When this beauty – who happens to be a Captain in the Medical Service Corps of the US Army – reached out to us for hair and makeup for her wedding at The Starting Gate at GreatHorse in Hampden, MA, we were excited! The Starting Gate is a favorite of ours, and the views from the venue are STUNNING. Beautiful women, beautiful venue, beautiful views? Yes please!
Mia wanted to keep her makeup look fairly natural, focusing on clean beauty with a pop of color on her lips. Her hair was pulled back in a classic chignon bun, with some curled pieces to frame her pretty face. It was a fairly large party – 11 people for both hair and makeup. As usual, superwoman Renee did the hair for all the women, while Christy and Betsy split the party for makeup services.
Here are some photos from Mia’s beautiful wedding day. Church services were held at St. Patrick Parish in Monson, MA prior to the reception at GreatHorse.
Could this bridal party look any more picture perfect? The bridal suite at The Starting Gate is a great spot to get ready. We love doing wedding hair and makeup at GreatHorse!
It’s like Christmas to a fellow wedding vendor when a photographer sends them the link to all the photos from a wedding they worked together and tells them to choose the ones they love. And sometimes it’s an almost impossible task when you love the photographer, love the subjects, and love all.the.damn.photos! And so it was with these gorgeous images from Laura’s wedding earlier this season at Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston, MA. Abby Lorenz Photography captured everything so beautifully, it was virtually impossible to choose a select few to share here on the blog! So be prepared for a lot of them. <3
We started our bridal hair and makeup preparations at the Beechwood Hotel in Worcester. Laura’s bridal look was all about classic romance. Her makeup was a palette of nudes that included a slightly smoky eye, flirty lashes, and a peachy lip and cheek. Her long hair was worn down in a romantic wave with one side pinned back, secured with a bejeweled fascinator. She looked stunning!
Here are some (several!) of our favorite images from this dreamy early summer wedding.
Anytime someone asks me what type of look I recommend for hair and makeup for their wedding, I always give the same response: stay away from the trends, and choose something that will always be considered beautiful. Don’t date your photos. Go for something classic. Be TIMELESS.
Our bride Sandra, who was married last summer at Harrington Farm in Princeton, MA, chose exactly that. Romantic, pretty makeup, and a classic low updo of curls, pinned away yet softly framing her face. This look will NEVER go out of style.
Sandra and her bridal party opted to get ready at a local hotel, the DoubleTree Hotel by Hilton in Leominster, prior to heading to the venue to get dressed, so we packed up our hair and makeup kits and traveled there to provide our bridal beauty services. Christy did the bride’s makeup in a palette of soft pinks, while Chelsea created her phenomenal wedding hairstyle. Here are some beautiful photos from Sandra’s wedding day, by Meredith Jane Photography.
Could you picture a more perfect place for an historical preservation curator to have her wedding, than the Old Sturbridge Village living history museum? It was a perfect fit for our bride Lauren, who is a curator for Preservation Long Island. For anyone who has never had the opportunity to visit this popular attraction, it’s a fully operational New England village from the 1830s, complete with 40 historic buildings, a covered bridge, horse-drawn carriages, heritage breed farm animals, and authentically costumed staff. It’s truly a step back in time, and they host weddings on this incredible property!
We started off the day by doing hair and makeup for Lauren and her bridal party at the Oliver Wight House – a federal style mansion built in 1789 – at the Old Sturbridge Inn & Reeder Family Lodges. Right from the start Lauren knew she wanted to include elements of history in the bridal beauty for her wedding day. She requested a hair crown, and makeup in earthy tones that complemented the beauty of her cream-colored antique lace gown.
Here are some photos from Lauren’s historic-inspired wedding day, by the always phenomenal Ramblefree Photo Co.
It’s officially Spring here now, although it still feels so much like Winter! New England is always a bit slow to bring on the warmer temperatures, but they are just around the corner, along with bridal season! To brighten up the chill, I wanted to share some of the photos – and a video! – from our beautiful bride Marisa’s wedding at Tower Hill Botanic Garden. Love & Perry Photography and Films did a phenomenal job capturing the beauty of this day (as always!).
