Gail Gardner - Professional Wedding Hair and Makeup

Gail Gardner Wedding Hair and Makeup www.gailgardner.co.uk

2011-06-08T22:39:00.000+01:00

New Website Address http://www.gailgardner.co.uk/ -

New Website Address

2011-05-31T15:30:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone. Just an update. I have a brand new website which is now http://www.gailgardner.co.uk/ this is my name Gail Gardner. Please follow this link to my new website to see all my latest hair and makeup styles and also my latest blog which tells you exactly how busy I have been over the past few weeks. Gail xx

Follow this link: http://www.gailgardner.co.uk/

Gail Gardner, Wedding Hair at Leez Priory, Gosfield Hall and Many more...

2011-03-13T21:36:00.000Z

Hi there all. I have not really blogged much lately as I am currently having a new website built and Im hoping for it to go live in approx 2 weeks and I am transferring over to a different blog system which is incorporated to my website. I have had many trials and weddings over the last few weeks and am attaching a few photos for you here but please be patient as I will soon be back up and running properly soon. Hope you are all keeping well. Gail xx

Half Up, Half Down Hairstyles, Chignons at Leez Priory, Boreham House and The Fennes

2011-02-13T20:48:00.002Z

Its been another hectic week with beautiful brides making their wedding vows. I had a trial on Monday with a lovely lady who is getting married at St Michaels Church in Galleywood, Essex. She is very tall and beautiful and opted for a beautiful glamourous hairstyle, very chic.

I also had four weddings this week. One at the Fennes with Claire Boston. I carried out her wedding hair and also for her mum and sister. I forgot to take my camera so she will be forwarding some photos soon.

I was then at Leez Priory on Friday with a bride I had not met before but she was lovely and we had a great morning together. Her dress was so stunning, it was mermaid style and she had the perfect figure. She has sent me some photos of her wedding so i am attaching them for you. She advised me that she slept in her hair and it was still perfect the next day!

The bride yesterday was married at Boreham House. I carried out her hair and makeup and applied false eyelashes. She looked amazing. Again, a very calm bride and she opted for a beautiful fairytale dress.

The bride today, Tracey, was married at Leez Priory. She was all glamour. I carried out her wedding hair for her and for her bridesmaid but then carried out a further two hairstyles on her two close friends. Tracey was great fun! She had some terrible traumas with her wedding dress. Yesterday, the day before her wedding, her fiance dropped her beautiful dress in a huge puddle when transferring it to the car! It slipped off the hanger from under the dress carrier. They had to rush it to the dry cleaners, which were thankfully open and they saved the day! She was amazingly calm and laughed about it but she did assure me that this is only because it still looked as good as new.

Again, I saw another tiara from Monsoon at one of this weeks weddings. The tiaras at Monsoon are stunning and amazingly priced at £35 approx. The quality is excellent and they are stunning so do check them out if you are on the hunt for a tiara with a difference.

I have a trial this week for a bride getting married in July and I have a wedding at Gosfield Hall on Friday.

I also set myself up on twitter, under the name Gail_Gardner. I do not know if I have set it up properly but I do tweet on all my trials and wedding days if you want to keep up to date with what brides are opting for and any other great ideas I hear about that I think are worth passing on.

Have a good week. I may update my blog mid week with extra pictures as I am expecting this weeks brides to send some to me.

See you soon. Gail x

Leez Priory, The Fennes, Boreham House and Trials

2011-02-06T20:58:00.001Z

Hi Everyone. I have had a busy week this week with trials and weddings. The trials were for the Fennes and leez Prioy and the weddings were at Leez Priory and Westminster. The styles I covered were half up with extensions, sleek chic look and Audrey Hepburn hairstyles. Unfortunately I forgot to photograph the bride on Friday but she will be sending me a photo after her honeymoon. The bride on Friday was married at Westminster Registry Office. Her wedding was being filmed for Channel 4. They have a new programme coming out in September focussing on the different weddings throughout the world and they chose Michelle Whipps for the London wedding. I had not met Michelle until her wedding day but she opted for a beautiful Audrey Hepburn style, very glamourous. On Saturday I was at Leez Priory with Kirsty Collins. A very calm bride. The weather was very windy but very warm. She looked beautiful. All my photos are below of this weeks brides and trials. The first bride has extensions, she looked absolutely amazing.

I have a busy week with weddings ahead. I am at Leez Priory twice, The Fennes and Boreham House. In amongst all that I have a trial and a trip to see the Jersey Boy! So Im looking forward to that. Leez Priory is one of my most popular venues. Its great as there is a cottage on the premises which brides have the option to stay in the night before. So if the bride has an early wedding, approx 12.00 to 1.00pm, I will normally go to the cottage to get the bride ready. Most venues let you into the main premises at 9.00 but some do not allow access till 10.30am which can really eat into your wedding time. The wedding morning always go so fast, much faster than a bride can anticipate so please take this into account when planning your timings on your wedding morning and also, make sure that you, the bride, has her hair carried out first so that your hairstylist can devote most of the time to you. Also, if you are having bridesmaids hairstyles carried out, the hairdresser can keep an eye on your hair and perfect it closer to your wedding ceremony, if need be.

I hope you like the hairstyles I have below. I am trying to set myself up on Twitter so you can keep in touch with me and just my daily experiences with brides, the weather on the wedding day etc. I dont know if I will be successful with Twitter as im not very technical with my phone but I am hoping to give it a good try.

Have a wonderful week this week and I look forward to catching up again soon.

Gail xx

Leez Priory, Gosfield Hall, Boreham House, The Fennes

2011-01-30T21:54:00.000Z

Hi everyone. My diary is becoming very booked up and I am receiving many calls for dates I have already given away. Its going to be a big year for weddings and even 2012 is appearing to be busy already too. I had three weddings this week. Two were at Leez Priory on Monday and Friday and one at the Fennes today. I did not get to meet either of the brides that were married at Leez until their wedding day, they did not have a trial. Both brides looked stunning. All this weeks weddings went off beautifully and there was no sign of rain. The bride today had extensions. I took a photo of the bride before and after extensions. She looked beautiful and she had been so calm all morning until precisely one hour before her wedding ceremony when the nerves suddenly set in. This is pretty much standard for most brides. I have also had a busy week with trials, I met some wonderful people whom I am looking forward to meeting again very soon on their wedding days. One bride had such a beautiful hair piece. It was like a tiara on a band but the detail was all on one side. It was from Monsoon. It was only £35 which amazed me as it was really beautiful and looked like it cost much more. If you have not bought your tiara yet make sure you look in Monsoon.

One of my brides this week ordered her dress from China. She paid a total of £75 for it and this included postage. The dress was absolutely amazing and she had her alterations carried out by a local seamstress. I cannot tell you how amazing her dress looked, considering I see brides dresses every day, you just would not have expected the dress to be under the £700 mark.

I have two weddings this week again at Leez and in Chelmsford with a few trials in between so I will have more pictures for you next week. For now, here are some of the lovely brides I met this week. See you Sunday. Gail x

Bride before extensions

Bride with extensions

With Extensions

Leez Priory, Fennes, Boreham House....

2011-01-16T22:03:00.002Z

I have been hibernating a little as I had a lovely break over Christmas and only officially returned back to work on Monday even though I did a couple of weddings during Christmas and New Year. I have had a busy time this week with trials for February and March weddings. I think its taking me a little time to get back to the usual run of things as I forgot to take a photo of my trial on Monday so I cant display the hairstyle on here. The brides I have worked with this week are getting married at Leez Priory, the Fennes and Boreham House. All beautiful venues. I wont be writing a blog next week as I have a quieter week than normal. The calm before the storm for the week after, so Im going to enjoy it. My little boy turns three this week so I have had a great time shopping for him, 3 year olds toys are just fab. Rockets, Bubbles, Bikes, so easy to shop for. Also, I will be taking my cat, Dorothy, to the vet tomorrow after my Trial. On Friday she started limping. She is avoiding any weight on her back foot. I have checked her for injuries but she bites me if I go near her leg. I had hoped she may improve but it looks like a trip is in order. I think she may have climbed a tree and could not get down, but we will see. Anyway, here are some photos of lovely brides or brides to be I have had the pleasure in working with. I will try and put my brides that married between Christmas and New Year on here sometime this week too. See you Soon. Gail xx

Christmas Trees at Leez Priory and Gosfield Hall, Father Christmas as Harrods!

2010-12-18T23:13:00.005Z

Its Christmas!!! The Trees have arrived at Leez Priory and Gosfield Hall and they are devine! Also, I managed to get to London with my lovely children to see Father Christmas after school on Tuesday. Oh the Christmas Lights, the sparkly London Eye, the beautiful Christmas Tree in Trafalgar Square. Father Christmas at Harrods was wonderful. The children all received a gift, Harrods Badge and a huge chocolate coin. Peter Pan was there to greet us all. We then spent the next two hours in the toy department just playing with all the toys. We then went to the food courts, wow! Can you tell we do not visit Harrods often!!

