Recently Engaged
Updated: Oct 1, 2018
Congratulations Miss to Mrs. and welcome to my blog! I am a 16 year beauty professional and your makeup artist sharing some of my "behind the chair" insights and tips.
First things first. If you are feeling stressed, depressed, overwhelmed or anxious know that it is completely NORMAL. It is okay to feel all of these emotions and you have every right to feel so. If you need help unwiding, my advice to you is to start journaling. Personally, I love to journal. It is the grown up version of those diaries we used to have as little girls. Journaling allows "me time" all while releasing your daily adult stress so that you can remain the best version of yourself during this process.
Second, if you can afford a wedding coordinator, get one! Wedding coordinators do exactly what it sounds like, they coordinate the biggest day of your life. With their expertise they are able to find your venue, photographer, florist, and everything in between. Need help finding a wedding coordinator? Turn to Facebook and ask friends and family members for recommendations. Also, join groups that are geared towards wedding planning. If you are in the Houston area I suggest: ~Bride to Bride
~Bride to Bride Houston and Surrounding areas ~Brides to Be in Houston, TX
There you will be able to join a group of women in the same vulnerable position as yourself and, hopefully, get some sort of peace during your planning.
Now if you plan on doing it all on your own, know that it is possible. You can do it, I planned my own wedding! And believe it or not, I really enjoyed playing wedding coordinator. It gave me this whole new joy and pride that I had never felt before (although on the day of my wedding, my sweet friend Jennifer took care of it all!). So, if you are certain that you are ready to take on this task know that you will need time. How much time? I suggest at least a year. This allows you time to properly research your "contractors", investigate the season your wanting to get married in and, possibly, attend a wedding or two to get inspiration from.
Next, get an Instagram account if you don't already have one and follow me! Haha! No but seriously, follow me at Instagram.com/erikaleemua . I LOVE Instagram and brides do too. This social media handle is the new way to view portfolios of artists work, as well as photos from real weddings. Use hashtags and follow them (new feature) to find local artists and venues, all for free! Try these out: #erikaleemua
Found pictures or artists work that you love and want to save? Simply click the square image that has a triangle cut out (flag) on the bottom right corner, and it will automatically save the photo. Did you know that Instagram also allows you to create folders and label them as you please? I think it's the new Pinterest!
Lastly, my favorite tip, turn to your hairdresser for help! Your hairstylist knows people from all over town (believe me we do!). So next time you are in the chair, share that you are planning a wedding and need help finding a photographer, or a DJ and I'm sure you will get a recommendation from them. Also, if your hairdresser does updos, book them for a trial run for your wedding day hair 90 days before your wedding day, same goes for your makeup trial run. If you don't have a hairstylist don't worry, I know some amazing girls that I can personally vouch for. I love Jazzy and Erica Carpenter at Hair Revolution for creating the most gorgeous updos, hairrevolution.net, as well as my best friend Patty Valle at Locale Hair Studio, localehairstudio.com.
Well, that is all for this blog. I hope that you found some answers to the questions you were asking. Check back next Sunday afternoon for another post!
Thank you for reading,
Erika Lee
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