Natalie and Dominic got married at Shrewsbury Cathedral and had their wedding reception at Rowton Castle, which is a wonderful historic castle wedding venue set in the rolling Shropshire countryside, just west of the market town of Shrewsbury with 17 acres of tranquil grounds.
I first met Natalie and the bridal party a few months ago where I was totally charmed by her beautiful cottage in Stoke on Trent. It reminded me so much of the fictional cottage from Roald Dahl's 'Matilda' as she had a cute winding path up to her door, it was so charming.
Natalie and Dominic were in the same year at school but didn't get together until they met again in a bar in their local town where they were both at university, and Natalie said the rest is history. Natalie works as a mental health nurse and Dominic a health and safety manager. The couple have been planning the wedding for 2 years.
On the morning of Natalie's wedding she and her 3 bridesmaids got dressed at a beautiful cottage just down the road from Rowton Castle called Rowton Barns.
It was the first time I got a look at her wedding dress which was so beautiful and hanging so elegantly in the window, it looked so dainty and small but then again so was Natalie. She was super protective of it and even admitted to me later on she was having nightmares sleeping in the bed next to it in case she got out of bed and ripped it or split anything on it. Natalie got her dress from Robertas Bridal in Stoke on Trent and the dress was designed by Mori Lee.
All the girls including her mom were super excited yet all very nervous.
Gemma from Dream bridal hair was also with me doing the hair so we worked on alternate girls.
Natalie's wedding theme was vintage with lace and dusky pink so went with pink and plum tones for the makeup. I used my Urban Decay Naked 3 eye shadow palette on each bridesmaid as it had all the warm pink/plum tones I wanted to use, as well as my current favourite MAC blusher in Springsheen and Motives lipstick in the colour Natural.
Then last but not least it was the bride's turn. I prepped and primed Natalie's eyes and face using Benefits Porefessional and MAC's paint pot for the eyes I then used the Urban Decay naked palette as I'm in love with the neutral colours. I used the colour sidecar on the lid and darkened the corners with the colour Darkhorse. I lined her eyes with Estée Lauder's brown eyeliner pencil and applied Mascara.
That was the hair and makeup done at the cottage, the only job left for us to do was all go to Rowton Castle. The bridal suite wasn't ready until 11am which is why the cottage was used.
Me and Gemma drove ahead to Rowton Castle as there was still packing up left to be done. It was so funny seeing everyone arrive to such a posh venue in there nighties and dressing gowns.
We all went up to the bridal suite and were blown away by how grand and gorgeous it was and there was a beautiful spread of fresh fruit and champagne on the table as we walked in.
The wedding coordinator came up to the room and introduced himself and asked if Natalie wanted to go downstairs and look at the room and flowers. Natalie asked if I wanted to come with her so I could get some photos for this blog so who was I to argue, of course I'd love to come and have a look.
We entered the room and it was stunning. The room was still being decorated and it looked amazing like something out of a bridal magazine. The room was being decorated by Enchanted Table Designs and the gorgeous flowers were also by Enchanted Table Designs, using purple Veronica and eucalyptus along with Ivory and pale pink roses.
There was also a post box for their cards and guest 'suggestions for a happy marriage' book.
The cake hadn't been put out yet but Jean from Jean Jeanies Cakes from Stoke on Trent did a 4 tier cake in ivory and lace with flowers trailing from the top of cake. The wedding favors were Douglas Macmillan scratch cards and Dominic's auntie made homemade lemon and thyme biscuits with the guest's initial. The children had activity bags which Natalie had made.
For the evening reception they had a sweet table, photo studio, garden games and Irish band to play. After the nod of approval was given by Natalie she went back upstairs to get ready.
Natalie and the girls started to get into their dresses which was just in time as the photographer John Poole from Shrewsbury arrived to take his pre wedding shoots. When he left there was still an hour before the girls had to leave for the Ceremony so myself and Gemma played photographer and got some some great photo shots of the bridal party.
Natalie looked absolutely stunning in her dress. Gemma added the veil to her hair which went all the way to the end of her dress. We added a couple of safety pins to keep the veil in place with her dress so it didn't move out of place.
Everyone had their lipstick topped up and I checked everyone looked as perfect as when I finished them.
We packed up and went ahead of the bridal party as I wanted to get some photos of the cars.