We managed to fit this trip in amongst a busy week with weddings. The weather has been really adverse too and has prevented important guests attending weddings. I have been at the lovely Maison Talbooth, Leez Priory three times this week and Gosfield Hall too, along with a trial or two in between. The bride that married at Gosfield hall opted for a very romantic hairstyle. Her photographer was Ben from Lavenham Photographics.

The bride today was married at Leez Priory. Her photographer was Simon Carr. She received a call one hour before her wedding to find out that 19 people had cancelled due to snow. We found that surprising as there was no snow at Leez, until approx 20 minutes later where it came down so heavy! When I eventually left Leez the snow was so heavy and the traffic had come to a standstill. I am back at Leez tomorrow morning for 7am so i will have to leave at an unearthly hour to make sure I make it in time as its expected to be -8. I am at Spains hall on Wednesday which is going to be my last wedding until after Christmas. Im so excited and looking forward to Christmas. I have to make sure I have absolutely everything for my Christmas dinner from Crackers to Parsnips, Sprouts, Fresh Cream for the Pudding.... I cannot wait! I will not be writing my blog next week as it will be Boxing Day. Have a very happy Christmas and if you have booked me for your wedding, I look forward to meeting you next year!! Gail xxxxx

Frozen Pond at Leez Priory

Beautiful Christmas Trees at Leez Priory and the Snow at Leez today after just 20 mins.

Harrods to see Father Christmas

Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all and good luck with all your wedding planning for your 2011 weddings! xxx

Snow, Snow and More Snow!

2010-12-05T23:25:00.000Z

Well what a surprise all that snow was. The snow started Tuesday and my trial still made it to my address! We had to finish the trial quite early as it was beginning to snow quite heavy and I live in an area which can become quite snowed in. My children were all off school for the week too so lots of upheaval which including building a snowman and having a few snowball fights. I'm off to the Maison Talbooth tomorrow with a very early start. Heres hoping for a warmer week with no snow please!! Gail x

Our Snowman!

Boreham House, Leez Priory, Reid Rooms, Three Rivers

2010-11-28T21:49:00.049Z

I have been to many of the beautiful venues in Essex this week and also had trials for Leez Priory, Maison Talbooth and Hylands House all for this side of Christmas. Side buns are extremely popular among the bridesmaids this week. Also Emerald Green has been the choice for two of the weddings for the bridesmaids dresses, absolutely stunning. The photographers I have worked alongside this week are Gavin Woollard, P K Photography and Scott from The Edge. Here are all the hair and makeup styles I have carried out all week. See you Sunday. Gail xx

Vintage Hairstyles, Romantic Curls and Half Up Do's.

2010-11-21T21:12:00.000Z

Hello again everyone. I have had an extremely busy week saying farewell to many brides and also welcoming new brides. Vintage Weddings are becoming more popular, especially at this time of year and they tend to go hand in hand with stunning venues like Leez Priory. I have had two weddings at Leez Priory this week and had a wedding at Gosfield Hall today. Two of the brides who attended trials this week both wanted a vintage hairstyle. I have a real mix of hairstyles to show you this week from romantic to vintage to elegance, it has been a really interesting week for me. The chosen wedding dresses have been by designers Jenny Packham, Ian Stuart, Brenda Lorraine and many more. I have also been enjoying looking at all the accessories the brides bring along to the trial.

With many christmas weddings in the offing, brides are opting for beautiful snow queen tiaras, candles instead of flowers and beautiful shrugs to accompany their wedding dress. Christmassy flowers also are making an appearance with beautiful red roses with hypericum berries. Also, this weekend, Leez Priory have their christmas decorations up with the trees arriving very soon. I love Christmas so much! Its my birthday christmas eve so Christmas in our home is always a big affair. Our decorations always go up the first weekend of December and we always visit Harrods each year with our children to see Father Christmas.

Anyway, back to the beautiful brides and brides to be. These are all the hairstyles I carried out this week. Next week I have three weddings amongst many trials so hopefully I will have plenty more styles for you. Have a great week and catch up with you next Sunday. Gail xxxx

Side Buns and Hair up and Extensions!

2010-11-14T22:24:00.000Z

Hello Again! This week I had a mix of styles including updos and side buns also incorporating extensions. My bride today was married at The Fennes in Bocking, Braintree. Her chosen hairstyle was for her hair to be pinned over to one side. When Sarah came for a trial her hair was quite short so she decided to opt for extensions. We did not work with the extensions until today, her wedding day. Without the extensions her hair sat on the top of her shoulder. You will see, with the extensions, her hair cascades right down her front and by this evening these curls will have relaxed into beautiful romantic curls. One of her bridesmaids, Elle, had a side bun. Her hair was shoulder length with quite short layers. Sarahs other bridesmaid was her sister. She had really short hair but came armed with extensions. She loved her hair, she could not believe what we achieved. I finished off both the bridesmaids hairstyles with my own hair pins which was the final touch to a beautiful glamourous hairstyle. This week I also had a trial with a bride getting married at Gosfield Hall next week. We tried many styles in her hair before she decided on a half up half down style. Every style we tried on her was beautiful so she still may change her mind on the day!! Next week I have trials and weddings taking place at Leez Priory, Gosfield Hall and the Reid Rooms.

Bookings for 2011 are getting booked up fast with August now full which means I cannot carry out any more trials in August either so all trials for September weddings are going to have to take place in July or earlier. If you have secured your 2011 wedding with me but have not arranged your trial date, please contact me soon to secure your trial date as you really need to have this approximately 4 weeks before your wedding day. March to September get extremely booked up so its very important to secure your dates at the earliest opportunity. I am now going to show you the styles I have carried out this week. Have a great week and see you next Sunday! Gail xx

Monika - Half Up Trial

Monika - Hair Up Trial

Monika - Half Up Trial

Sarah - Today Wedding Day

Sarah (Todays Bride)

Sarah (Front View)

Elle - Side Bun

Bridesmaid (Hair Up)

Boreham House, Spains Hall, Orsett Hall and Leez Priroy.

2010-11-07T22:15:00.000Z

What a lovely week I have had. I have met three new brides to be. One is getting married at Boreham House, another at Spains Hall and another at Leez Priory. My bride yesterday was married at Orsett Hall and last night I prepared a bride for her wedding party after getting married at St Lucia last month. Five lovely ladies indeed. Today I spent the day at The Reid Rooms Wedding Fayre. I was on my feet all day but it was worth it just to meet all the new lovely brides to be. It was also lovely to meet all the brides that have booked me for their wedding and popped in to introduce themselves prior to their trials later this year and next. I also carried out a trial there today for a bride getting married in January at Leez Priory. A very busy day! I am attaching all the photos of the brides and brides to be for you all to see. Have a lovely week! Gail x

Melissa Hoskins - Orsett Hall

Livvy - Bridesmaid

Livvy - Makeup

Leanne Derrick - Trial - Spains Hall

Leanne - Hair Trial

Susan - Bride (St Lucia)

Susan - Hair

Susan - Beautiful Dress

Side Buns, Extensions, Hair up and Hair Down

2010-10-31T22:06:00.001Z

Hi again, its been an interesting week for different hairstyles. Brides have tended to opt for a loose romantic style with the bridesmaids having either a side bun or hair swept over to the side. Hair trials have been a mix of updos and half ups too. I am attaching all the pictures for you to see. The photographers I have worked alongside this week are Scott from The Edge, S E photographics and others who were friends of the bride. I have trials and weddings this week for Spains Hall, Reid Rooms and Orsett Hall. I am also exhibiting at The Reid Rooms this coming Sunday, 7 November, admission free. If I am doing your hair and makeup for your wedding day, please come along and introduce yourself and watch me at work. If I have time, I may even be able to put some curls in your hair. The exhibition is from 10.30am until 3pm. Hopefully see you there! Gail x

Clare Martin - Crondon Park

Clare Martins - Hair

Trial - Catherine

Catherine - Hair

Bridesmaid

Bride - Liz Robinson - Reid Rooms

Bridesmaid

Leez Priory, Essex Regiment Way, Fennes

2010-10-24T23:50:00.000+01:00

Hello Again, I am now at home with my feet up after a busy day today in Braintree. Im glad to say I had no trouble finding the address even though I still have not got round to purchasing a satnav as the one I am after is out of stock and I must have this particular satnav, probably because its out of stock and nothing else will do! Well, after last weeks traumas of trying to find my brides house, I had a sleepless night last night as I was worried I was going to get lost again today. Also, i dreamt I did get lost and I only arrived 45 minutes before the wedding ceremony and I had a huge wedding party to get ready!!!

