This past August, our makeup artist Betsy had the pleasure of working with bride Kelley for her wedding at Woolman Hill in Deerfield, MA. Kelley asked for a very natural makeup look, and did Betsy ever deliver! An understated makeup look can be so beautiful, especially when paired with a wedding taking place outdoors in natural surroundings. Nature + natural are always a winning combination!
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!
17th Annual Best of Weddings Awards Honor the Top Wedding Professionals Across America
STURBRIDGE, MA—Christy & Co. of Sturbridge, MA is pleased to announce that they have been selected as a 2023 winner of The Knot Best of Weddings, an accolade representing the highest- and most-rated wedding professionals as reviewed by real couples on The Knot, a leading wedding vendor marketplace and planning authority. This is the 11th year Christy & Co. has been named a winner of The Knot Best of Weddings awards.
To determine the winners, The Knot analyzed millions of its user reviews across various vendor categories—planners, venues, musicians, florists, photographers, makeup artists, caterers and more—to find the highest-rated vendors of the year. These winners represent the best of the best wedding professionals that engaged couples should consider booking for their own unique weddings.
“We are both honored and humbled to have received this award for an 11th year. We pride ourselves on providing top notch beauty services to our wedding clients, and this award is acknowledgement that we must be doing something right! We want our brides to not only LOOK but also FEEL beautiful on their wedding day, both inside and out,” said Christy Lavallee, owner of Christy & Co.
Christy & Co. has been providing bridal beauty services for weddings throughout southern New England since 2010. They specialize in flawless airbrush makeup and stunning bridal hair designs. The business is located in the beautiful and historic town of Sturbridge, MA.
The wedding day is one of the most significant and memorable days in any couple’s life. With all the intricate details that go into planning the perfect wedding, and the timeless photos that capture it, it’s essential to pay special attention to your hair and makeup. If you’re a future bride or groom in the Sturbridge, MA area, Christy & Co. can help make your wedding day dreams a reality. As we specialize in wedding hair and makeup, read on to learn more about how we can help you look and feel picture-perfect for your special day.
Expert Styling and Exceptional Skill
When it comes to wedding hair and makeup, it’s essential to choose an experienced stylist with exceptional skill. At Christy & Co., our team of experts has years of experience and knowledge under their belt when it comes to creating the perfect looks for your wedding day. From intricate braids to glamorous Hollywood waves, our stylists will work with you to design the perfect style that complements your gown, theme, and personality. We stay up-to-date with current trends and styles while still maintaining traditional and timeless looks.
Custom Bridal Consultations
Prior to your wedding day, we’ll get to know you better and set up a custom bridal consultation. During our consultation, we’ll discuss your preferences and understand your style, personal taste, needs, and vision to create a custom, personalized look. We’ll evaluate your facial structure and features to decide on the perfect makeup palette that highlights your natural beauty and enhances your features. Our bridal consultations are a fantastic way to understand the process and feel confident and delighted with the final result going into your wedding day.
Effortless and Stress-Free Experience
Planning a wedding is stressful enough, with tons of decisions to make, guests to accommodate, and timelines to follow. At Christy & Co., we understand how crucial it is to make your wedding hair and makeup experience as stress-free as possible. We arrive at your getting-ready location and deliver efficient services, ensuring your hair and makeup look perfect and stunning in the photographs and in person. While you relax and get pampered, we’ll ensure that you’re ready in time for your special day.
A One-Stop-Shop for Both Bridal Hair and Makeup
At Christy & Co., we provide both bridal hair and makeup. Our team of experts works in tandem, collaborating with each other to ensure a cohesive look with an efficient timeline. With our extensive experience and vast knowledge, we can guarantee that your look will be seamless and flawless.
Conclusion
Your wedding day hair and makeup should be a perfect representation of you, your style, and your theme. At Christy & Co., we take pride in creating personalized and individual looks that reflect our client’s personality. From start to finish, our expert team ensures seamless hair and makeup with an effortless and stress-free experience. If you’re getting married in the Sturbridge, MA area, reach out and let us help you create the perfect wedding day look.
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!
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!
