When Steve and I decided that we were ready to get married, we told our parents and the scramble for finding a date began. With such a large community and so many weddings happening every year, as soon as he proposed my parents wanted to book a date to ensure that 2008 would be our year; I told everyone that before we can set a date I had to make sure that the make-up artist I wanted was free. Since I have dreamt of having the perfect wedding forever I told everyone that my wedding would not be the same, if did not have Racquel Lacson as my makeup artist.
I had heard about Racquel’s work for years and had seen Racquel’s website plus she had just recently done the make-up for one of my friends weddings – who looked stunning – I had my mind made up; Racquel had to be my makeup artist. I sent an email to Racquel to see what her availability was for the summer of 2008 and took the dates she was available to the Gurdwara to pick our wedding date… Once the date was finalized at the Gurdwara I called Racquel and instantly booked her as my make-up artist for my wedding and reception.
At the time I didn’t think that the ladies party/engagement would be a big deal so I didn’t book her for it; but I eventually decided that it would make things easier to have a makeup artist for that day as well... when I wanted to inquire with Racquel she was out of town, so I thought I could shop around a bit and find someone else to do my ladies party makeup – I went to several consultations and no one could provide me with what I had wanted... after one final horrifying consultation I decided to wait until Racquel was back and pray I could book her for that event as well...luck was on my side and she was free for my ladies party/engagement. The planning was now well underway....
Dress Rehearsal Time
After months of research and work, the ladies party/engagement, wedding and reception had come together and we finally booked the rehearsal 2 weeks before the wedding.... with so little time, I started to feel nervous that I may not have left enough time to figure out what I wanted to do with my hair and makeup; since I don’t really wear much makeup I wasn’t sure what would look good and what would be over the top ... I went into the consultation nervous, excited and very open to whatever Racquel thought would look good. I had 2 concerns when I went into the consult: I did not want any of my looks to be the same or similar and I didn’t want to look so made up that people wouldn’t recognize me.
Dress Rehearal - Wedding
Day of - Wedding
Dress Rehearsal - Engagement
Day of - Engagement
Dress Rehearsal - Reception
Day of - Reception
I knew I wanted to have three different looks which complemented my outfits, and at the same time I didn’t want to look like the typical bride. I addressed these concerns with Racquel and she assured me that each look would be different and the only look that would be typical was my wedding look, since I had chosen red as my color... The consultation was a blast and seemed to be over so quickly; we played around with some ideas I had and tweaked them until we had three looks that were completely different; Racquel and I were most excited about the ladies party and reception look – for the ladies party I wanted to have a mohawk type hairstyle; which was FAR from typical and for the reception we were thinking of going with a softer look which looked more classic - My mom and sister loved all three looks and we all couldn’t wait until the events were here!
Dress Rehearsal - Reception
The Ladies Party/Engagement
After months and months of anticipation my wedding was FINALLY here; the ladies party/engagement was the kick off for my wedding events and I was both excited and nervous about how it would go. Racquel gave me a call about an hour before our appointment time to let me know she was on her way .... I started to get my stuff organized so that I would be ready to go when she got there. Initially, for the ladies party I wanted a look that was simple, so it wouldn’t take away from the wedding and reception looks. However, the saree I bought did not leave much room for simplicity... so during the consultation we had decided to go with a different look altogether which I could not wait to rock! We were planning on going with simple makeup and a Mohawk hairstyle; I went into the consultation wanting something similar to Rani Mukherjee’s hair and makeup from the movie Saawariyan… only softer makeup and bolder hair… and the mohawk seemed to be exactly what I needed to make that look my very own...
Racquel got to my house early and started to setup right away, we laughed, and had so much fun getting ready and were so excited about the look. I wanted to have a look that was simple but fun... and a very traditional saree and a mohawk hairstyle gave me the look I was after... I felt like an Indian Rockstar; the look was everything I wanted – classic yet modern – I couldn’t wait to get to the Ladies party/engagement to show off the hairstyle – I knew that no one else had ever done a look like that so I couldn’t wait for the reaction. When I was ready we had some time so we did a full photo shoot and had so much fun (giving the infamous November smile).
