Wedding Makeup : Update

I did end up going onto the live chat on MAC 's website. Here is what they suggested with pictures of all the products after.

First off ( I will use my Bare study paint pot first by applying it to my eyelids to help keep the eyeshadow on and keep it from creasing)

Begin by applying Naked Lunch Eyeshadow as a base on your eyes with brush #242. Sweep Sable Eye Shadow through your crease with brush #222, then add Vanilla Eye Shadow to your brow bone using brush # 242. Line your eyes with Teddy Eye Kohl Pencil. Add Coal Black Pro Lash mascara to your lashes. Blush your cheeks using Cubic Blush. Complete this look with Beurre Cremestick, Hug Me Lipstick and Lust Lip Glass. ( Note: I do not want lip gloss so I would ex off the lip gloss).

I mentioned my freckles and she suggested I use Mineralize SPF Foundation/ Loose. " this powder contains minerals for a smooth natural finish and medium buildable coverage. The formula is oil-free and non-acnegenic."

I then asked about fake lashes. She said she always suggests lashes for brides and recommended # 7 Lash, it is slightly spiky and adds subtle volume and enhancement to your lashes (perfect for brides).

She suggested Select Cover-Up which is a liquid concealer for under the eyes, and suggested to use brush #213 to apply it.

So here are the pictures:

                              Bare study paint pot (already own)

Naked Study Eyeshadow

Sable Eye Shadow

Vanilla Eye Shadow

Brush # 222

Brush # 242

Teddy Eye Kohl Pencil

 Pro Lash Mascara Coal Black

Cubic Blush

Beurre Cremestick

Hug Me Lipstick

Lust Lip Glass (won't use)

#7 Lashes

Select Cover-Up

Brush # 213

Now If I actually wanted to purchase all of these things... seeing that the only item I have is the Paint Pot, it would cost me $270.00.  YIKES. Now minus the lip glass and its...$256. Still rediculous. If you get rid of the brushes it takes it down to $182.50. That is still a ton of money. Would I have been better off hiring someone to just do my makeup? What would be the right things to cut out of the purchase? At least with the mascara (I have needed a new thing for a while), eyeliner, eye shadows, and lipstick are all things I could re-use since it is a natural look. I dont own any blush or lip products or foundation since they aren't things I wear regularly or...ever. Would I be better off making an appointment to go in that day, have one of the MAC makeup artists do my makeup and simply spend $50 on some MAC makeup products? What would you do? What do you think of the look? I like the shadows and everything, not sure about the blush. I am just so torn on what I should do for this! I definately want to make sure I look good for the wedding and all the pictures though. However I definately dont have $200 or more to spend on Makeup.

Wedding Makeup

First off. One month left until the big day!!!!!!!

Now like alot of things I am attempting to do myself, makeup is one of them. Well me and one of my bridesmaids Bekah has offered to help.

I am starting to wonder if I should have just hired someone for this, but both Bekah and I are pretty good with makeup so hopefully we can work it out. One of the things that pretty much everything I read says if you are doing your wedding makeup yourself make sure you PRACTICE it several times. So far we have one practice run down.

Now we've already done one thing wrong based on the tutorials I've been watching. We used shimmery eye shadow pretty much everywhere. Apparently it is better to keep the shimmer to a minimum and keep it on your lower lid so that in pictures you don't get a glare on your upper brow. So already I know I need to get some matte shadow. Also we did not try out the fake lashes on this trial run amd I need to invest in some waterproof mascara. I also definately need to figure out a different lip color. I know I want to stick with a lipstick rather than a lipgloss, because I really hate how sticky lipgloss is. I'm sure Zach doesn't want to kiss me with lipgloss either! I know he doesn't want glossy lips!

In my search I found this website which has 101 makeup looks including links to tutorial videos. It is by far the most helpful thing I have come across. I particularly liked number 5. I thought she explianed things really well, plus it was with MAC cosmetics which I love. I am considering going to the MAC website and going on the forum to ask a specialist for ideas. Bekah also suggested I go to her website for Mary Kay and use this virtual makeover to test looks out. So maybe I will do that!

Flower Girl Accessories and then some

Sunday my Aunt Jooji and her daughter Gooby came over to help my mom and I with some wedding stuff.
We made the little bird seed pouches. They were actually a little more difficult and messier than the M & M's since the birdseed was so small. I will probably regret this decision when I get a mouthful of birdseed. Oh well, its tradition right!? Here is what the finished product looked like:

After we finished that task we decided to make the twin's head wreath's and decorate their flower girl baskets. I did not measure their heads I just made the wreaths a certain size and we can pin them on their head. I am sure they will not wear them any longer than the ceremony and pictures...

I started off by wrapping the barkwire into a circle about three times around.

It was wire so when I had it wrapped around the way  wanted it I just wrapped the ends around the wire to secure it. It looks kind of like twisted vines, which I like. Now we decided to add some of these little guys, which we picked up at A.C. Moore a while back. Our intentions were to use some in the bridesmaids hair and where ever else we decided. We didn't even make a dent in them...but we snagged each bunch for $.50, so not too big of a deal if we don't use all of them. I am sure we can find homes for them though.

The ends of these were wire so I just used that to wrap around the bark wire. 

At this point it looks like a Roman laurel wreath... so now it is time to add some flowers! We got out our handy glue gun which uses these massive glue sticks!

