Beeches and Cream" eye shadow and creating a subtle crease using the lighter colour of my Motives eyebrow palette, on the lid I lightly applied Vanilla eye shadow from MAC.  I then used a piece of tape to help me create a sharp flick and then lined the rest of the eye to the desired shape then lots of my favourite Max Factor mascara. 

I used Mehron prep skin as a primer as Charlotte experiences super shiny/ greasy skin, then used Estée Lauder "Doublewear foundation" and set with powder. I used my Anastasia Beverly Hills contour palette for contouring and highlighting. I used MAC's Melba blush and finished off with MAC's Sore Lip Pencil and a little touch of Angel lipstick to the center. 

Charlotte loved her makeup and was very happy with it. 

Charlotte the Bridesmaid

The flowers were delivered from Lavender Flowers, Penkridge and were beautiful white roses with cornflower blue flowers. They looked gorgeous and Lisa was over the moon with them. After seeing the flowers Lisa wanted to see how the ceremony room was looking but was worried about guests of the wedding who were checking in seeing her. However the excitement got the better of her and she risked it. She managed to sneak a peak and even saw the cake. She had Vintage individual cakes which were made by Amerton cakes in Stafford. 

Wedding cake from Amerton Cakes

Beautiful flowers from Lavender Flowers, Penkridge

She was one happy lady and couldn't wait to come back and tell me about the room. 

I then did the makeup of Lisa's mom who by her own admission and rightfully so is a perfectionist, so I was quite nervous about doing her makeup. I primed her face using Smashbox photo Finish primer and used Urban Decay's eye shadow primer potion. Her mom was wearing a blue Jacque Vert suit for the wedding so I used my YSL eyeshadow  palette in Tuxedo which looked amazing with her eye colour and complimented the suit colour, I then lined her eyes using Estee Lauder's brown eyeliner pencil then finished the eyes off using my favourite mascara. 

Lisa's mom had beautiful skin and only needed a small amount to even tone out so used my favourite MAC's face and body foundation set with Powder and applied blusher. I finished with Estée Lauder lipstick in Potent and MAC fix+. 

Mother of the Bride

Lisa's hair was finished and I was then ready to do her makeup. 

Lisa's hair and dress was very 1940's vintage so we needed to go down that route with her makeup. 

Her eye makeup was pretty simple. I used Urban Decay's Eye shadow Primer Potion and used my Urban Decay Naked Basics palette to even Lisa's eyelids, then using MAC's Naked Lunch eye shadow on the eyelid. I used Bobbi Brown gel eyeliner in Black to create a wing,  applied my favourite mascara then individual lashes. 

Lisa was blessed with her mom's good genes and her skin was beautiful. I used Estée Lauder Doublewear foundation and powdered with MAC mineralize powder, then applied MAC's 'dainty' blusher. 

Lisa the Bride

There was a lot going on in the room by the time it was ready for lipstick so I applied MAC's 'Lady Danger' Lipstick. At the trial when I suggested red lipstick to fit in with the theme of the wedding Lisa said no as she didn't suit the colour at all, so a nude lip colour was used. I was messaged later on in the week by Lisa to say she'd gone into a MAC store and tried on a number of red lipsticks which just confirmed they didn't suit her. But a theme is a theme and 1940's vintage wouldn't be that without red lipstick. So as Lisa was occupied with what was going on in the room I then applied the red lipstick, which looked amazing on her. I do believe that because she'd got her hair styled 1940's and the rest of her makeup was 1940's it all came together nicely. I was mega nervous showing Lisa the finished look as she didn't see me put the red lipstick on her and especially as we were running out of time too and everyone was panicking a little, but she loved it. She 100% loved the red lipstick and the rest of the makeup. It was a hit!

We were joined during all the madness by Les from Barry James Photography who took some of the wedding jewellery peices and shoes for photos. 

The last hour came very fast upon us and was panicking a little as we had been held back a little bit earlier, but luckily the last hour went very slowly. We seemed to get a lot of stuff done in that hour. Gemma and myself helped by transferring all of Lisa bags and wedding items like her dress etc into the bridal suite. Lisa and Charlotte got into their dresses and last minute adjustments done. Lisa looked radiant and very beautiful. Lisa had her dress from Adele Louise Bridal and is a Justin Alexander design. Both Charlotte and Lisa's dresses were very similar as they wanted to be as much the same as possible.  Lisa's mom used to be a seamstress so made the bridesmaid dress herself and was also on hand during the wedding planning to help with alterations. 

Everything looked so perfect. The registrars came to the room to give the pre wedding interview and then we were ready to go down. 

Les from Barry James Photography took some pre-wedding photos and some gorgeous photos on the grand stair case. 

I wanted to see Lisa into the ceremony room so left my packing up till after. 

Lisa was greeted by Gaynor, the Moat House's wedding coordinator, at the bottom of the stair case to ensure Lisa was happy with everything then handed her over to Ben who escorted her to the special red carpet entrance of the Ceremony room. I turned my camera on and started to video Lisa,  she walked into the room with the song "million years" by Christina Perri  andI managed to get her walking down the isle which was amazing, I was lucky I could see so many smiling faces looking at Lisa walk down to Jon. 

And she was gone. I couldn't wait to get back and view the photos of the morning. 

Lisa and Jon are going on Honeymoon to Pathos, Cyprus. 

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

You can also find me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pintrest, LinkedIn you can email me helenpearsonmua@hotmail.com 

or ring me on 07826 542 676