Hawkily Ever After: Getting Pretty

The morning of the wedding I woke up around six in the morning after getting only four hours of sleep. My best intentions of leaving the cocktail party early the night before were foiled by my inability to sleep. Luckily we had an errand to run first thing to keep me busy. MOH A and I made a delivery to Legacy Hall to drop off the seating chart, cigars, and table numbers. Unfortunately we ran into a snag when the door was not unlocked at the time we requested. We ended up getting stuck there for a little longer than planned, and by the time we got back, I had to quickly jump in the shower before the makeup artist arrived. I was scheduled last, so I had enough time to blowdry before sitting in the chair.

Theresa Little started with my makeup, giving me the perfect natural smokey eye with individual lashes.


Photo courtesy of Momma Hawk

Then she airbrushed the rest of my makeup and made me a touch-up kit, which was a savior considering I chowed down on a Cheese Shop sandwich right after my makeup was complete. (Oops! Eat first, ladies!!)


Photo courtesy of Momma Hawk

As soon as I finished eating lunch, C began working her magic on my hair.

Photo courtesy of BM T



Before she could finish, Groomsmen R popped over to drop off my wedding gift from Mr. Hawk. I had completely forgotten about delivering mine, so I was relieved that Mr. H remembered!

You might notice that the two boxes look eerily similar exactly the same. Mr. H and I bought each other watches and had them engraved with our married monogram and wedding date. (I'll admit a little cheeseball, but I love it.) Even though receiving it wasn't a surprise, I was still giddy about opening it up and checking out the inscription while C got back to work.

In betweens curls and bobby pins, MOH A broke out the champagne.

Photo courtesy of BM T

Photo courtesy of BM T

We had a little toast, and it was back to beautifying.

Proof we used the champagne flutes! Photo courtesy of BM T

Photo courtesy of BM T

Photo courtesy of BM T

One last spray of hairspray and my primping was complete!

Will you be using a professional makeup artist or hair stylist?

*All photos by Valerie Demo Photography unless otherwise noted*

Miss a recap? Don't fret! Catch up here...

We rehearse and welcome our guests
We review our planning journey

Love Affair With My Hair: the PWC

My hair ADD is really no secret. Over the years, I've sported many different colors and cuts, but the wedding definitely put a kabosh on that. I made up my mind early in our engagement that I wanted to wear my hair mostly down in curls, which meant no drastic cuts. I also knew I wanted my hair to be a natural light brown, which translated to no color changes. For those of you who also suffer from hair ADD, I'm sure you can imagine how I was squirming inside. Well last weekend I finally made an appointment for the long overdue PWC.

THE BEFORE:


Please excuse my "I'm still half asleep"/no makeup face

THE AFTER:

Hey, short hair!

And to give you a better idea with straighter hair, here is a recent picture of Mr. H and I.



At Pippin Hill Vineyards (Shout out Mrs. Mink!)

 And post haircut:

I'm glad for the change, but I've got to admit I'm already missing my longer hair. (Uh, oh. Here comes that pesky hair ADD again...)

Anyone else planning a major post-wedding chop?

Lovely Locks: Hair Trial

As the wedding rapidly approaches, I have been focusing on wrapping up the final details of my wedding day look. Last week, I met up with my friend and hair stylist, C, for a run-through of my wedding day 'do. If you remember, a while back I shared my inspiration.

After C and I reviewed the photos I brought in, we got down to business, selecting exactly which details I wanted to incorporate. The tighter curls and volume featured here were exactly on point.


Gardenia hair flower by dkdesignshawaii


I just asked for a few more pieces pulled up for less hair in my face, like this.


Image via Wedding Channel, Photo by Jeremy Hess Photographers

 C, like always, did not disappoint, and gave me exactly the look that I was hoping for.


The perfect amount of volume



Nice tight curls, out of my face

Tell me about your hair trial. Did you pick and choose elements from different photos?

