In my
previous post, you've read all about our
wedding style -- our wedding theme, motif, flowers, entourage gowns and all the
DIY projects that I have created for our wedding. You have known that even if our wedding style is of high importance, I still want to send the message that our wedding is about
us (H2B and I) and our
love for each other.
But still, everyone says a bride should look her most beautiful on her wedding day. Why not? If we're going to think about it, it’s going to happen only once in her lifetime.
As the wedding draws near, people ask what I want to look like on our wedding --- my hairstyle, the style of my gown, the type and color of my bouquet,
yada,
yada. Well, I have only one answer ... and Mr. Webster defined it as:
ra•di•ant adj \ˈrā-dē-ənt\ 1 a : radiating rays or reflecting beams of light b : vividly bright and shining : glowing 2 : marked by or expressive of love, confidence, or happiness
That’s exactly what I want to be on our wedding day. I want to have a bright and shining aura when the door opens for me to enter the church. I want to be confident and I want my heart be filled with happiness and love as I walk down the aisle to meet the man I can’t live without, who will be longingly waiting for me at the other end of the church. Yes, definitely.
I am going to be a Radiant Bride.The Wedding GownEvery bride knows that one of the most important factors of a wedding is the wedding gown. After all, everyone’s eyes (some, with tears of joy) will be fixed on us when we walked down the aisle. Some even say that the brides are the star of their wedding day. Well, it wouldn’t hurt if we are, right? :)
After months of searching for the “IT” dress, I’ve learned that it is important to choose a particular style that I will be comfortable in and it should compliment my body type. I am a big fan of Vera Wang, Christos and Monique Lhuillier. They make divinely gorgeous, feminine and incredibly elegant gowns. Undeniably, I used some of their gowns as inspiration of my own wedding gown.
The real challenge, however, was to find the designer who will create my dream gown but can work around the budget that we have. Thankfully,
Marc Rancy did it for me. I (super) love my gown and I love how it
flaunts my “figure” while hiding unwanted “bulges”, if I may call it. I definitely believe that
Fit-N-Flare is the best style of gown for me.
{The Wedding Gown Inspiration and the actual gown by Marc Rancy (inside the gown bag)}Something old, something new
Something borrowed, something blue
And a silver sixpence in her shoe.
It has been said that if the bride carries all of these items on her wedding day, her marriage will be happy. Who wouldn’t want lifetime happiness, right?
Let’s see what I have. My wedding gown is definitely my something new. An old blessed rosary of my grandmother is my something old and borrowed while my blue floral wedge pair of shoes are my something blue. Sounds great. :)
{Inspiration: Bridal Shoes}Speaking of the shoes, it has to be comfortable because I’ll be walking, kneeling, standing and dancing on them the whole time. This is the main reason why I’ll be slipping on a pair of wedges, which can also give me the much needed additional height. It should be floral to match our wedding theme. It should be fashionable. Most of all, it should be BLUE (my non-negotiable).
The VeilInstead of wearing a traditional long veil, I will be wearing a DIY Birdcage Veil, handmade and created with lots of love and inspiration by yours truly. It’s a work in progress. :)
The Bridal Jewelries and PurseSince my gown is accentuated with different crystals and shiny stones, I decided to tone down a bit. The only jewelries that I will be wearing are a pair of white gold earrings and my engagement ring (plus the wedding ring after the ceremony).
My purse is tiny, simple and silver to match my gown.
The BouquetI’ll be holding a bunch of fresh yellow Ecuadorian roses with green berries for contrast. It’s bright and cheerful. It’s like as if I’m holding an elegant piece of sun while walking down the aisle.
The Bridal Hair and Make-Up: From Virgin to VampI’ll have a "
natural look" makeup or the “
no makeup” makeup. I’m lucky to have booked
Val Villarin (
Mama Val to most of his clients), one of the most sought after make-up artists of the wedding industry, to do my bridal look. He’ll use the airbrush makeup technique on me. The advantage of using airbrush is that it’s long lasting, and it gives a more professional, natural and smoother look compared to traditional make-up technique. I’m going to use two different shades of lipsticks—a nude or soft pink shade during the church ceremony which will give me a virginal look while a red blood shade during the reception program will give me a much powerful and independent vamp look. As for my hair, I’m going for a messy glam hairstyle to match my personality. Mama Val recommended to color my hair a week before the wedding for a more dramatic effect.
{From L-R: Val Villarin and yours truly during our trial makeup last June 2010; My wedding hair style inspiration}
{The Engagement session was done on the same day to maximize the trial makeup. To view more photos, click
here}
The Road to my Bridal Beauty
It was three months before the big day when we completed our wedding suppliers-slash-wedding partners. That’s when I started to focus on myself and my “bridal beauty”.
I realized that my usual beauty rituals aren’t enough so I have to step it up a notch if I want to achieve a radiant look. I scouted for different beauty and skin care products available in the market and tried a couple or more.
My regimen is focused on skin care and weight loss. I realized then that I have to lose weight even just a little since stress gave me the unwanted extra pounds. Nonetheless, here are my staples:
I make it a point to eat healthy and control serving sizes. I’ve read that veering from meat and eating more fruits and vegetables will not only help us achieve the weight we're aiming for, doing so will also rejuvenate our skin. I especially love melon, watermelon, suha and singkamas. One other thing, I’ve learned that apple helps remove stain from the enamel of our teeth, making it one of my favorite fruits.
I’ve been avoiding sodas to steer away from too much sugar. I limit my rice servings and stay away from sweet treats. If I really want to, I reward myself with an 8 oz. cup of ice scramble with extra milk toppings.
I stay hydrated. Water is my best friend. It's good to drink 8 glasses of water in a day but it's even better if you can drink more. I mean, there's loads of health benefits if we can keep our skin and muscles hydrated, right? Smoother and softer skin as well as high level of energy are some of the benefits we can get.
I stay out of the sun and it's harmful UV ray. This is especially true between 10 o'clock in the morning to 4 o'clock in the afternoon where sun's UV ray are strongest.
I get more sleep. We've learned that our body rejuvenates when we sleep. That's very true. The day seems to be lighter and easier when I completed an 8-hour of sleep the night before.
I abide by the basic rule of skin care: cleanse, tone, and moisturize. I never go to bed without taking my night shower to remove all the dirt accumulated on my face and body during the day. Just recently, I enjoy using Asian Secrets Lulur whitening body scrub as its jasmine scent helps take my stress away. It's my new favorite :) After cleansing, I follow with toner and apply loads of moisturizer before bed time.
There you go. I hope you were able to pick up a thing or two from this post. :)
{We finally received H2B's passport. Out of the country honeymoon, anyone?}
{Petition reply of Wedding Banns from H2B's parish. I will be delivering this to Bamboo Organ Registrar's office tomorrow.}
{My DIY fascinator for Mama Betty. She requested to keep it tiny and simple.}
{My DIY bridal fascinator (without the french netting)}
{We finally received H2B's passport. Out of the country honeymoon, anyone?}
{Petition reply of Wedding Banns from H2B's parish. I will be delivering this to Bamboo Organ Registrar's office tomorrow.}
{My DIY fascinator for Mama Betty. She requested to keep it tiny and simple.}
{My DIY bridal fascinator (without the french netting)}
