My Wedding Morning: Bridal Hair & Makeup

I couldn’t even begin to imagine what I would feel like waking up on my wedding day, but I had the perfect morning.

I had a terrible night of sleep, I would start to panic and my heart would start to race every time I almost fell asleep, and I don't know how many times I woke up & looked at the weather. I ended up waking about 20 minutes before my alarm, and madly started to make the bed, tidy the bridal suite, open the curtains and most important grabbed a cup of tea. I think I just wanted everything to look perfect for when the bridesmaids, hair, make-up and photographer arrived. However, despite initial panic, my wedding morning turned out to be so chilled, and this vibe simply carried on throughout the day.

The weather was the one thing making me super anxious, as much of my day depended on sunny, dry weather. As I was having my make-up done looking out into the courtyard, Katie our make-up artist ensured me that the big grey rain cloud that faced me would pass, and lucky she was right. From the photos, to ice cream, garden games & hog roast, our day would have been completely different had it rained. 

Our ceremony was at midday, and with myself, two bridesmaids, two blow dries and a flower girl to get through, the lovely Carrie Parker arrived to start our hair just before 8:00am, and Katie Barnes arrived to start our make-up at around 8:00am. Allow plenty of time, because I can't imagine how stressed I would have felt if we had to rush. Prior to the wedding, I had both a hair and make up trial, where I decided for a super simple make up look, and to have my hair down and curled. 

Make-up wise, I don't often stray far from winged liner and a tonne of mascara, so we decided to add a little eyeshadow, and keep the liner! I also had a few individual lashes added, and a bit of extra mascara, just to make me feel a little more comfortable, and keep me looking like me! Katie was incredible at keeping me super calm throughout the morning, with a little help from Ed Sheehan and our wedding day candle burning in the background. 

I was adamant that I was going to wash my hair on my wedding morning, despite this meaning that the curls would probably fall out of my hair, but that was nothing that some extensions and a tonne of hairspray couldn’t fix! I opted for a messy-style twist in my hair (a style that I'd found browsing Pinterest), with both bridesmaids & flower girl having plaits instead. It was important for me to have my hair down, as I barely wear my hair up in day-to-day life. The best piece of advice I read about bridal make-up and hair was to not stray too far from how you would normally wear both, which I totally agree with because of course I wanted to look myself for Josh, just a slightly more highlighted and contoured version. I'm also super rubbish at doing my own hair, so I definitely needed a little sprucing up. Carrie then slotted my veil in for me, which didn't budge until we took it out a little later during the day.

The flower girl's hair was finished with a beautiful gypsophelia flower crown to match the bridesmaid bouquets, made by the incredible Swaffham Florists. 

I opted for a Jo Malone fragrance for my day. I fell in love with ‘Peonies & Blush Suede’, which seemed perfectly fitting to pair with the peonies in my bouquet.

Obviously the final step of the wedding morning is getting into the dress. I allowed about 30 minutes to get into my dress, have a final touch up, see my dad and have a few photos taken before meeting the registrar.

Love Kelly x

All photography is credited to the incredible Luis Holden

Makeup by Katie Barnes

Hair by Carrie Parker