Wedding Recap - Hair and Make up

  Before I start, I have to state that I love my wedding hair and makeup artist and would recommend her to any and everyone. I basically sent Van an email full of inspiration pictures. I told her I wasn't sure if I wanted my hair down or up. I was really leaning towards leaving it down because I felt having it up made me feel like a boy. I was all over the place with my inspiration pictures and I brought a bazillion accessories with the price tag still on in case they didn't work out. During our 3 hour trial, Van did 3 different looks on me. She even cleaned up my eyebrows.

 Look 1: Hair down with light makeup. I told her my wedding colors were peach and coral so she gave me a pinkish shadow. We tried this with both the barrettes and a head band and I really loved how it looked. I felt a little retro and classic.

 Look 2: Messy side bun with headband. We also tried barrettes. Many brides use this style and I think Van did a great job but I wasn't feeling this particular look on myself. The head band ties could be tucked in so that wasn't a problem but the symmetry lover in me wasn't digging being follically off balance. Note that she also gave me a darker lip color. I was definitely liking both colors.

 Look 3: A pulled back bun. Going into the trial, I was convinced that the one thing I wouldn't wear was this look. I thought it could turn out boyish or matronly on me. And then she showed me how I looked and my mind was changed for good. It was surprisingly a top pick. I felt elegant and formal. She also darkened my shadow so my eyes could pop. This look also ruled out the headband because I felt it was better without. So I came in wanting my hair down, with a headband, and using this jewelry combo. I walked away wanting my hair up, with barrettes, and eventually got different jewelry.

(All photos above are courtesy of Van Pham)

(Julie Parks Does Hair)
After thinking and browsing online, I sent Van this picture of what I really wanted a few weeks before the wedding and this is what she came up with:

 

  (All 4 professional images are by Rock the Image)

She did a great job, especially considering my hair was pretty short for this look. Van is very creative and efficient. She breezed through our trial and not once did she have to refer back to the inspiration images I sent. She just has a good memory I guess. She's also very flexible to any changes and tweaks I asked for. The best example is that my final look was basically something entirely different from our trial. It's almost as if I never did the trial. But she whipped up this fantastic up do on the morning of. Some people were convinced I had extensions in but no, that is all my own hair. It felt surprisingly light and only the bottom portion with the hair pins felt heavy at the end of the night, but by that time I was reaching the 24 hour mark of being awake so fatigue was a factor.
 Vanity Pham Bridal Makeup
Vanity Pham on Yelp

*UPDATE*
Van wrote some sweet things about me and our wedding day experience. Read her blog here. The internet is getting spammed with my wedding but I love all my vendors, I would be more than delighted to do as much publicity for them as possible.
http://vanitypham.com/ngocs-wedding-highlights/272