Well, I arrived bright and early to the large bridal party enjoying a breakfast together. The bride was very calm, probably my most calmest bride for a very long time. She was chatting to her fiance several times on the phone too! She was very chilled about the wedding and by speaking to her fiance it made her feel more relaxed. Her name was Claire Rodd and she had 3 bridesmaids. I did all their hair including the mother of the bride. Claires photographer was John from http://www.johnivorphotography.co.uk/, very competitive!! I also held trials this week, one was for a bride getting married at the Fennes very soon. I was at Leez Priory on Friday again, with another lovely bride called Louisa. Louisas florist was Victoria from http://www.victoriasweddingflowers.co.uk/ and her flowers were amazing. Louisa told me that her florist was so so competitive and she listened very carefully to what she wanted. When Louisa received her flowers on her wedding morning she was just so happy, they were perfect. I have met with Victoria several times and I would thoroughly recommend getting a quote from her when you start shopping around.

I have a few days off this week as it is half term which means I can indulge myself with my beautiful children. I wont do much, probably just hang out with them. My eldest daughter is 12 and she has just started asking me to play with her hair and I have three sons too, ranging from 10 years to 2 so one minute I can be doing my daughters hair, playing cowboys and indians, hide and seek and puppet shows! Great fun!

I finish my few days off with a busy weekend of weddings and trials from Friday onwards. These are at the Reid Rooms and Gosfield Hall. I am attaching a few pictures of trials and weddings I have done this week. If you would like to get in touch, please contact me through my website http://www.gailgardner.co.uk/. Gail x

Bride - Trial

Bridesmaid - Makeup Trial

Bridesmaid - Essex Regment Way

Blake Hall, Stock Brook Manor, Spains Hall and Three Rivers.

2010-10-17T22:06:00.002+01:00

Hello again everyone! Wow, gone is my quiet spell and its back to a busy time again. I have said goodbye to three lovely brides this weekend. I hate saying goodbye, I meet such lovely ladies and usually end up feeling like I have made a good friend that I hate the thought of not speaking or seeing them again. This also goes for these three brides. The first bride was Kate Vickers who lived in Dagenham and was married at Stock Brook Manor on Friday. I had to be with her at 7.30am, a good hours drive from home. Can you imagine my dismay as I headed for the M25 to find it completely gridlocked with lorries, there had been a serious accident and the M25 was closed so I made a quick decision to stay on the A12 and just hoped I would find myself in Dagenham. It completely threw me off track that the M25 was closed and geography is not my greatest subject to the point that Kates dad had to come and find me at a petrol station!!!! How embarrassing was that. Kate was very chilled out when I arrived, it could have something to do with the brandy she was drinking very early on but she was just wonderful. She looked absolutely stunning and her dress choice was spot on. I had such a lovely morning with Kate and her family. She had to leave for Stock Brook Manor early due to the terrible traffic. Her photographer was Carmel Jane who was such a lovely lady.

Saturday saw me at The Ivy Hotel in Writtle, Chelmsford. Bev Fry was getting married at St Michaels Church in Galleywood, thats where i got married so it was very special for me as it made me keep thinking back to my wedding day and she was now going to take the same steps down that aisle that I took. She was also having the same bridal march I had, oh the beautiful memories. Bev looked so beautiful. Her reception was at Blake Hall in Ongar Essex. Her photographer was Dean from RT Weddings. Such a lovely gentleman. He was so discreet taking photos I kept forgetting he was in the room. Very professional. Bev was off to St Lucia after her wedding and then she is moving to Wales two days after her return! Wow, what a busy year!

Todays wedding was with Karen Fitzsimmons who was getting married at Springfield Church in Chelmsford then onto Three Rivers Golf Club for her reception, a lovely venue. I did her hair and makeup and also 4 bridesmaids hair so a very busy day today. Again, she looked so beautiful. Karens bridal party were wonderful and her bridesmaids were well equipped with every necessity a bride may need on her wedding morning. Most importantly scissors! Every bride needs scissors on her wedding morning so please make sure you have some available on your wedding morning, its to cut off the labels on the bridesmaid dresses or your wedding dress etc. The weather was beautiful, she was very lucky as it can be unpredictable at present. She had a really wonderful bridesmaid who was there for her beck and call and her name was Nick. Nick makes cakes and apparently is amazing so I am going to give you her details as I believe she is quite reasonable. Her company is called Lady H Bakes and her web address is www.ladyhbakes.co.uk worth a look I think.

I have a week of trials and weddings this week so I will be updating you with everything next week. Please enjoy all the photos below. See you next week! Gail xx

Kate Vickers

Bridesmaid - Three Rivers

Spains Hall Bridesmaid

1950s Theme

Bev Fry - Blake Hall, Ongar, Essex

Karen Fitzsimmons - Three Rivers

Newland Hall, Spains Hall and MaryGreen Manor and Leez Priory

2010-10-13T23:19:00.000+01:00

Well it was a very busy weekend! I think it may have a little to do with the date 10/10/10 as I had two weddings on that day. I did a trial for a lovely lady getting married at Leez Priory later this month. I worked with a lovely bride on Saturday who married at Spains Hall, it was such a beautiful day. On Sunday I met Lois, we did not meet for a trial as she left it quite late, but she looked so beautiful and was getting married at Newlands Hall. Sunday afternoon, Jennifer Hopkins was married at Marygreen Manor in Brentwood. She had a 50s style theme for her wedding day and looked so beautiful. I have not had the chance to upload my photos as it has been so busy but I have another busy weekend ahead so hopefully I will upload all the photos by Sunday evening.

On Friday I am preparing a bride at her home, on Saturday I have a bride getting married at St Michaels Church in Galleywood, with her getting ready at the Ivy Hotel in Chelmsford and the bride on Sunday is getting married in a church in Chelmsford. A busy weekend!
See you soon.

Gail

This Week I Have Been At Gosfield Hall and The Reid Rooms

2010-09-26T19:26:00.000+01:00

Two lovely venues and two beautiful brides. I have also had three trials this week with brides that had booked me a while ago so it was nice to eventually get to meet them at last. They are getting married at Mary Green Manor in Brentwood, Gosfield Hall and Crondon Park. Each of them having quite different styles as you will see. I said goodbye to my first bride, Emma Bullock. I did Emmas makeup for her wedding day along with Mother of the Bride. I did not manage to get a photo of Emma as I left my camera at home but I will obtain one from her very soon. Then my second lovely bride, Louise Palmer. I carried out all the hair for Louise and her Four Bridesmaids and also Mother of the Bride today. It was a very busy morning and they all looked gorgeous.

I have a much quieter week next week but I wont speak too soon as it seems to make the phone ring! Im looking forward to having the time to cook, springclean and rest and Im even managing to get away for a couple of days with friends.

I have been receiving emails from brides asking me to upload photos of my hair pins that i have had made as I keep promising to put them on my website and blog, but just have not got round to doing it. Well you will be pleased to know I am at last attaching a picture of my hairpins and these can be purchased through my website www.blushing-brides.net . I dont know if the photos will really do them justice but all I can say is most brides love them and end up buying them as they are very reasonable compared to purchasing similar quality in shops and on the internet. If you look closely at a couple of the hairstyles attached, you will see my pins placed in the hairstyle. My pins are such wonderful quality and you would probably pay a minimum of £15 per pin elsewhere but I am selling them for just £5 each. In the photos you cannot see how shiny they are but they are so beautiful and sparkly and catch the light and also catch the colour of your dress so they compliment every hairstyle and every colour of dress.

Erin - White Crystal Wedding Pins

Erin - Vintage Crystal Wedding Pins

Isabella - In White and Vintage Crystals

Well now for all my photos I have taken of brides and trials during the last week. I hope you like them and maybe see a style you may like for your wedding day. Look out for my hairpins in some of the styles. Gail xxx

Clare - Trial Crondon Park

Bridesmaid - Crondon Park

Front View - Bridesmaid

Jenny Hopkins - Trial - Mary Green Manor

Back View - Jennifer Hopkins

Louise Palmer - Gosfield hall

Bride and 4 Bridesmaids - Gosfield Hall

Bridesmad - Gosfield

Bridesmaid - Gosfield Hall

Leez Priory, Orsett Hall and Hatfield Heath.

2010-09-19T23:46:00.000+01:00

My week started off at the lovely venue of Leez Priory. I spent my week carrying out a few trials and finished it off with another two weddings at the weekend. One in Hatfield Heath and the other in Orsett Hall. It has been a very busy month, September seems to be my busiest month of the year so Im looking forward to some calm in October and November, usually my quieter months. Next week sees more trials and weddings at the Reid Rooms and Gosfield hall. Again I have worked with the best of the best in photographers and florists.