Once I got to the party I received SOOO many compliments not to mention my fiancé could not take his eyes off me! He admitted that the idea of a mohawk with my saree didn’t sound right... but was SOOO pleased with the end result. The one thing I could not get over was how perfect my saree was tied, Racquel not only took care of my hair and makeup but she made sure that the Saree was tied so well that no matter how much I danced (and I definitely danced the night away)the saree stayed perfectly tied.
With all the compliments by the end of the night I started to feel nervous that the other looks wouldn’t be able to compare with the bold look we chose for the ladies party/engagement look. I knew that all three were different but I didn’t think that the traditional look we chose for the wedding and classic look we chose for the reception could compare to the ladies party/engagement ... but I kept my faith in Racquel and knew she could work it out.
The Wedding Day
The day of the wedding Racquel called me to let me know she was on her way, as soon as we hung up I got that nervous and excited feeling all over again; once she arrived she started to setup while I scrambled to get ready to go... Racquel never once rushed me... she let me take my time and when she started getting me ready; she managed to keep me calm which I thought would not be possible on my wedding day.
We started off by doing the traditional look that we had originally planned but because we were doing good for time Racquel asked if it would be ok to play around with the look a little bit and make it less typical. Having total faith in her artistic abilities I agreed and never once doubted that she could make the look even better than we had thought it would be.
When I saw the wedding look I was surprised – the look we had originally planned was more traditional and typical... and what we ended up with was more dramatic and made my wedding look more unique and we were both happy with the end result! ... Everyone who saw me kept telling me how incredible I looked and I knew that the wedding look was a success – when I walked into the Gurdwara, all I remember is a barrage of flashes and my hubby saying I look amazing.... even though he should have been looking forward he kept sneaking looks at me. After the wedding we went and took our park pictures; where random people kept asking Steve and I to pose for pictures for them and telling me how amazing I look. Once the park pictures were done, it was time for the Doli; what really surprised me was that even though there was so much heat at the park and so many tears during the Doli – I never once had to touch up my makeup - it stayed in place and looked great the whole day!
The Reception
The trip to the park and the Doli had taken longer than we had anticipated and we started to run late for the reception; Racquel called me around 5 to see if I was ready to get started, as usual she was on time – she got to my new house and didn’t rush me at all… she let me get organized and started to set up all the things she would need for my final look. I was still a bit tired and emotional after the doli, and all the events of the day but Racquel managed to keep me feeling upbeat and smiling the whole time.
The reception, which was my favourite look of the three, was simple and elegant; we had planned a simple low bun and smoky eye makeup so that it looked very classic. While Racquel was working away on my hair I was reminded that my time with Racquel was almost over; I was kind of sad since we had such a blast over the past few days mostly because she made the getting ready portion of the wedding just as much fun as the rest of the events. We talked, laughed and took plenty of pictures.... and throughout the entire experience I really saw how dedicated Racquel is to her craft. I looked at the finished look and could not have been happier – it was everything I had hoped it would be – but better.
Instead of the simple low bun, Racquel added some extra special touches so that the look was more classic and when my husband saw me he said that of all the looks this was by far his favourite, it was perfect in every way. The makeup was so clean looking and not too dramatic, the hair was still classic looking but had that extra special touch.
I walked into the reception and felt like the most beautiful person on earth as I received countless compliments on howperfect all of my looks turned out, and how each look surpassed the last – something that a lot of people thought would not have been possible after they saw the ladies party/engagement look ... As the night came to a close, the compliments kept flooding in – especially since I danced most of the night away and never once worried about touching up my makeup, which stayed flawless the entire night.
Thank you so much Racquel, for making me feel like a superstar for all of my events; You surpassed all my expectations and were absolutely amazing to work with. Any bride would be lucky to have you as a makeup artist on their special day, because your attention to detail and passion for your work shows in every bride you do. I am so glad that I let you do your thing with no restrictions because you took what we had chosen and made it even better than I could ever imagine. You truly are superwoman, from my eyebrows, to the way you tied my saree for the ladies party – your attention to detail made me shine for all of my events. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for making my looks for the ladies party/engagement, wedding and reception everything I had dreamt of.
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