Mia’s Wedding at The Starting Gate at GreatHorse in Hampden, MA

Posted on March 19, 2024March 19, 2024 by ChristyL

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.

Hair and makeup for Mia's wedding at The Starting Gate at GreatHorse in Hampden, MA

Bridal party hair and makeup for Mia's wedding at The Starting Gate at GreatHorse in Hampden, MA

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!

Hair for Mia's wedding at The Starting Gate at GreatHorse in Hampden, MA

Hair and makeup for Mia's ceremony at St Patrick Parish in Monson, MA

Photographer: Sebastian Photography
Church: St. Patrick Parish in Monson, MA
Venue: The Starting Gate at GreatHorse in Hampden, MA
Flowers: Colonial Flower Shoppe
Cake: Cerrato’s Pastry Shop
Hair: Renee of Christy & Co.
Makeup: Christy and Betsy of Christy & Co.

Christy & Co. Named Winner of The Knot Best of Weddings 2023

Posted on November 12, 2023November 12, 2023 by ChristyL

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.

Get Picture-Perfect Wedding Hair and Makeup Done by Christy & Co. in Sturbridge, MA

Posted on May 4, 2023May 4, 2023 by ChristyL

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.

Garden Wedding Hair and Makeup | Tower Hill Botanic Garden | Boylston MA

Posted on April 5, 2018April 5, 2018 by ChristyL

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!

Bridal hair and makeup for Marisa's botanic garden wedding at the Tower Hill in Boylston, MA.

Beautiful florals by Peppers Artful Events.

Bridal hair and makeup for Marisa's botanic garden wedding at the Tower Hill in Boylston, MA. Continue reading “Garden Wedding Hair and Makeup | Tower Hill Botanic Garden | Boylston MA” →

Meet the Team! | Andreina | Bridal Hair Designer

Posted on March 7, 2018April 10, 2018 by ChristyL

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.

Andreina, bridal hair designer for Christy & Co. — 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!

Bridal hair design by Andreina

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.

Bridal hair design by Andreina for Tower Hill wedding — Photo by Love & Perry Photography

Bridal hair design by Andreina for Harrington Farm wedding — 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!

Meet the Team! | Veronica | Makeup Artist

Posted on February 16, 2018April 10, 2018 by ChristyL

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.

Veronica Nunes - Makeup Artist — 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:

Wedding makeup by Veronica — Photo by Lindsey Mae Photography

Wedding makeup by Veronica

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!

Wedding makeup by Veronica

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!

Meet the Team! | Chelsea | Bridal Hair Designer

Posted on February 1, 2018April 10, 2018 by ChristyL

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!).

Christy & Co. hair designer, Chelsea — 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.

Bridal Hair Design Wedding Updo by Christy & Co.

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.

Wedding hair by Chelsea for Christy & Co. — Photo by Jen Walts Photography

Gorgeous work, Chelsea! We’re looking forward to our 5th wedding season together with you this year!

Quinceañera Hair and Makeup | Sweet 15 | Aladdin-themed

Posted on January 28, 2018February 1, 2018 by ChristyL

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!

Quinceañera Hair and Makeup, Aladdin-themed

And check out these beautiful images of birthday girl Cristal, representing Princess Jasmine, in her Quinceañera gown!

Quinceañera Hair and Makeup, Aladdin-themed

Photos by Areilis Montes Photography

Makeup: Christy of Christy & Co.

Hair: Chelsea of Christy & Co.

Meet the Team! | Alexandra | Makeup Artist

Posted on January 21, 2018April 10, 2018 by ChristyL

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.

Alexandra Angelone, makeup artist with Christy & Co. — 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:

Before and after photo 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:

Wedding makeup by Alexandra for Christy & Co. — Photo by The Imagery 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.!

Meet the Team! | Betsy | Makeup Artist

Posted on January 15, 2018April 10, 2018 by ChristyL

Meet Betsy. She’s one of the superstar makeup artists on our team. Always an artist, Betsy fell in love with makeup as a medium when she started working for Sephora in 2009. Their training programs took her to Boston and New York City, and in 2011 when she realized she wanted to focus more on the application of makeup rather than the sales end of it, she joined the Christy & Co. team!

Betsy Mitchell, makeup artist for Christy & Co. — Photo by Seth Kaye Photography

Betsy’s favorite part of doing makeup for weddings is having the opportunity to make people feel like the best version of themselves, when she holds the mirror up for the bride to see herself for the first time, and they say, “Wow! I look SO good!” (Above photo is clearly one of those moments!)

Betsy is not a cookie cutter, one-look-fits-all artist. Her creativity and natural artistic talent enables her to customize a look according to each client’s individual features while staying within their comfort zone. Any time Betsy is working a wedding with me, it’s a given that I’m going to hear a lot of happy exclamations from clients as they are hopping out of Betsy’s makeup chair!

Here are some of our favorite images from weddings that Betsy has done the makeup for: the first of each is a shot of the bride while having her makeup done and the second is the completed look.

Wedding makeup by Betsy Mitchell for Christy & Co. — Photo by Bridget Parmenter

In addition to working weddings with us, Betsy also works as a server at a busy restaurant and is a full-time student in college working towards becoming an art teacher. In her free time (are you sure you have free time, Betsy?!), she loves to paint and draw – she has made some gorgeous chalkboard creations for some of our brides! – and is also a fellow foodie!

As I’m sure you may have noticed in the photos above, Betsy has a full sleeve tattoo on her right arm, that photographers just LOVE to photograph! Every wedding that I get photos from has a picture of Betsy’s arm included. And cool fact – Betsy drew some of the artwork that is incorporated into it!

I’ll finish up this blog post with a couple group shots from weddings that Betsy worked. Because she is a supah-stah!, Betsy did the makeup for all the women in these bridal parties. She’s talented, AND efficient!

Looking forward to our 8th bridal season together, Betsy!