A Look Back At Some Of My Winter Weddings!

As Spring is FINALLY here and I'm officially full force into wedding season I thought it might be fun to share w/ you all a collection of some of my weddings from the Winter mths.  People who aren't in the business always find it surprising how many weddings I actually do during the "off season".  Of course it's not as busy as the Summer mths but I do still average about 3 weddings a mth even in the "off season".

So here's a collection of a few weddings and brides I had the pleasure of working w/ during these colder months!

Noeline

I did this wedding right in the beginning of Nov.  In fact it was suppose to be a sort of Gothic/Halloween type theme without it being "too Halloween" or "tacky".  The bride made the hair fascinators and bouquets herself!  I loved the old hollywood glam look we created which I thought was perfect not only for her personality but also the complete look of the day! 

Chelsea

Chelsea actually got married the day after Noeline.  Definitely a change in style but that's what I love about my job...getting to work w/ so many different people and different ideas for what they want on their wedding day!  Chelsea had very long, straight hair so I was very happy to see how well the curls held for the side pony style!

Photographer Joanna Balcerak

Rebecca

Like Chelsea, Rebecca had very heavy, long, straight hair and one of the big concerns and worries with a Winter wedding is the wind and cold ruining the hair (unlike the Summer when the big concern is the heat and humidity).  I remember it was definitely a chilly, windy day in Dec. so I was so happy to see how well her hair held up and I love the added volume through the top that we decided on the day which I think made it a bit more dramatic and bridal!

Anna

Anna and her husband Mark live in Japan (where they met) and were actually already married over there.  They decided to do another wedding here for all the guests from Mark's family that couldn't make it to the Japanese wedding.  They got married on New Year's Eve...I wonder which wedding they count as their "anniversary" lol!  One of the biggest compliments I got was when Mark emailed me after the wedding to tell me how thrilled Anna (and her mother) were w/ the hair and makeup and they never thought they could find someone here in Canada (and I'm sure not a white girl lol) that could do an updo w/ the Japanese aesthetic and style in mind (b/c it definitely is different than a lot of Canadian styles).  

Photographer Jessica Li

Carol

Carol is another example of the "typical" Jessica Jean Myers bridal client - clean, fresh and pretty!  She wanted an updo that was sort of like smooth ribbons to show off the beautiful back of her dress.  She got married in January and believe it or not my company actually had 2 weddings on this day!

Photographer Tara McMullen

Kyla

Kyla got married on a Sunday on the long weekend in February.  She's actually American so her and her then fiance wanted a weekend that was holiday weekend for both countries for all the guests coming in.  It was a traditional Jewish wedding so it had to be held on a Sunday.  Kyla has a very girly aesthetic and I love the soft pink smokey eye I did and those lashes just look amazing on her.  It was such a fun and relaxing afternoon w/ both her and her mother.

Can't wait to see all the beautiful pics from all my brides this upcoming season!  It's going to be another busy one!

Vintage Bridal - A Timeless Look

I've been doing weddings for a few years now and trends and styles tend to go in and out but one style that never seems to wane is the "Vintage Look"....usually this look is referring to makeup and hair styles of the 50s/60s...sometimes 20s fingerwaves are also a popular request.  Women like Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Brigitte Bardot etc are often referenced.  Current Hollywood trends also often play a big part in the popularity of this look. If a lot of actresses are sporting "vintage" inspired makeup or hair and the award shows or a big Hollywood movie is highlighting a time period (Great Gatsby I'm looking at you)...it can then have a big impact on the following wedding season.

I think a lot of this has to do w/ it being sort of a "timeless look"...even though of course it is of a different time.  Brides that usually request this look tend to want either a bolder lip in pink or red or possibly a winged liner.  Some want big bouffant hairdos, classic beehives or as mentioned above fingerwaves.  What's important to remember when doing this sort of look for brides is to be "inspired" by the period and to not do a total recreation of the era as that's when things can start to look a bit dated or cartoonish (1920s I'm looking at you ;) ).

