snap and chat with Courtney and Leah at New Leaf Studio

You may recall a few weeks back that I had a transformation myself from gruesome to gorgeous... well I guess Trish was feeling a little left out. She wanted to expose her makeup-less face and limp hairdo to the wedding world too! Why should I have all the fun? Her version of the story might seem more like I bullied her into this, but pay no attention to that- she's prone to exaggeration anyway. What better place for Trish to get a NEW LOOK... then the NEW LEAF Studio in beautiful Bristol RI.

The girls at New Leaf are the best. We've actually photographed 3 New Leaf weddings, including the lady behind the whole operation, Amy. In addition to Amy we photographed the lovely Courtney last year... she is also starring in our snap-umentary. Quite a few years back I also photographed Melanie, she's a stylist at New Leaf too! I just love that there seems to be an endless supply of pretty, fashionable, sweet women at New Leaf to photograph!

Okay everyone... here she is! What!?

Trish wanted to go for a 1920's kind of look... she always says she should have been born in that era. Courtney thought some soft curls would be just the ticket, so here she is going to work on Trish.

New Leaf offers full service wedding packages that include a hair and makeup trial, mani and pedi and wedding day hair and makeup. Courtney is the lady to contact. You should contact her about six months before your event, but closer to the wedding day is okay too.

Courtney says the best way to approach deciding on your look is to come to her with photos with ideas and inspirations and a picture of your dress because neckline is very important when deciding on a style for your hair.

Then, she'll play around with your hair until she starts to achieve a look that you are excited about. "The trend is definitely toward soft and natural especially in this area. We are so close to the water, brides love that undone look instead of an overly polished one." says Courtney.

Here's a big question... Do you grow your hair out for the wedding?

Courtney's thoughts on that? "If you want to wear it down, yes definitely grow it out. If it's short and you want to wear it up, don't worry because we can always create an updo with shorter hair, you'd be surprised!"

So where's a good place to get inspiration for your wedding hair?

"Everyone brings in photos from the knot, it's the best place to get ideas for wedding hair!"

I asked Courtney if people bring in photos of celebrities...

"Bridesmaids definitely bring in pics

of celebrities. We encourage them to bring photos too- we want the bridesmaids

to feel pretty! They always feel like they can't say something about their hair

but we definitely want them too! Our number one piece of advice is to bring in photos

because then there's no miscommunication."

Courtney let us in on a little bit of New Leaf news... apparently they are looking to create

a bridal room in the lower part of their building. They are going to make it super girly, a

place where the bridal party can have privacy and drink mimosas!

MMM, sign me up for that.

...and sign me up for this too. How deluxe is this pedicure station? Can't you picture yourself

sitting their with your girlfriends reading celebrity gossip and sipping on some herbal tea?

I am so relaxed just thinking about it that I may need to lay down and take a nap.

...Oh, I almost forgot about Trish! Next we hand her off to the capable hands of makeup artist

Leah. Courtney says that Leah is a magical genius and can totally recreate any face in a photograph. Leah, I'll take the Charlize Theron special please...




Courtney says that another thing about Leah is, "Brides love Leah because she never argues with them, she really listens."

Leah says, "This is the year of the Glam! Don't be afraid, try something a little different... you
should wow everybody! Wearing a lot of makeup does not equal wearing a mask on your face."

Here's where the girls teach me something new! Apparently they are the only salon in the area to carry HD makeup. What's that you ask? It's a high definition makeup created for television and photography. How you might wonder... well, it has a special pigment in it that adapts to any lighting situation so you look your best in any light. Now that's cool- plus it's eco-friendly!



Trish approves...

With her face completed... it's back into Courtney's chair to finish styling her locks.

The nice thing about coming to New Leaf is that everyone in the bridal party can be

glammed up at the same time.

Courtney's going to hate this photo... but I am putting it in anyway. We like to tease her

about her serious "styling" face. One of my favorite pictures from Courtney's wedding was a shot of her in her veil styling her mother in law with a can of hairspray in one hand and this same look on her face. Beauty is serious business.

This shot is closer to what she usually looks like!

"I never get tired of doing bridal hair, we always get the nicest clients. My favorite

moment is when a girl sees herself in the mirror and says, I've never looked like this before! I love it! That's the best compliment" says Courtney.

I'm beginning to think being so gorgeous is probably going to go to Trish's head. I bet she's going to be a real diva the rest of the day.

Another tip from Courtney... "Don't be late! The vibe is delicate. Stress and tension are usually running high anyway. Being late puts a really negative vibe on what should be a fun experience for everyone, especially the bride!"

Wow- it looks like the girls have achieved 1920's glam to me. This may be my all time favorite picture of Trish. You can feel that she is feeling good about herself in this photo and that is the most important thing on your wedding day too. If you feel gorgeous, you'll look gorgeous. That's a photography fact and it's better than any lens we could pull out of our bag of tricks.

Call Courtney and Leah at New Leaf, unless of course you prefer Trish's before photo. Ha ha!

http://www.newleafhairstudio.com/

401.254.9333