Next up in our ‘Meet the Team!’ blog posts is talented makeup artist Veronica! She began freelancing as a makeup artist in 2011 while attending college in Albany, NY, after her classmate and close friend started doing makeup for weddings and needed an assistant artist to help out. Now in her 7th year as a makeup artist, Veronica is currently located in MA. A New England native, Veronica grew up in CT, and frequently finds herself working weddings throughout the Northeast, focusing on the greater-Boston and Windsor, CT areas. Her favorite part of the business is being chosen to enhance a bride’s natural beauty, while playing a part in such a special day. She joined the Christy & Co. team in 2015.
Meet Veronica!
Veronica is currently enrolled in the Advanced Esthetics program at the Catherine Hinds Institute and anticipates completing the program in April of this year.
Veronica is also an avid dog-lover, and although she doesn’t have any of her own, she volunteers her time with several dog rescues and can be found walking dogs at her local shelter.
Here are some examples of beautiful bridal makeup Veronica has done, from super natural, to glam, and everything in between:
Photo by Lindsey Mae Photography
Photo by Simply K Studios
Photo by Hitlin Photography
And here are a few shots that I love from a wedding Veronica did for us that don’t really focus on the makeup, but truly show how important it is in the overall feel of the wedding. So dreamy!
Photos by Russell’s Photography Studio
In closing, another lovely piece of information: Veronica just recently got engaged and is planning her own wedding! I know she is going to be a beautiful bride! Congratulations Veronica!
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!
When our past bride Nilsa reached out to us about providing hair and makeup for her daughter’s Sweet 15 Quinceañera celebration last month, and told us it was going to be Aladdin-themed, let’s just say we were a little bit excited! Any time we get to do something creative, it makes us happy! And what beauty team wouldn’t love turning a 15-year-old girl into a Disney princess?!
Here are some sneak peek photos that we took just as we finished up with her hair & makeup at our studio. We went with a strong Middle-eastern dramatic eye look, paired with a long signature Jasmine braid. She looked beautiful!
And check out these beautiful images of birthday girl Cristal, representing Princess Jasmine, in her Quinceañera gown!
Continuing on with our ‘Meet the Team!’ series, today I’d like to introduce you to our incredibly talented makeup artist Alexandra. Alex has been doing makeup professionally since 2010, and has represented such brands as MAC Cosmetics, Smashbox, Tom Ford, and Juice Beauty. In 2014 she joined the Christy & Co. team, and has been one of our valued makeup artists over the past 4 years.
Meet Alexandra!
In addition to doing makeup, Alex is also a licensed esthetician, a graduate of the Catherine Hinds Institute and provides a full array of aesthetic services at a spa on the North Shore. She can often be heard offering skincare advice to our clients while doing their makeup, and recommends products for our brides at their trial runs to get their skin into tip top shape for their wedding day! Who doesn’t love THAT?
Here are some before & after examples of Alex’s makeup work:
Alexandra’s favorite part of the business is being able to combine creativity with building confidence in women. She loves helping them to feel beautiful, both in how they look and in how they feel when they leave her makeup chair.
Cool fact: Alex was the makeup artist for one of our past brides who had THE Bobbi Brown (makeup artist icon and creator of the Bobbi Brown cosmetics line) as a guest in attendance at her wedding. Bobbi gave us a shout out on Instagram, saying the bridal party looked perfect!
Here are some professional photos taken of our past weddings where Alex was the lead artist:
Photo by The Imagery Studio
Photo by The Imagery Studio
Photo by Adriano Batti Photography
Photo by Servidone Studios
Photo by Servidone Studios
Photo by George Street Photo
Photo by Tiny Human Photography
Photo by The Ewings Photography Studio
Gorgeous work, right?!
When not focusing on makeup and skincare, Alex loves to use her creativity in other forms. She enjoys starting things from scratch, whether it be baking a cake or refinishing a piece of furniture. And she is a fantastic cook (as a foodie I can attest to this)! She is also an animal lover and loves to spend time with her 3 adorable family dogs – Freya, Khaleesi & Ollie.
We love having you as part of the team, Alex! So glad to have you for a 5th wedding season here with Christy & Co.!