This past year I had a few brides that were inspired by vintage trends and I thought I'd share a couple of them w/ you b/c they are all different but you can still see the sort of vintage vibe in all of them!

Michelle

Photos courtesy of Ryan @ Luminous Studios

Michelle's tea length dress and fascinator immediately call out for a vintage inspired look...I love fascinators!  We decided on an elegant Audrey beehive for the day.  Michelle's natural hair is a bit on the shorter/finer side of things so I really think this was a great look to make her hair look bigger!  Kept the eyes soft and played up the lips w/ a pretty pink!

Jennifer

I actually had the pleasure of working w/ Jennifer earlier in the year on her best friend's wedding so it was such a pleasure to work w/ her again!  Jennifer LOVES the full out vintage vamp look - red lips, big winged liner, pale skin!  Plus her hair will do ANYTHING!  It's so full and thick...and boy does it hold curl!  Whenever a bride shows me pics of the vintage wave I get nervous b/c so many ppl the second you go to comb through a curl the hair falls completely..not Jennifer - hair model hair!

Adriana

Photos courtesy of Nicole Duplantis @ Eclipse Photography

I already wrote about and showed pics from this wedding earlier this year but I thought I'd show a couple again to illustrate how the vintage look can be interpreted in different ways.  Adriana wanted a 60s vibe to her look w/ straight hair and a bouffant on top.  She also kept the lips a very mod style nude/pink and had a slight wing to liner (very slight ;) ).

Winter Wedding Wow

I just finished two amazing trials today for two amazing upcoming brides that are getting married this Summer.  After doing their trials I realized I hadn't posted any brides in awhile and I thought this would be the perfect time!

Back in January I had the chance to work w/ a beautiful bride Adriana and her bridal party.  I had actually worked w/ Adriana previously on her engagement shoot so it was a lot of fun to see the photos from her wedding and her engagement shoot.

Adriana wanted to do a bit of a purple/grey smokey eye w/ a very slight winged liner and a nice soft pale pink lip.  To compliment the slightly vintage feel to the makeup I did a half up/half down hairstyle but kept it straight other than curling in the ends of the hair but I did give the girl some Lana Del Ray/Bridget Bardot style volume to the hair...this of course was helped by the handmade extensions I had made for her previously.  At first she wasn't sure but after everyone told her how fab it looked she was sold.  And she thanked me later b/c after she saw the pics and got use to the height she knew it was the right choice!  A good note for brides to remember is that hair often looks higher or fuller to us then it actually looks in pictures!

Pictures Courtesy of Nicole Duplantis of Eclipse Photography

 

Modern Elegance With A Vintage Twist

Back in Sept. I had the pleasure of working w/ a lovely bride Taryn and her wonderful group of family and friends for her wedding.  It was a large wedding and I even had a team of two other artists working w/ me that day.  I'm actually still impressed that we all fit into the hotel room and were able to work lol!  But at the end of day despite the tight quarters it was all worth it b/c Taryn and her girls looked beautiful!

Right away in the trial Taryn and I were able to hit it off and I helped create a look for her that had a slightly vintage Audrey Hepburn twist but w/ a very modern and elegant feel.  Taryn has a very exotic look - like some of my other brides this year she is mixed - Asian and Caucasian.  I love how when you mix nationalities and races you get some of the most beautiful and interesting features!  Taking this all into consideration we agreed it was best to emphasis Taryn's naturally full lips and keep her Asian eyes still defined but more on the clean and natural side.

Often when brides think of a sort of "vintage" vibe or emphasis on the lips they automatically think about red but that doesn't have to be the case.  For Taryn I custom mixed together a gorgeous and vibrant berry pink colour which I think was a perfect compliment to not only her skin tone but also the bridesmaid's dresses.  I think also by going w/ a more berry lip it creates a more "modern vintage" look w/out making things look too costume or character like which can happen when you're also doing a vintage Audrey Hepburn french twist.

So here's some pics of the gorgeous Taryn on her wedding day!  Photos courtesy of Luminous Studio.

I know I've said it before but I really do have the prettiest brides!