Then we glued some flowers on in the same style as what we did with the baskets...I'm going to jump to the baskets then I will reveal the finished picture...

For the baskets we decided just to decorate them with flowers based on an idea we saw in a magazine. So we just glued flowers around the lip of the basket.

Gooby had the fun job of plucking all the flowers for us. Having multiple people as an assembly line certainly helps to move things along alot faster.

we ended up adding a few leaves in on the underside beneath the flowers too. Here is our finished product!

It was pretty easy with the exception of a few glue gun burns on our fingers and it didn't take long either. Around three hours for four of us to make 160 pouches of birdseed, the head wreaths and the baskets. We may still add some ribbon to the baskets and the wreaths...but thats super easy.

On another note tomorrow will mark the "One Month Until the Big Day" how crazy is that?!

Don and Liz's house is pretty much done as well. They are moving in this weekend! I havent been there in a few months and can't wait to see how nice it all looks! We are meeting Bill (my tent rental guy) and Joanie (my caterer) at 9am next Wednesday at the house to figure out how exactly we will be laying out the tents and tables and everything. Pretty exciting. Me and my bridesmaids also have our nail appointments set. So the day before the wedding we will be enjoying tasty treats and mimosa's for about four hours while we all get manicures and pedicures. Party at the nail salon!

Hair Change?

I think I want to change my hairdo.... I just have been thinking about it and there are things I don't like about the hair I had for my trial run. Heres a picture to remind you what it looked like

Now here is more what I think I want...

This first picture is by far my favorite. I like how it looks more casually pulled back, I don't know what that wierd hair loop on the bottom is, I would just have curls, and I still want a few "stray" curls though smaller chunks, and may have to snip a bit of my hair so it isnt SOOOOO long. I think I want to ditch the poof and the asymetricalness. I just want a more casual look, something like what my bridesmaids have but... a little more put together. Thoughts? Do you like this idea better than my test hair?

Wedding Favors: Complete

Sunday my mom, Ashley and I made the wedding favors. It was a little time consuming but the three of us made 200 in probably 2 hours? Maybe less. We had pre-cut tulle circles. You can find them at Michaels, or any craft store. We actually got ours and the ribbon we used at Norfolk Wholesale Florist. They are well worth their $6 to $10 price tag ( for 80- 100 circles). I can't imagine the nightmare it would be to cut circles out of tulle yourself. We had ordered two 5 pound bags of customized M & M's. They are not the cheapest. Upon receiving them we realized we definately needed more M &M's so we looked at Michaels first since we knew they carried a variety of solid colored M &M's. However their selection was picked over and the M&M's were a little beat up. So we headed over to fresh market where we found the perfect ones.

Ashley is having fun puring the M & M's!

A plethera of M& M's!

Here's some close ups. Note: when ordering customized M & M's you can pick up to three colors. I chose pearlized white, light blue and lavender. So when we went to the store we picked out some brighter, more fun colors. That sea foamy light green, a bright limey green, and that periwinkle color. I really like the mixture of colors and they will go well with the rest of my wedding colors!

The first set was to set up the handy folding table. Which has served us well for our somewhat DIY wedding. We have used it for making the bridesmaid dresses, as well as putting invites together, and getting them ready to mail.

My mom also pulled out her xacto cutting board as well as a rotary cutter. Notice on the one side there is a ruler so we or Ashley(she ended up with ribbon cutting duty) could measure and cut ribbon super fast. She was cutting 12" lengths of both a bright blue and a sage green ribbon. This method worked extremely well.

I was given the job of scooping and gathering. We were using a tablespoon as our scoop and started off using about 1 1/2 scoops and by the end more like 2 scoops. I would say 25- 30 M & M's per favor. after scooping the needed amount onto a tulle circle I would gather it up evenly and hold it out for my mom to get that first starter tie around it ( It was real difficult to do yourself) then I would move to the next one while she made the bow.

Here are some finished favors.

There were 2 layers in this basket.

And we ended up with a good amount leftover!

So we did need more than ordered but number wise didn't need to add so many. However, I am alot happier with having those extra colors added in. We will probably set a nice bowl of these remaining M & M's out for our guests to enjoy at the wedding. We will also set the favors with each place setting.

All in all it was not too bad of a process and if we had more people helping it could have been done alot faster. We plan on using the same method for the birdseed which will be thrown at Zach and I while we make our grand exit. Fingers crossed I don't get a mouthful!

Decorating the Arch

Yesterday my mom and I put together the Arch we ordered! It was pretty easy but it will need some staples and screwholes covered with wood filler as well as another coat or two of white paint. We decided to look for inspiration on how to decorate the arch. Here is what we found.

I love the balls hanging randomly on the last picture.  An added bonus is that we have already gotten foam balls to try and make our own pomanders. I think we have decided to try and use those for the arbor instead of the chairs along the aisle. We will hang them randomly on the arch as well as some bunches of other flowers and fresh cut greenery. I would like to see if we can find some grapevine somewhere as well. Also LOVE the idea of just having some potted plants along the aisle. I think doing that instead of the pomanders will be better especially since we found a better place to use them. I just guess I like things a little more creative and not so much the norm. Plus I think it will go right along with the feel of my wedding since most of the flowers there will be in tighter bunches.

We also saw these which I think are pretty cool, especially if a few hydrangea buds were added.

We also got all the wedding favors put together, but I will do a post devoted to that tomorrow.