15 September 2008

Looking as good as yourself on the big day

When I was younger I used to imagine looking like Disney’s Cinderella on my wedding day… when she was in her wedding gown and had her hair up at the end of the film obviously! I would arrive in a round crystal carriage pulled by a white horse with a feather on its head.

Well reality is, marrying in an Italian climate puts the huge gown out of the picture. I never wear my hair in a huge bun on top of my head so I feel it would look too severe. Then there’s the horse and cart. That I still want, however the reception takes place 3km from the church and I do not fancy travelling at breakneck speed with a horse and cart along a dual carriageway. It would not be a good look.

I read an article recently about a groom who grew afraid for his immediate personal being in the presence of his future wife. He had witnessed a slow deterioration of a completely together woman to what could only be described as a ‘bridezilla’. In her quest of organising her perfect wedding she flipped at the slightest thing, unearthed a temper her poor fiancé had never seen before and cried at the drop of a hat. In the end as she walked down the aisle, painted in fake tan and looking uncomfortable in a dress so fairytale big that she could barely walk, her future husband wondered where his sweet loving and happy fiancée had disappeared to. And the wedding they had both decided to have had been hijacked by the bride’s vision of the perfect wedding.

I think what this has taught me is that there really is no recipe to follow when organising your wedding. Nobody, apart from maybe a really sad aunty or jealous cousin, will be there on the day of the wedding with a checklist evaluating how well the day has been put together.

At this stage of my organisation I am testing with stylists for my hair and make-up. I spent hours flicking through bridal magazines at hairstyles and found it all a bit much. The first hairdresser I visited was laying out a selection of sparkly tiaras and floral headpieces when I arrived. I realised that telling a hairdresser you are getting married and want to test some styles, flicks on ‘the wedding switch’ in their heads and they immediately think BIG. With a beauty salon attached I wanted to test make-up as well. No matter how much I protested, the beautician insisted that I need full eye make-up and glittery lipgloss. “I would never wear this.” I offered. “That may be the case but you do want to stand out in your photographs and look a bit different to normal, don’t you?” She explained. Well that was just it; I don’t think I want to look different.

I decided to test with another hairdresser and make-up artist and this time when booking the appointments I said I was going on a really big night out and wanted to look natural but glamorous. This worked a treat and I left feeling truly happy with how I looked.

I would think that looking through some past photographs of yourself where you look good, relaxed and happy is a good place to start when you picture how you want to look on your big day. You are making a happy memory and taking your look from another happy memory is a good place to start.




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