For makeup, I gave Marisa a “natural bridal glam” look – nothing too overdone since it was a garden wedding, but an extra bit of wow factor on her eyes to accompany her darker features. For her hair, our stylist Chelsea created a beautiful side-swept chignon. Marisa pulled the look off beautifully!
Here in New England we are fortunate to be surrounded by a lot of colonial history, and our wedding venues in central MA certainly reflect that. The Salem Cross Inn in West Brookfield is one of my favorites, and incorporates a beautiful colonial-era farmhouse with a gorgeous attached post and beam barn. Surrounded by rolling hills dotted with grazing cattle, it is quintessential New England and a fantastic choice for a wedding!
I’m excited to share some photos of our past bride Alicia and her wedding at Salem Cross Inn. She chose to get ready upstairs in the bridal area of the farmhouse, where we have lots of space, great natural light, and a beautiful view of the surrounding landscape. Her photographer Mike Hendrickson of Unitymike Photography grabbed some fantastic shots of us getting Alicia and her bridal party ready. Everyone looked gorgeous!
Meet Andreina, our newest member of the Christy & Co. team. Andreina, who also goes by Nina, grew up with a love of all things beauty and fashion, and always knew she wanted a career for herself that involved making women look and feel beautiful. She decided to make that a reality in 2007 when she started the cosmetology program at Blaine Beauty School, focusing on both hair and makeup. After completing the program, she started assisting artists that specialize in the wedding industry, and that’s when she knew that bridal beauty was going to be a focus for her. 10 years later, Andreina joined the Christy & Co. team in 2017.
Meet Andreina!
In addition to focusing on bridal beauty, Andreina also freelances for MAC Cosmetics and works for Ulta, which allows her to stay on top of the constantly changing trends in the beauty industry. She is multi-talented with both hair and makeup, and focuses on creating a variety of bridal hair designs, from soft and romantic to artistic and sculpted.
Here are some examples of recent bridal hair work Andreina has done. So pretty!
In her spare time, Andreina enjoys spending time with her husband and children, exploring different types of foods and restaurants, dancing at Zumba events, and singing in her church choir.
Here are a few professional shots from weddings Andreina has worked with us recently.
Photo by Love & Perry Photography
Photo by Love & Perry Photography
Photo by Meredith Jane Photography
Photo by Meredith Jane Photography
We are so excited to have Andreina as part of the Christy & Co. team for a second year, and look forward to more of her beautiful hair creations for our clients!
Today’s ‘Meet the Team!’ blog post is an introduction to our fantastic hair designer Chelsea! Born and raised in Michigan, Chelsea started in the beauty industry 11 years ago, and received her cosmetology license in 2009. She moved to Massachusetts in 2014, and the Christy & Co. team has been blessed with her presence ever since! She is a master of updos and is the ultimate braid whisperer. She’s also been told that her hair creations are #hairgoals (yes, the hashtag was included!).
Meet Chelsea! (Photo by Meredith Jane Photography)
Chelsea’s love of hairstyling started at a very young age – namely when she decided to use her sister as a real-life mannequin head and chopped off her ponytail (she swears she’s come a long way since then!). Her younger siblings – 2 sisters and a brother – were often models for her to practice on, and in high school she could be found doing formal hair for her sisters and friends for homecoming and prom. It was never any surprise that Chelsea would eventually make a career in this industry! Here are some examples of the gorgeous bridal hairstyles Chelsea has created for our clients since coming on board with us in 2014.
As I’m sure you can see, Chelsea is a perfectionist with her work. She will keep going until the final goal is perfectly achieved, even if that means switching things up in the middle of a style if it’s not working the way she envisioned. Where other stylists may make accommodations to continue on with what they are doing, I’ve seen Chelsea take apart what she’s been working on and start from scratch, to ensure the client gets EXACTLY what the client wants. This results in a lot of happy brides and bridal parties!