Often when a bride is planning her wedding, they do not know where to start when choosing their florist and photographer. If you have yet to choose your photographer or florist, take my advice and contact the following. Firstly, your photographer. Avanti Photographics www.avantiphotographics.co.uk Her name is Camelia and she has a way of capturing a brides vulnerability. I am always blown away by her photos. She is lovely, discreet and just amazing. I insisted my sister in law use her for her wedding day and we are still cooing over the photos. She captures the day to the point that when I look through the photos, I feel like I was a guest. That has to be my top recommendation this week. I just love her! Secondly the florist. If your looking for a reasonable but excellent florist then it has to be Victorias Wedding Flowers. www.victoriasweddingflowers.co.uk Her name is Vicky and she is friendly, listens to your requests and I know she spends weeks preparing for your wedding day to meet your requirements and I know she is competitively priced too. Vicky loves working with brides and you can tell just by her dedication. Both are often at Gosfield Hall and Leez Priory.

Now, I am going to show you my brides this week and also my trials. I have some beautiful photos of them all. Please print off any photos you like to take along to your hairdresser. If you have any questions it will be great to hear from you. Catch up next Sunday! Gail xxxx

Picnic at Leez before putting on the dress.

Lisa Pitchfords Hair

Claire Rodd - Trial

Claire Rodd - Very Romantic Style

Trial - Louise Palmer

Louise - Side View with Silk Flowers

Genty - Hatfield Heath

Bridesmaids Hair

Bridesmaids Dress - Mermaid Style

Natalie Acors - Orsett Hall

Natalies Hair

Natalies Bridesmaid

Boreham House, Gosfield Hall, Church Wedding and Pontlands Park, Leez Priory

2010-09-12T22:58:00.000+01:00

Hello Again! What another full week of Trials and Weddings. Today I did my 4th wedding in a row with another at Leez Priory tomorrow. The brides I worked with this week have been absolutely wonderful and I really am going to miss them very much, not just the brides, but also the mothers of the brides too. It is such a big day for them and to see their little girl walking up the aisle must just be a very proud moment...Im already thinking about it and my daughter is only 12! I also carried out some lovely trials and met some really lovely brides to be, they have so much to look forward to on their wedding day. I have plenty of pictures to show off to you today, I think you will all agree that the brides look absolutely stunning. Sarah Toomey had her wedding celebration at Boreham House on Thursday. David Islip was the photographer for the day. She had a butterfly theme going on and carried it right through from her hair to the wedding breakfast. Thursday saw Carly Denham get married at Gosfield Hall with Tony Bramley from Storm Photography as her photographer. Carly arranged a surprise string quartet for her family and guests. Steph Hutson was married yesterday in St Marys Church, Great Baddow and Heidi Lancaster from Tiptree married at Our Lady Immaculate Church with her reception at Pontlands Park. They all looked so amazing.

I noticed 2 of my brides this week had sensible shoes. One bride, Heidi bought two pairs of shoes, one of them extremely high and the other quite low heeled to change into later in the day. Sarah decided from the start that it was flats all the way and she bought a silk white pair of converse! What a good idea. It is very sensible to have 2 sets of shoes on the day as one of my brides last week ended up walking around Leez Priory in bare feet as her feet just could not take the height all day.

Im at Leez Priory in the morning, with trials on Tuesday, Wed and Thursday, a wedding on Friday and Saturday! Will update you with more photos next week. Enjoy the photos. Gail xx

Heidi - Hair

Sarah Toomey - Boreham House

Carly Denham - Gosfield Hall

Heidi Lancaster - Pontlands Pk

Sarahs Hair - Butterfly Theme

Hair Trial - front

Hair Trial - back

Bridesmaid Hair - Gosfield

Hair Trial - Reid Rooms

Hair Trial - Bridesmaid

Sarah opted for silk converse shoes

Hair Trial - Spains Hall

Holidays and Weddings, Reid Rooms, Leez Priory etc

2010-09-05T18:16:00.000+01:00

Well what a month! I managed to take a lovely break with my family in France and returned to a very busy August. When I returned, my cat Dorothy had grown! She was such a little Kitten when we left. She was so happy to see us. It is always good to come home. The children have now all returned to school and I am once again happy to throw myself into my work and spend many hours creating beautiful hairstyles and gorgeous makeup. I have been at the Reid Rooms several times over the last two weeks and Leez Priory three times last week along with some home weddings. I have worked with some amazing photographers and videographers from Avanti Photograpics, Simon Carr, John Ivor Photography, Peter Evans Photography and videographer Sally from Magic Productions. I have a busy week ahead with Trials each day and a wedding on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday so Im sure I will have some new beautiful hairstyles to show you all. Have a lovely week and I will be back next Sunday! Gail xx

I have been to Leez Priory, Mary Green Manor, Reid Rooms and a Church Wedding in Chelmsford

2010-08-02T00:10:00.000+01:00

Another mad mad mad week! Whens it all going to stop! I had two trials and four weddings this week. Most of my brides were teachers! The wedding on Wednesday was at Mary Green Manor in Brentwood. I prepared a lovely bride called Jenny. I met Jenny for a trial last year so we have been in contact for a while with emails flying between us both. It was so lovely to spend the morning with her getting ready with her bridal party, which consisted of 3 bridesmaids and a friend and a flower girl. Jenny was very relaxed until she noticed her wedding time creeping up. Jenny had a lovely photographer called Kerry from Avanti Photographics and Jennys videographer was Magiic Productions.

Fridays wedding was at Leez Priory. A lovely teacher called Beci and 3 bridesmaids. Beci's photographer was Simon Carr. Saturdays wedding was for a lovely family in Chelmsford, getting married at a church in Chelmsford with their reception being held at Boreham House. The bride was called Aimee, another teacher! It is the summer holidays! Its always busy with teachers. Aimees journey to the church was via Horse and Carriage. You will see pictures below. They are called Cooks Carriages, what a way to travel to the church. Aimees photographer was called PK Photography. Todays bride is called Hayley. Again, another lovely teacher. Hayley had three lovely bridesmaids, again, photos are below. Hayley wore a hair vine in her hair which is really unusual but looked fantastic. My pictures are not so great but the photographer is going to send me a "real" photo. His name is Peter Evans. Hayley had a stunning dress again, I have attached a photo of this along with her beautiful wedding bouquet. I have met some truly wonderful brides and all of this weeks brides were just such lovely people.

Along with my busy week I had to take my little kitten Dorothy (5 months old) to be neuted. She keeps making this funny crying sound and weve noticed it seems to attract a Tom Cat who seems to have taken a shine to Dorothy. The night before we took her, my adorable 8 year old boy cried all night and asked us not to take her to the vet and let her have kittens and we could build another spare room and let them all live there. After hearing this, my husband could not make that appointment quick enough! He has had trouble to warming to Dorothy as it is. Anyway, she is officially neuted and my husband appears relieved. Now, back to the weddings, please see photos attached! Gail x

Beautiful Bride - Reid Rooms

Stunning Bridesmaids

Amazing Flowers

tunning Dress

Bridesmaids Flowers

Hair - With Hair Vine

Wedding Dress

Bride Jenny

Hair - Behind

Bride Beci - Leez

Hair - Behind

Becis Bridesmaid

Becis Bridesmaid 2

Beci's Bridesmaid 3

Bride Aiimee - Boreham House

Aimees Bridesmaid

Horse & Carriage - Cooks Carriages

7 Trials and 2 Weddings, Channels Golf Club and Maidens Barn

2010-07-25T23:26:00.000+01:00

What a week! A little too busy if I'm honest but I did meet some wonderful new brides and say goodbye to two wonderful brides as they both started their journey into married life. The trials I held this week are getting married at a number of places from Spains Hall to Leez Priory, Gosfield Hall and the Reid Rooms. I have posted quite a few photos this week as I have met so many people. I have also shown one hairstyle several times but with different flowers or hairpins in her hair just to show you how different the style can look with different accessories. Also, my children have all broken up from school for the summer holidays, which can only mean one thing, no more school runs for six weeks!!! I love the school holidays and having the children under my feet is my idea of fun and I am going to enjoy every minute of it. Also, this means my daughter will be around so I can try out some new hairstyles I have in mind for my future brides. For now, please find pictures of all my work this week, shown below and please feel welcome to print them off for your hairdresser if you wish to do so. All the sparkly pins you see in the hair are the pins I have recently had designed and made. If you would like more information, or to purchase some pins for your wedding hair, please contact me through my website. Have a great week. Gail x

Beautiful Side Bun with Small Flower

Same Side Bun, Different Flower

Same Sidebun - Very Large Flower

Same Sidebun - Different Flower

Same Sidebun - Beautiful Pins around the Base

Bride Hair

Before Extensions

After Extensions

Bridesmaid Hair

Bride - Trial

Bridesmaid Trial (Bridesmaid has bonded extensions)

View from the side

This week, Maison Talbooth, Downhall Country Hotel, Gosfield Hall and Friern Manor

2010-07-18T23:39:00.002+01:00

Well, this has been a very busy week for me. I have met lots of new brides and again, said goodbye to four beautiful brides. The brides were married at Maison Talbooth, Gosfield Hall, Friern Manor and Down Hall Country Hotel. All such beautiful stunning venues and the weather has been great for them all. Today the bride married at Maison Talbooth, such a lovely venue. I had a very early start, leaving my house at 6am as I had quite an intricate hairstyle to complete along with many bridesmaids to attend to.

