I am not making a decision about my makeup until I make a final decision on my gown and what I will use on my head (i.e. veil, tiara or hair accessory). I feel that everything that I wear on our wedding day needs to be cohesive and look good.

The one thing that I want is to look like myself. Therefore, I really want to enhance the features that make me a Latina bride. I am so lucky to have a fantastic hair and makeup artist that has the skills to make that happen.

The following images were found in a Blog called Woodva Weddings. I thought these pictures are pretty helpful to establish a difference between the looks.

Classic Wedding Makeup; image from Woodva Weddings

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From http://www.flickr.com/photos/peebot/2996122412/

After the night of semi-debauchery, Plumeria Dude and I got to sleep in a little the morning of the wedding. One of the benefits of having an evening wedding! My sister-in-law’s dad cooked us a real Texas breakfast– homemade biscuits and gravy! While a lot of the busy bees were helping set things up in the tent and at the ceremony site, Plumeria Dude and I had some time to ourselves. We attempted to sea-kayak, but strong winds made it a Sisyphean activity.

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May 24, 2009 finally came…. I will try to describe this day in as few words as possible but it was such a wonderful day it is just hard to put it into words. To see all our wedding photos, you may go to our wedding site.

Myself and the girls (bridesmaids and moms) head up to Hotel Charleston for a nice breakfast and Spa Day.

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I went through the initial experience of being shocked at how expensive weddings are when I started planning.  And then I did some more research about reasonable prices, why certain things were as expensive as they were, how to bargain, how to make some items myself, and places to look for things that may be better priced.  I thought I had it in under control and I wouldn’t be facing more price shocks.

From ecu.edu

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I will probably do my own wedding day make-up as a DIY project, since I enjoy doing my own make-up and it’s an easy way to save money. I usually wear my everyday make-up to look natural and I was happy with the way my DIY make-up turned out in my engagement pictures.

By Sargent Photoworks

To perfect my wedding day look, I plan on practicing over the next 5 months and taking pictures inside and outside to see what looks best. I also plan on writing down step-by-step what I am doing on these practice runs so that I know exactly how to recreate my perfect look, when I find it.

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I am having a bit of a difficult time securing hair/makeup professionals for the Big Day. The wedding is being held in my very small hometown (4 hours from me), which has only a few places to choose from in the salon department. I haven’t lived at home for 8 years now so I don’t have any connections to beauty professionals back home. And have I mentioned that I’m a control freak? The idea of some “stranger” doing my hair/makeup without endless trials is kind of frightening to me.

For hair I’m thinking of this loose bun-style thing which I can definitely NOT do on my own.

Image from theknot.com

I will be doing a trial the next time I go home, so that I can find the perfect place to do my hair. OK, so control has been relinquished with the hair, fine. Makeup is another story.

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I’m in the process of getting ready for our engagement photo shoot, and I wanted to share some strange but effective beauty tips that I plan on using (and have used before with excellent results).

Tip # 1: Banish puffy eyes

Let’s face it, puffy or swollen eyes make you look tired or older than you are. So, if you have puffy eyes, using damp tea bags (warm or cool, just comfortable to you) helps reduce the swelling. Simply place the tea bags on your eyes and relax.

photo from http://www.sabaidi.net/

For me, about 6-8 minutes of “tea time” can help me look more refreshed and awake. I’ve been doing this for years with success, and I just found out that it actually comes recommended by the Mayo Clinic!

I’ve heard that putting a little Preparation H cream on your tired lids or under-eye area can help reduce the swelling, but I’d rather stick with tea bags than hemorrhoid cream. This article talks about this beauty “myth”.

Tip #2: No more sweating your make-up off

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