Lovely Locks: Hair Accessories

I may not have mentioned it previously, but for the ceremony I will be rocking a veil. But for the reception, I wanted to wear something fun in my hair like a jeweled clip, flower, or headband. I spent quite a bit of time on etsy favoriting way too many items, until I narrowed it down to these:

Facinator with lace and pearls by svitlanasbridalveils

So gorgeous and timeless, this fascinator was an immediate front-runner, but I worried it wouldn't fit with my hair style. Where would I pin it?



Pearl bridal comb by Amoretto

I was also a huge fan of the jeweled and pearl bridal comb for its sparkle and elegance, but I found myself leaning more towards other options.

Flower hair piece by LeFlowers

I love, love, LOVE hair flowers, but I wasn't 100% sold. I found a lot of them were too big for my taste and the look I was imagining. I suppose I could have DIY'd a la Miss Coyote to make one the perfect size, but my project list was already too long for my liking.

Then I came across these clay hair flowers:

Gardenia hair flower by dkdesignshawaii

Cue the Heavens parting. These gardenia clips are so sweet and delicate, exactly what I envisioned. Once I saw a photo with a bride wearing a pair of the flowers tucked into her half-up style, I was completely sold.

Gardenia hair flower by dkdesignshawaii

I quickly ordered a pair and am anxiously awaiting their arrival. Yipee! One more minor detail crossed of the list.

Will you be wearing any hair accessories on the big day? Did your hair style impact what accessories you chose?

Lovely Locks: Hair Inspiration

Remember when I told y'all about my hair obsession? Well, I'm still growing it out. (No fun changes for this lady.) And I am still equally obsessed with the idea of the PWC. (Can't wait. Can't wait. Can't wait...) See? I've already gone and lost my focus... Back to the topic at hand.

Today I'm going in for my last major haircut before the big day, and in preparation, I started consolidating all of the hair inspiration pictures I've been collecting over the past couple months.  I was pleasantly surprised when I noticed almost all of them looked exactly the same. It's kind of exciting to have a definitive feeling of what I want for once! Relaxed waves with part of my hair pulled up and a little volume is the look I will be going for.


Image via Style Me Pretty, Photo by Stephanie Reeder Photography



Image via Wedding Channel, Photo by Jeremy Hess Photographers

When thinking about my wedding day hari, there was one thing that kept drawing me to these styles: I want to look like myself. This roughly translates to: I will wear my hair down. I'm not knocking anyone who decides to go with elaborate up-dos. I think they're gorgeous and elegant, and this may be one of the only ocassions I'd be able to rock a killer up-do; however, I rarely wear my hair up unless I'm running late to work and don't have time for a full blow-dry. Wearing my hair down feels like me. Possibly just as important, wearing my hair down is the reason I've been stuck in a hair rut for the past twelve months, and dang it I am going to show off all that hair.

What did you look for when chosing your wedding day hair style? Anyone else wearing their hair down?

Love Affair... With My Hair??

This may sound a little silly, but I L.O.V.E. my hair. (And the versatility of it!) From a very young age, my mom meticulously styled my hair with a new look daily: braids, ribbons, bows, curls, and ponytails. In my world, every day was a new adventure in hair. Apparently wanting to change up my look with different hair styles stuck with me all these years. Changing my hair to combat boredom has been my crux:

College years: Long with highlights: "Look ma, no hands!"

All-over color dyed dark brown

Major chop and MAJOR highlights

Back to dark last winter

Because my hair stylist happens to be a good friend of mine and knows my penchant for hairstyle ADD, one of the first things she asked me after getting engaged was what color and what length my hair would be for the wedding. She wanted me to plan ahead so we would be ready. I decided to go long and stick with natural-looking highlights. (This is the way I feel most "me," and the style I consistently come back to after major changes.) The only problem? No changing up my hair. The thought of it makes me mentally squirm. No more fun spur of the moment cuts or dye jobs just for kicks. My hair is all business 'til May. I have a feeling I'm going to be running to the salon for a major change-up once the wedding is over.

This face is for you, Chels. You're killing me! Currently long and highlighted

How did you plan in advance for your wedding hair look? Does anyone else out there suffer from hair ADD like me?

All photos personal