I am attaching lots of pictures this week as I have carried out so many hairstyles and I think its important to display these as it may give you ideas for your own hairstyle or for your bridesmaids. Also you can see what brides and bridesmaids are wearing in their hair. Also, you will see some of the hairpins I have had designed and made, in the brides/bridesmaids hair. These will be available for sale soon via my website when I eventually get round to finding the time to become organised.

Tomorrow is a new busy week which starts off tomorrow morning at 8.30 with my first of three trials to be carried out tomorrow. I have 7 trials this week and 2 weddings so hopefully I will have more pictures to display for you. For now, please enjoy all my work which I have carried out this week. I am showing you all the brides (though some are still in their dressing gowns). Their hair has been styled using products and hairspray. All trial hairstyles are raw, meaning no products have been used. I only use products on the wedding day. Please feel welcome to take copies of my styles and take them along to your hairdresser for your wedding day. Best wishes. Gail xx

Bride Today

Side View

Gosfield Hall

Side View

Her Wonderful Bridesmaid

Side View

Bride - Friern Manor

From Behind

Bride, Down Hall Country Hotel

Trial - with my hair pins.

Trial - Front View - Soft and Romantic

Back View, very loose.

Trial - Sophisticated, with my wedding hair pins

View from the side

Blake Hall, Ongar, Trials and Wedding Pins have arrived!

2010-07-11T23:12:00.001+01:00

Well I have had quite a nice week this week! It involved a few family commitments, sports day for the children thrown in amongst trials and a wedding. Its been really quite nice as it has been quite a calm week but goodness Im paying a price for it this week! I suppose they call it the calm before the storm. My next week, starting from tomorrow, includes 4 trials, 4 weddings, followed by more trials and weddings which means I do not have a day off now for 14 days! Its certainly peak time for weddings. Some of the weddings involve 6am starts so plenty of early nights this week. I am attaching a few photos of the bride and trials I have held this week. Also, in my last blog, I mentioned that I was having some beautiful wedding hairpins made. Well they have arrived and they are stunning. I will be selling these at my trials and probably through my website too as they are affordable and the final detail to finish off a beautiful hairstyle. I will make sure I have a photo of the pins on this blog next week. The bride this week was married at Blake Hall in Ongar. She opted for a "willowy" look. Her photographer was Mark Dalton, a very nice gentleman. Im off now to have an early night. Enjoy this wonderful weather. Gail x

Gosfield Hall, Crabbs Barn and a Chinese Wedding

2010-07-04T23:06:00.000+01:00

It has been a very busy week with trials and weddings. Each of the brides had beautiful weather. I have had so many future brides and bridesmaids to carry out trials on this week. I will attach as many photos as I can of all the different hairstyles. I am also showing a few Veil photos, showing you the different places you can wear your veil. You can try these all out at your hair trial to find which one suits you best. Also, many brides buy a tiara as they feel you have to wear a tiara for your wedding day. This is not the case, you can also wear lovely wedding pins placed beautifully around your hairstyle to give a simple bridal look. The wedding at Gosfield Hall on Thursday was lovely. The weather was so glorious, the bride married outside. She looked beautiful. Her photographer was Neil Bailey who is always so kind and gracious and a pleasure to work with. Please remember that all the trials hairstyles are raw and I have not used any products in their hair. I only use products and hairspray on the wedding day. If you see any hairstyles you like, please feel welcome to print them off and take them along to your hairdresser. Have a nice week. Gail x

Veil on the Top

Veil in the Middle

Veil underneath style

This is andreia, she wanted a really soft relaxed and loose romantic style.

This was a lovely moment, everyone trying to work out exactly how to tie the dress up. The bride was so relaxed she was quite happy for them to work it out themselves.

This week I have been to Spains Hall and Leez Priory

2010-06-27T23:39:00.001+01:00

What a beautiful sunny weekend we have had. I have carried out trials for brides to be that will be getting married at Channels Golf Club, Gosfield Hall and Blake Hall in Ongar. My two brides this week were married at Spains Hall and Leez Priory. The bride yesterday at Spains Hall had such lovely weather. Her photographer was Tony Bramley of Storm Photography. The Bride today married at Leez Priory on the hottest day of the year so far and on the day of the world cup. She was such a good sport and had a tv on for everyone. Her flowers were amazing, so beautiful. Her florist was Victorias Wedding Flowers in Chelmsford. I have a busy week ahead of me starting with a trial tomorrow. This week I have three weddings and many trials with brides getting married at venues throughout Essex.

I am in the process of incorporating a Guestbook/Feedback link on my website so that brides can leave honest feedback about my services on their wedding day. They will be able to leave a comment directly onto my website without me intervening. This will give future brides an idea of what they can expect from me on their wedding day. I am hoping to have this facility available on my website by the end of this week.

Also, I am in the process of having some beautiful wedding pins designed and I am hoping to have these available sometime in July. Wedding pins can be very expensive and this often means a bride will buy cheap quality pins which often snap or the diamante can appear quite dull. When I have completed a beautiful hairstyle it is always nice to complete the hairstyle with beautiful elegant wedding pins. The pins I am producing are stunning and premium quality and I am hoping to sell them at an affordable price too. Once these are available I will post a picture of these on my blog and they will be available to buy either directly from myself or my website.

I am now posting pictures of my trials held this week and also my two brides that were married yesterday and today and also a picture of beautiful Leez Priory today, on the hottest day of the year! Have a great week! Gail xx

Leez Priory, Boreham House and Trials Galore!

2010-06-21T00:37:00.001+01:00

What a wonderful week. I met with some lovely people this week, and I tried out some lovely hairstyles and makeup. I had two weddings this week, both at Leez Priory and had 6 trials with weddings in the pipeline. I also had two unusual visitors this week, one was a dog called Susie which came along to one of the trials, in a handbag. She was so adorable I just had to take a photo of her and the other visitor, not so welcome I must admit, was a 2ft long grass snake in my back garden! Photo attached!! Dont worry, brides to be do not need to walk through my backgarden when attending a trial!! This snake was found slithering along yesterday afternoon. Now I am attaching many photos taken of brides and brides to be. If you see any styles you like, please print them off and take them along to your hairdresser or if I am your hairdresser, just tell me! I have created all styles on my website and blog. Please remember, when I carry out a trial, all my hairstyles are raw, void of product, so I can see how your hair behaves. I only apply products to the hair on your wedding day. Also I have taken all the photos on my iphone so I apologise if they are blurry or I appear in the background!! Finally, I would just like to say goodbye to the lovely bride and her family, who got married at Leez Priory yesterday. Kirsten Gunderson (now Mrs Bagley). What a lovely family. I hope our paths meet again. I am attaching photos of Kirsten feeding the ducks outside the cottage at Leez Priory. Gail x

Weddings and Trials, Chichester, Maison Talbooth, Down Hall Country Hotel

2010-06-13T00:01:00.000+01:00

Well this has been a rather different week. It started off with a trip to Scotland. My children had applied to appear on a childrens tv show, and were successful. I was unaware this would include yours truly. We all had to travel to Glasgow early Monday morning to meet the presenters of the show and to be filmed competing with another family. Must admit, great fun and we won so I cant complain. Just a very different week to my usual workiing week so it made a lovely change. We arrived home very late on Tuesday night and I was back working again first thing Wednesday morning. I had mostly trials this week with one wedding, at the Chichester Hotel in Rayleigh. The trials are for next month, one is at Down Hall Country Hotel and the other is for Le Maison Talbooth. I am attaching some pictures below of my brides and trials this week. I hope you like the pictures, again, please note that I took all the photos so apologies if I appear in some! The bride to be below had beautiful long hair so I took a before and after photo. Hope you like the pictures, have a great week. Gail x

Where have I been this week? Leez Priory, Gosfield Hall, Gt Bromley,

2010-06-06T22:36:00.001+01:00

Yes, another busy week even though I managed to get away for a couple of days which was just wonderful. I took a lovely trip to Southwold in Suffolk with my lovely family. It was chilly on the seafront, being a cold creature I was glad to get back inside where I spent my evenings playing Battleships and card games with my children which was great fun. I discovered I am the Battleships Champion. Im very competitive! I have an unusual week ahead of me this week, I will reveal all next time but let me just say, it involves a very short trip to Scotland and its nothing to do with work! Now, back to work! I said goodbye to a few brides and enjoyed meeting some new brides at trials this week. All the brides were actually very lucky with the weather too, even yesterdays bride and todays bride. They both managed to avoid the rain. It is often quite difficult saying goodbye to a bride as you absorb all the excitement in the lead up to the wedding and then work so closely with them for hours on the morning of the wedding. Todays bride looked at me and said "are we going to see eachother again?" It was funny, but I know how she felt. The brides to be who had trials with me this week are getting married at Leez Priory and Boreham House next month. I have to say, what absolutely lovely brides they are going to be too. I have attached a few photos for you, again, apologies if poor quality as I took them. This week I have weddings at the Chichester, Gosfield Hall and Leez Priory. Have a lovely week.