Natalie was driven to the church in a vintage Rolls Royce and the bridesmaids had a softop Landaulette Car supplied by Frank Painter and Sons, Shrewsbury.
I took a video of Natalie leaving to go to church and could see how nervous she was. It was such a pleasure doing this wedding as it's probably the wedding I'd have.
Natalie and Dominic are honeymooning in Mauritius for two weeks, the lucky pair.
Me and Gemma loved being at the venue so much that we stayed and had some lunch whilst imagining what it would have been like 100 years ago.
Thankyou for booking me.
Here is a video slideshow of the photos I took.
If you would like to book me to do your makeup. Please take a look at my website www.helenpearsonmua.com
What a beautiful day for a wedding, the sun was shining without a cloud in the sky and that was at 9.30 am when I arrived at the Oak Farm Hotel in Cannock to do the wedding makeup of Marie who was getting wed to John.
Oak Farm Hotel, formerly an 18th century working farm, is set in its own gardens overlooking Cannock Chase providing a perfect outdoor setting for those special photographs.
The Oak Farm
As I was on my way to the hotel room where Marie was I had a sneak peak at the reception room. The door was locked so could only see through the glass door, but it looked beautiful. The colour theme was Cadbury purple with little touches of Disney throughout. My aim was to make sure I had a good look in the room before the wedding guests arrived as I'm a very keen slightly obsessed Disney fan.
Marie was very relaxed and chilled when I arrived. She said she slept well the night before and was looking forward to the day. Her stressful day was the day before last when she couldn't sleep or settle.
Marie's photographer Tina from the Chase Photo Studio arrived, the amazing and very talented Gemma from Dream Bridal hair started her wedding hair up and I think this is where Marie's nerves kicked in. She became a little quiet and very hot, luckily the hotel had a spare fan so we could keep Marie cool as I was using my paperwork of the wedding as a fan and my arm was about to drop off.
As I had finished her makeup for now and Gemma was still doing her hair I slipped off to have another peak at the reception room with my camera.
Disney Wedding Cake
The first thing that caught my eye was Marie's beautiful cake baked by her friend which had Minnie and Mickey as a cake topper. Marie had this shipped in from the Disney Store in America. The cake was beautiful and had a delicate sweetheart bow to the back.
Back of the wedding cake
The room at the time looked stunning and very elegant and was still in the process of being dressed by Little Kings and Queens. The tables had candelabras decorated in Ivy and pretty Favor Boxes filled with a cupcake.
Wedding favors
I noticed in the corner of the room a very tempting sweetie cart which was for the evening reception, I took a photo of it and moved away before I sneaked a sweet lol..
Sweetie cart
To the side of the top table was a very important table which had the beautiful photo of Marie's mom who sadly passed away suddenly last year. The table had a very fitting quote saying "Mum, we know you would be here today if heaven weren't so far away" and a beautiful little spray of the wedding flowers. I thought that was such a thoughtful thing to do and very fitting as I know how close Marie was to her Mum.
Marie's Mum
I headed back to help Marie into her dress and couldn't wait to tell her how beautiful her room was.
Gemma and myself helped Marie into her Mark Lesley wedding dress which she had off the Internet from China. I nearly fell to the floor when she said the bridesmaid dresses were from China too. They were Cadbury purple and were super vibrant.
Bride and bridesmaids
Marie had 3 bridesmaids: Keira, Kelly (John's sister) and Marie's very dear friend Rachel. Marie and John also had 3 flower girls: Emily and Katie (Marie's god daughters) and Sophie (John's niece). So as you can imagine the hotel room got a little busy.
The flowers were so pretty and were made up of white roses and Caller lilies wrapped up in matching purple satin ribbon.
Wedding flowers
Bridal bouquet
The wedding registrar came to the room to do the necessary legalities and I packed up my kit, by which time Marie was ready to go up to the ceremony room. Everyone was told which order they had to go into the room and stood ready and waiting with a few giggles and last minute nerves and I was lucky enough to get to video Marie entering the room.
Click on the photo to see the video
Marie and the farther of the Bride
Thankyou Marie for booking me to do your wedding makeup. It was so nice meeting you and finding out you're a close neighbour and have good friends in common. I'm so privileged to be asked to do a bride's makeup on their wedding day and even more so becoming friends afterwards..
If you would like to book me to do your makeup. Please take a look at my website www.helenpearsonmua.com