And speaking of happy bridal parties, Chelsea thrives on the energy surrounding a wedding day. She’s always excited to get to work, loves how she gets to make people feel special and even more beautiful on such an important day, and often goes home wishing she could get married all over again! She is truly a wedding addict!
When she’s not working, Chelsea loves to spend time with her husband (she’s married to her high school sweetheart!) and their rescue dog, Cornelius. She enjoys cooking, traveling, and working out, and she and her husband are what some might consider “beer snobs” – they love to travel all over to different breweries and try the different beers.
I’ll finish off this blog post with some of the professional photos we’ve received showcasing Chelsea’s beautiful hair work over the years.
Photo by Jen Walts Photography
Photo by The Imagery Studio
Photo by Bunnell Photography
Photo by Ollie.M Photography
Photo by Joe Dolen Photography
Photo by George Street Photos
Gorgeous work, Chelsea! We’re looking forward to our 5th wedding season together with you this year!
Continuing with our Meet the Team! blog posts, today I’d like to introduce you to Renee, one of the bridal hair designers on the Christy & Co. team. Renee joined our business in 2011, and I wouldn’t be exaggerating if I said she has probably done a good 3000+ bridal hairstyles for us since that day. Anyone who has had the pleasure of having Renee as their bridal hairstylist knows that she is incredibly sweet, incredibly talented, and incredibly FAST. It is almost a guarantee that we will hear “I can’t believe how fast you are!” said at every wedding she works. It’s not uncommon for her to finish 10 heads of hair in the same amount of time it takes me to do makeup on 4 faces. I joke around that she should wear a Wonder Woman cape, but honestly… she really should!
Meet Renee! (Photo by Alvah Reida Photography)
Renee received her cosmetology license in 2006, and has been working in the field ever since. She realized bridal hair design was her passion, and focuses almost solely on that, always looking to stay on top of the trends and perfecting her techniques. Here are some examples of the gorgeous bridal updos Renee has created for us through the years, ranging from “loose and effortless” to “sleek and elegant”:
Renee comes from an incredibly talented, artistic family! Her mom is also a hairstylist, and is always creating art in some form, whether it be painting and crafting, carving pumpkins for local jack-o-lantern spectaculars, or making Christmas decor. And her father makes incredible, one-of-a-kind creations out of wood and vines. The apple truly did not fall far from the tree with Renee! Creativity runs in her veins.
In her spare time, Renee loves to spend time with her family, which includes her husband, 9-year-old son, and 6-year-old daughter. She has a slew of pets, including chickens and goats. And she’s also a pretty fantastic shabby chic furniture refinisher!
I’ll finish this post with a few professional photographer images of Renee’s work from some of our past weddings. The wedding hairstyle is just one piece of the whole bridal puzzle, and it’s always incredible to see how it fits in with the rest of the wedding look!
Photo by Rachel Kate Photography
Photo by Servidone Studios
Photo by Tony Spinelli Photography
Photo by Rachel Kate Photography
I swear, if I could clone her, I would. Such an incredible talent, and a wonderful addition to the Christy & Co. team!
It has been such a beautifully crazy 2017 for us! Now that the year is over and the slower winter season is upon us, I’m finally getting the opportunity to go through some of the AMAZING wedding photos our past brides have sent us. Today I’m going to share photos from Kimberly & Patrick’s wedding at the Fairmont Copley Plaza in Boston, MA.
Kimberly’s wedding photographer, Rachel Kate Photography, was kind enough to refer this beautiful bride to us. Kim is as pretty on the inside as she is on the outside, and she and her husband are like a brunette version of Ken & Barbie. I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect client!
For Kim’s wedding makeup look, I gave her a classic bridal sculpted eye, paired with a blush pink lip and cheek. And her skin – LOOK AT HER SKIN! She has skin like butter, and my favorite Temptu SB airbrush foundation complimented it so well, giving her a dewy bridal glow all day long.
Our hair designer Renee gave Kim the perfect half-up/ half-down style, with a bit of volume at the crown and long cascading curls. She looked simply elegant!
(Peep the caption above the photo below that her photographer Rachel included in her blog. <3)