Leez Priory, Gosfield Hall and Reid Rooms

2010-05-30T18:33:00.056+01:00

It has been another very busy week with many visits to Gosfield Hall and Leez Priory. I am attaching some photos of the brides and photos of trials I also held this week. I start off my next week with another visit to Leez Priory tomorrow. Its half term week so I have arranged to take a couple of days off to spend with my family which we are all looking forward to so I am hoping for some good weather. Yesterday I prepared a bride at home, who was having her reception at a farm, in a marquee, the weather was not so good yesterday but Im sure she had a wonderful day. I hope you like some of the styles I have carried out this week. Catch up soon. Gail x

Leez Priory and Gosfield Hall

2010-05-23T23:01:00.021+01:00

I have been quite a busy at Leez Priory and Gosfield Hall this week. I have also carried out a few weddings for brides getting ready at home, which is always nice as you really get caught up in the family atmosphere with the dad mowing the lawn an hour before the wedding and the mother rushing around making endless cups of tea and continuously asking her daughter if she has eaten yet. Its funny how everyone worries whether the bride has had breakfast or eaten. Brides hardly ever eat! Here is a tip. If you are getting ready at a venue or at home, arrange for very small and easy to eat food to be available. Strawberrys, Blueberrys and Pineapple Pieces are always very popular, and you can always drop a strawberry into your champagne as you are getting ready too! Also, chocolate finger biscuits are always the biggest hit! Put them on a plate and leave them on the side, they will be gone within the hour! These are always very popular, with adults and children.

I have been at Leez Priory several times this week, including today. I am attaching a few photos of trials carried out this week and brides. I hope you like them, you may even see a style you like for your wedding day. I am now working every day next week right up until Sunday. I have four weddings in a row from Wednesday through to Saturday. I will be at Gosfield Hall Wednesday and Thursday, Leez Priory on Friday and in Waltham Abbey on Saturday preparing a bride at home. I have trials for Spains Hall and Leez and Gosfield thrown in amongst there too. Have a lovely week, I hope the weather holds. Gail xx

These are photos of a bride who came for a trial on Wednesday. We did hair and makeup. View from back and sides.

The weather was so beautiful that we took an outside shot to get a crystal clear photo of her hair and makeup.

This bride below was married yesterday. This was an early start as we had 3 bridesmaids hair and makeup too.

Her tiara was so big, probably the largest tiara I have ever worked with so we had to go for height to show the tiara off.

This bride was married today, at Leez Priory. I had not met this bride until this morning as she lived quite far away. We did hair and makeup, she looked so beautiful. She was so excited to be getting married on such a beautiful day.

Everywhere this week!

2010-05-16T22:59:00.067+01:00

Just a short blog this week, I have a busy schedule starting early tomorrow. I met some lovely brides to be this week and again, said goodbye to many. I am at Leez Priory, Gosfield Hall, The Ivy, Old Harlow, Gaynes Barn, Epping and have a few trials thrown in amongst there too. I am putting quite a few photos on here this week for you. Some of these are brides on their wedding day, some are trials. The most important one I want to point out is Sam, who has really short hair and had extensions put in. The reason why I am showing you these pictures is that you will be surprised at how much she paid for these. Her extensions cost £29.99. They look fantastic! I used extremely high heat and the curls stayed in all day. I forgot to take a photo of her at the very beginning of doing her hair, but I took one just in time to show you how short her hair was. Enjoy.

Before

After Extensions

View from the Back.

This Bride had short hair and wanted her hair in a bun.

She looked amazing with her hair all swept up.

This Bride is from Scotland and wanted something incorporated into her hairstyle that could show this off. We opted for a Celtic Braid. The style below is the back of her hair.

The bride below had a traditional ceremony followed by a Hindu Ceremony. This brides hair took me 3 hours and 50 minutes in total. Her hair was the subject of conversation during the whole wedding day. She had so much hair!

This was followed by the Hindu Ceremony.

This is the bride that I worked with on the Four Weddings programme. I had not met her before until her wedding morning, she had such beautiful hair which was a joy to work with.

Gosfield Hall, Gaynes Park Barn, Friern Manor and Leez Priory

2010-05-09T22:13:00.023+01:00

These are the venues that I was working with this week. Sometimes twice two of them. It has been a very full week. It all started on Bank Holiday Monday. That seems such a long time ago but I had a bride and 6 bridesmaids, the wedding was at Gosfield Hall. I only carried out the hair thank goodness but I did meet a lovely makeup artist called Karen from Bride Beautiful. She worked hard too I think she may have even had an extra person than me but I think we were both looking forward to getting home to spend whatever was left of the day, with our families. The groom arrived by Helicopter, wow what an entrance. I have posted a few pictures of the bridal party, I did not manage to get one of the bride as again, it was all a last minute rush but I will try and obtain one from her photographer. I was also at a wedding all day yesterday. I had to stay to keep an eye on the brides hair and makeup. The wedding was at Gosfield Hall. It was a beautiful wedding and the bride looked amazing. The walk down the aisle went on and on.......so beautiful. This bride booked me about a year ago and we did become friends and Im looking forward to her popping over for coffee with her wedding album on her return from honeymoon.

I have also carried out a few trials on such lovely girls this week. I am uploading a photo of one of the girls. You will see her hair in three stages, before, after (half up half down) and all up. She did want a half up half down, which she really liked. She asked me to carry on putting it all up just so she could rule it out, but, she preferred it up! Which one do you prefer? She then left with her hair all up as she was having a dress fitting that afternoon. The next day she emailed me to say she really loved her hair but by early evening her head really hurt by the pins and had to take it out. I have come across this before. She has a very sensitive scalp so we are going to try a different technique on the day. This is one good reason to come for a trial!

Now, tomorrow is the start of another week. We start off tomorrow with a civil ceremony at Three Rivers and finish off my week at the Ivy Hotel in Margaretting. In between I have more trials and weddings and a lovely family occasion in amongst there too.

Have a nice week! Gail x

Before

Half up Half Down

All Up!

From the Front.

Reid Rooms, Gosfield Hall, Leez Priory Weddings

2010-05-02T23:23:00.000+01:00

I think I can safely say this has been my busiest week so far. I have been holding two trials a day, with a number of weddings thrown in too. My one day off, which I held on to for so long, was stolen from me by two last minute brides so I have not had a day off for some time. I had two weddings yesterday at Gosfield Hall and Reid Rooms as they were opposite ends of the day, a wedding today at Leez Priory and a large wedding tomorrow at Gosfield Hall. I do have another crazy week, Im hoping to hold on to my day off this week but Im not holding my breath. I am at Gosfield Hall several times this week. I have a wedding coming up on Saturday there which I have been looking forward to for a long time. The event is going to last most of the weekend I think. She has a Chinese ceremony on the Friday, and a Mhendi in the evening which I am attending with my children, then on the Saturday she has a traditional wedding and then in the evening she changes into Indian style. I think she has several dresses to change into, surely evey brides dream. Im really looking forward to it. I am now showing you some photos of trials I have had this week along with a bride I had yesterday and another bride I had today. I am showing you what you can do with very short hair. Please feel free to make any comments or ask any questions you may have. Finally, if you do have Living TV, the Four Weddings show is on tomorrow night (3 May). I prepared one of the brides for the show. Her name is Lisa Mythen. Can you believe I did not even meet her until the morning of her wedding, she was brave. If you see the show, hopefully you will get to view a close up of my work.

Trial - Raw Hairstyle, no products.

Trial - 1950s Style

Bride today - Before

After: Wedding Hair

Trial - Raw Hairstyle - No Products

Bride yesterday - front view. Stunning Tiara

Leez Priory and Channels

2010-04-25T21:34:00.000+01:00

An unusually quiet week this week for me but at the same time, heaven! Its always nice to have time off with absolutely no plans. This week consisted of only one trial and two weddings. I am attaching a photo of a before and after of the bride who had a trial and also a photo of her bridesmaid who had a hair trial. The bride is getting married next month in Old Harlow.

The bride yesterday had a church wedding with her reception at Channels and the bride today married at Leez Priory. I had not met the bride until today, we did not have a trial. This is happening more often. Many brides come from far and wide to get married at Leez Priory so arranging a trial can be difficult so often I am booked just for their wedding day. I always love it when this happens as its a complete challenge as we have not met and I have no idea what their hair is like so its all down to the final hour to perform and create something quite special. The bride did not stay at Leez Cottage last night and ended up getting caught up in major roadworks on the M11 this morning and arrived 2 hours late. She also had her heart set on getting married outside, but the weather started to turn and the co-ordinator advised her to get married inside. She stood her ground, and insisted she married outside as she had the picture in her head of her wedding day and it had to be just like her dream wedding, so she still married outside! Good for her! Leez Priory always seems to get off lightly when it comes to bad weather so hopefully all went well for her today.

After my quiet week last week I am being thrown into a very busy week. I have six Trials and three weddings from Monday through to Sunday next week. The Wedding venues are Gosfield Hall, Leez Priory and the Reid Rooms. The trials are for Leez Priory, Gosfield Hall, Reid Rooms and The Ivy Hotel. Have a good week!

Bride Hair Trial - Before

Bride Hair Trial - After

Bridesmaid Hair Trial

Spring Weddings.

2010-04-18T23:44:00.000+01:00

Well, I made it through my very busy week but im ready to fall into my bed tonight. It has been crazy but I have loved every minute of it. I found myself, on several occasions, with pins and straighteners in hand, preparing a bride for her wedding while wistfully staring outside at the beautiful sunshine. I have not seen much of the beautiful weather but how lovely that it has been gorgeous all week for all the brides.

I have spent much of my time this week at Gosfield Hall and Leez Priory but it has not all been good news. I have seen a quite a few tears this week due to parents of the bride/groom not being able to attend their daughters/sons wedding due to the flights being cancelled. Almost every wedding I have carried out have had guests not attending due to being stranded in another country.

On a brighter note, the bride I worked with at Leez Priory on Wednesday was just so lovely. I really feel we became friends. I started at Leez Priory cottage at 7.30am. I had nine hair and one makeup to do. Six of these were children but they all had the longest hair imagineable and you guessed it, they all wanted curls! I slept well that night!!

The bride I worked with on Friday at Gosfield Hall was best friends with a lady called Gratziella. She was the rapper in Miss Frank, from the recent X Factor series. I remember her! She made it through to Louis Walsh's final 12. She was the best one in her group. Well she was there and I was a little starstruck, even though she was voted out in the first few weeks.

I worked with a bride yesterday who had 22 inch extensions put in her hair. Her before and after photos are at the bottom of this blog. The photos are not fantastic as I took them! Her extensions may not look that long but that is because I have curled them quite tight, knowing that throughout the evening they are going to relax. Once I receive her photos I will upload them with the more relaxed longer look for you all to see. Today I worked at Gosfield Hall with a lovely bride who has been with her boyfriend for only 3 months. She was so calm and can you believe was out clubbing with him and friends until 4am last night! The night before her wedding! She was funny and she even looked amazing considering she only had 3 hours sleep. She was very relaxed today and even managed to keep her registrar waiting for 20 minutes! I had to keep telling her to put on her dress as her wedding was imminent. In the end I found myself following her around holding her dress, trying to coax her into it then lacing her up just so she would get a move on. Very chilled. She wore a hair peice today, to create height, a little like Amy Winehouse. Pictures to follow, she was running so late I darent ask her to stop for a photo.

I have managed to have tomorrow off as my children have a non pupil day but its back to business on Tuesday, so I hope the sun shines all day for me tomorrow. I have another mad week of mostly trials and a wedding or two so I will update you all again next week. Finally, may I just add that the florist who worked on one of my weddings at Gosfield Hall on Friday (Victorias Wedding Flowers) created the most amazing bouquets for the bride and the bridal party that they all burst into tears! The flowers were stunning. I have put her on my links page as her prices are so reasonable and she is just so amazing. Look her up. Will update you with my news again next week. Gail xx

It started off a quiet week!

2010-04-11T16:12:00.000+01:00

Well it was a relatively quiet week. Its the Easter holidays so I had planned for a quiet two weeks but I have had a few calls this week from brides who have booked very last minute weddings so I have had to book a few trials in next week and a wedding can you believe! This week I had two trials and a wedding today. The pictures shown are from the wedding today. I had to get up at 4.30am as she wanted her bridal party ready by 10.00am.

The trials held this week were for Leez Priory and for a church wedding in Writtle. This week I have been inundated with enquiries for this month, May and September. I was supposed to have a quiet week next week but I dont think its looking very quiet at the moment. I have a trial on Tuesday for Gosfield Hall, I have a wedding at Leez Priory on Wednesday, Gosfield Hall Friday, Little Baddow Saturday, a trial Saturday afternoon for the Reid Rooms, a wedding at Gosfield Hall on Sunday. What a busy April! What ever happened to Sundays being a day of rest? I am so busy on Sundays lately, its becoming the new Saturday!

Other exciting news is we bought a little kitten on Easter Monday. My husband is not keen on cats so I took the children to meet the kitten without telling my husband. We had planned to just buy it and deal with the circumstances but we all felt it was probably best we told him so we all went straight home and begged and pleaded, until he eventually gave in. She is gorgeous and her name is Dorothy! If you have booked me for your wedding, you will probably meet her at your trial, she is very nosy!

I will update you with all my news next weekend, hopefully Sunday night after my eventful week. Keep drinking the water all you brides out there and perhaps arrange a dermalogica prescription facial to start getting your skin in top condition for your special day.

Gail

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T21:14:00.006+01:00

Thank Goodness its Easter! Hot Cross Buns, Holidays and Easter Eggs!! I have managed to get 2 days off! It has been such a busy week with Four weddings and three trials! I have been to Leez Priory and The Fennes for two brides and the other two brides got ready at home but were getting married at Layer Marney Tower and Channels. My trials were for Leez Prioy, Gosfield Hall and Crabbs Barn. My bride on Monday at the Fennes was appearing on Four Weddings on Living TV, this is due to be aired on 3 May. Her name is Lisa and she has beautiful long auburn hair. We had not met before for a trial as she did not have time but she looked amazing. We did hair, makeup and false eyelashes. Apparently only 3 brides actually get married on this particular show as one couple split during filming so try and watch it, it sounds like good tv! I only have freeview so Im going to have to find someone with Sky and spend the evening with them! As soon as I get photos from her photographer I will post them on here. One of the trials I did this week is for Gosfield Hall. This bride started dating her fiance on 7th January this year and she is getting married this month! Three months! Wow! She is gorgeous and is having a very 60s look so keep an eye out for her on this blog. She is due to get married in a couple of weeks time.

I have a quiet 2 weeks ahead as its half term and I like to be at home with my children. I try and take this time off as I am so hectic at all other times it gives me a chance to recuperate and reenergise. I do have 2 trials and one wedding this week but that is a very quiet week for me. The trials are for Leez Priory and the wedding is also at Leez Priory. I very rarely do trials during half term but I make exceptions for teachers as they have no flexibility over their holidays. Well, my children received far too many easter eggs today and I think they may need a little help eating them so while their asleep.........Happy Easter! Gail

Church Weddings, Leez Priory Weddings and Civil Partnerships

2010-03-25T21:59:00.009Z

Very Fine Hair - Before Extensions

After Extensions Applied

Sophie and Sue - due to get married in May.

My busiest week so far this year. I have covered church weddings, Leez Priory weddings, Civil Partnerships, exhibitions and 4 trials! I started with my wedding last Saturday. The brides hair took 3 hours and 50 minutes! We started at 6am and finished just before 10am. I held trials for weddings which are all taking place at either Leez Priory, Gosfield Hall or Three Rivers. I also carried out 2 lovely weddings at Leez Priory. One had hair extensions, she looked so beautiful. Her hair was a fantastic match with her extensions. as shown above. The photos are a before and after on her wedding day.

The bride today was also at Leez Priory, she was a doctor marrying a doctor so I felt in a very safe place should I have become ill! Im at The Fennes tomorrow for another wedding. The bride is appearing on the Four Weddings programme so there will be lots of tv cameras about so it should be fun. I have another wedding on Tuesday, Wednesday Friday and Saturday so lots of early nights for me this week. also I had a Civil Partnership trial this week too. The girls were hoping to get their photo on my blog so hello to Sophie and Sue. It was lovely to meet you both earlier this week.

Thats it for now, Im off to prepare for my busy week ahead. Hope you have a good week. Gail

Exhibitions and Trials.

2010-03-19T21:02:00.012Z

Well this week has been extremely busy and I have also carried out so many trials and met so many wonderful people including mothers of the brides and sisters and bridesmaids. Tonight I am planning on an early night to bed as I have to be up at 5am tomorrow morning to travel to a bride for 6am! She has quite an intricate hairstyle and I expect it to take approximately 3 hours followed by a makeup. I am using my unique techniques to create something special. I will not get much time to rest this weekend as on Sunday I am exhibiting at Ongar all day and then straight back into trials and weddings every day next week.

My exhibition details are as follows:

Sunday 21st March - 10.30am- 3.30pm at BLAKE HALL, ONGAR ESSEX

If you find yourself with some freetime on Sunday try and pop in as it is a really lovely relaxed exhibition.

In the meantime Im off for my early night so have a lovely weekend and I may see you Sunday.

Gail

Side Buns, Hair Extensions and Updos.

2010-03-12T21:10:00.028Z

A Brides Trial - Side Bun

View from the Right

Bridesmaids Hair before extensions

Hair with extensions applied

What an interesting week. This week every bride or bride to be seemed to opt for something different. That always makes an interesting week for me. I have posted one bride, who opted for a side bun. I hope you like it, she did. Again, this is a raw hairstyle. I do not put any products in the hair during a trial, this is to test how the hair copes with my techniques. On the day I will use professional hair products and plenty of spray if required. The other picture is of a lovely bridesmaid I met yesterday. She had very short hair and I put hair extensions in. I posted these pictures for you all to see just because its appearing to be the new trend, so many brides enquire about extensions. I just wanted to show you how short your hair can be to get away with extensions. I loved this young girl, she was great fun. The wedding was at Hedingham Castle. I started with her sisters hair (who was the bride!). I took just under 3 hours to do her hair and then went on to do 4 bridesmaids hair followed by makeup. Actually while I remember, I must give you an important tip. Please make sure that you arrange for something to eat on the morning of your wedding. Its so important, everyone was getting hungry yesterday and it was not even lunchtime. Simple sandwiches, slices of pineapple, strawberries and plenty of tea and jugs of water. That will do the trick.

I am also going to pass on to you a great tip which a bride recently told me about. She told me that she was worried about her seating arrangements, whether the guests would get along with each other. She decided to make an announcement shortly after everyone had settled down. She told her guests that there was a beautiful floral display on each table and that the guest whose birthday was next, on each table, could take the floral display home. She said that suddenly a buzz of noise filled the room with sudden bursts of laughter with everyone checking eachothers birth dates and others pretending it was theirs on that actual day was a fantastic ice breaker, considering that many of these people had not even met before. I think that sounds like a fab icebreaker. Finally, Im exhibiting next Sunday 21st March, at Blake Hall in Ongar. If your free you should definitely pop in, its a very warm inviting exhibition with a very relaxed air and its free entry if you pre register. Have a nice weekend. Gail

Weddings, Trials, Exhibitions and Fashion Shows!

2010-03-07T20:57:00.024Z

Sorry for my late blog this week, I simply have not had the time to update it. I have met some new lovely brides to be and had a few weddings this week too. One which was a church wedding. I also had a trial with 16 inch extensions, the bride to be looked amazing and when she gets married I will post her pictures on here for you to see. My bride on Friday was lovely and funny at the same time. She got ready at home amongst all her family but she did not want anyone to see her until she was completely finished with her dress on. Everytime a door opened we had to hide. When I finished her hair and I put the mirror up for her to see, she started crying, she was so happy, it made me well up too! I then spent the next fifteen minutes helping lace up her dress. Once I left her, I then had to rush to our local school as they were holding a fashion show to raise funds for the school, so I offered to do the hair and makeup for 8 children and 6 adults and I had two hours to do it in! It was such good fun but every little girl that waited patiently for their turn, had lovely long hair and they all wanted curls! Bless them all.

Today I exhibited at the Reid Rooms in Chelmsford. Thank you to all my future brides who popped in to see me today. I carried out a trial at the exhibition. After I finished the bride, she then took her hair down (as seen in the last picture). If you wear your hair up on your wedding day, try and sleep in your hairstyle. This picture shows how beautiful your hair can look the day after your wedding. All you need is a can of hairspray to perfect it.

Tomorrow is the start of another fun week which involves weddings at Leez Priory, Gosfield Hall, Reid Rooms and Castle Hedingham with a few trials thrown in amongst there too.

Its supposed to be warmer this week so enjoy the sunshine! Gail

Spring is on its way...

2010-02-26T21:20:00.004Z

After taking a lovely break last week, I threw myself back into work again on Monday. I met many lovely brides to be and also it was lovely to see some of my recent trials become brides. It is lovely to see the whole picture. When you have a trial, you only see a small part of the finished look. Stepping into that dress completes everything. Leaving is always the hardest part for me as I feel I have made a friend. All my brides have been at Leez Priory this week. The bride today wore the most stunning dress, she told me she bought it from New Beginnings in Brentwood, Essex. They have an amazing sale on all their sample dresses and they include Maggie Sottero and Ian Stuart. If you have not organised your dress I would thoroughly recommend looking up their website, you will be surprised at their prices. The bride today looked beautiful, she has promised to send some photos when she returns from her honeymoon.

Spring is around the corner and my diary next week is completely full so Im looking forward to meeting new brides and bridesmaids and reluctantly saying goodbye to the brides getting married. Not only do I have an extremely full week I am also exhibiting at a wedding fayre on Sunday 7th March at the Reid Rooms in Chelmsford. If your free, why not come along, its free entry and you can pre-register at the main event company (google them).

Im off now to prepare for my bride tomorrow. Have a good week! Gail

Weddings and Trials.

2010-02-12T22:14:00.014Z

Well, another busy week! I have met some lovely and interesting brides and brides to be.

The venues I have covered are Leez Priory, Gosfield Hall, Layer Marney Tower, Channels Golf Club and Spains Hall. At my trials this week, some brides have attended clutching a few different pictures of hairstyles they had in mind but have left with something quite different. I have attached two of these styles above. My husband is a professional photographer so if he is around, he does often take a professional photo of the bride to be, e.g.the styles above, so that she can keep a record of how her hair and makeup will look on her wedding day and it also gives me a good copy for my website too. I wont be able to upload any photos of brides I have worked with this week as I have to wait for their professional photos to come back and that is not until normally 2 to 3 weeks after their wedding. I usually upload these directly onto my website so you can keep an eye for all new styles on there, I update it very regularly. Please note, any pictures I upload on here are trials only and are still to be carried out on the wedding day so these styles are raw with no product or hairspray or finishing products.

Some of the trials I have had this week have left me feeling so exhiliarated. I can get so carried away with a hairstyle, I could work all day just making it as beautiful and interesting as possible. When I complete a hairstyle and see the brides reaction it leaves me on cloud 9 all day. I always carry out the hairstyle first and then the makeup. No matter how beautiful the hairstyle is, the application of the makeup shows the complete picture. I think that is the best part for me, when I complete the makeup and show the bride the complete finished look, hair and makeup. Wow. Its only then that I often find myself looking in the mirror thinking, why can't I look like that?

Have a good weekend.

Mystery Bride

2010-02-07T16:00:00.000Z

Wow! What a busy January with all the winter weddings and trials for all my spring brides.

Did a wedding today in Chelmsford. It was quite interesting as I had not even met the bride, she decided not to have a trial as it was a late booking and she just did not have the time. All I knew was she just wanted wedding hair, no makeup. The bride did not even get time to tell me how long her hair was, whether she was wearing a tiara or veil. I love these weddings as its quite intriguing when you have no idea what to expect. When I arrived, she was an indian lady with beautiful hair. Her daughter had extremely long hair, way past her waist. What a treat for me. We had a lovely morning creating a beautiful artistic style for the bride and something beautiful for her daughter. Her mother then advised me she wished she had asked me to do her makeup but she just did not get round to contacting me. Well, we delved through her makeup bag and found some interesting items, some not even used, and created a beautiful indian look for her special day. What a lovely bride she was.

Gosfield Hall

2010-02-07T15:51:00.001Z

Spent this morning preparing a pretty bride for her wedding day. She had such a beautiful medieval dress so we opted for a medieval style in keeping with the whole theme. It took two and a half hours to complete the style but worth it! The weather held for photos but Gosfield Hall is so beautiful, its so bright and full of mirrors that you can take photos in almost every room. Preparing for a busy few days of wedding trials and some exciting new hairstyles.