Hampton Court Palace is romantic, flamboyant and majestic. It is no wonder that so many bridal couples choose this beautiful venue to have their dream wedding.
King Henry VIII is most associated with this riverside palace, situated in East Molesey, Surrey. The Tudor architecture is among the most important in existence, but the elegance and romance of the palace owes much to the baroque buildings commissioned by William and Mary in the 17th century.
This incredible Palace offers so many stunning back drops for wedding photographs which will be treasured for years to come.
The palace is surrounded by gorgeous parkland and gardens which are ideal to explore or steal a quiet moment with your beloved.
The Garden Room is situated within these grounds. It is a lovely bright room which is a great venue for weddings. It also plays host to the Hampton Court Palace Wedding Fair twice a year.
I have been honoured to be invited to have a stand at this fantastic Wedding Fair since 2012! I always enjoy meeting the Bridal Couples who attend this brilliant event.
At the 2014 Autumn wedding fair, my sister Tara kindly agreed to assist me with my stand and be my ‘Bridal Model’ for the make-up demo.
I find the brides enjoy watching the hair styling and make-up application to gain inspiration for their Bridal look.
They are also interested to see that I use a combination of professional hair and make-up products which help to create the perfect look.
I styled Tara’s hair in a romantic, vintage inspired, half up/half down style. Her make-up was done using natural shades to enhance her features without making her feel over-done.
I always recommend the bride books a hair and make-up trial well before the wedding to perfect her dream bridal style.
If you are planning your wedding and need some fantastic ideas, I look forward to seeing you at the next Hampton Court Palace Wedding Fair on 22nd February 2015.
Thank you to Jo and Hugh for allowing me to share their beautiful wedding photographs taken by Nick Rose at Hampton Court Palace last Summer. It was a pleasure providing my services to this gorgeous bride and her lovely bridesmaids.
The Landmark Autumn Wedding Fair is considered the most prestigious in the location. The popular event is well attended by brides-to-be with a range of ages from 20-60 years. Brides-to-be also tend to bring their mothers and partners to the fair to meet the suppliers and find inspiration for their Special Day.
I was contacted by the Landmark Arts Centre and asked if I would like to have a stand at this wedding fair and be involved in the Bridal Fashion Show.
My good friend Valerie agreed to help me set up my stand, ‘man’ my stand while I was busy with the models for the fashion show and be my model for the Bridal Hair and Make-up demo! Val was an incredible help and a beautiful model bride.
In preparation for the wedding fair, I ordered my business cards from MOO.com which I absolutely love. It is great being able to have up to 50 different images on my cards as they are like a ‘mini portfolio’ to showcase my hair and make-up artistry. I enjoy seeing which card each Bride-to-be choses.
One of the unique features of the popular wedding fair are the fashion shows which take place at 12pm and 2pm during the fair. This gives bridal houses an ideal opportunity to showcase their latest bridal wear to the visitors and is a tremendous draw for the brides.
My friend and colleague Sarah Stevens and I had an early start on the Sunday morning as we set up our kit in the upstairs studio at the Landmark Art Centre at 7.30 am. We styled hair and apply make-up for the 6 models taking part in the fashion shows.
It was a busy morning for us, but we managed to get all the models done in time for the start of the show.
Sarah and I styled the models as ‘Brides’, keeping the make-up fairly natural but defining their best features. Each model’s hair was styled in a pretty bridal look which suited their hair type.
Gemma Ross from TUCA Dance was Stage Manager for the fashion show. She and the lovely models had a 20 minute ‘run-through’ in the morning before the show.
Gemma arranged the playlist for the show which was mainly made up of feel good ‘old classics’ like Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole and Big Band tracks.
The Bridal Houses who provided the beautiful dresses were Emma Elizabeth Bridal, Lin Chan Bridal and Love me Do Brides.
The beautiful flowers for the fashion show were provided byWildabout Flowers and The Bloomery. The bridal flowers for the models were small, hand-held posies in neutral pastels. As some of the gowns were blush pink / oyster the flowers complimented these colours alongside traditional white gowns. The colour palette for the flowers at the end of the catwalk was more colourful.
After the first fashion show I returned to my stand to meet the Brides-to-be and to begin my Bridal Hair and Make-up demo on Val.
I began by sectioning Val’s hair and curling the lengths with my GHD straighteners. I back-combed the hair at the root and secured rollers at the crown of the head to create volume. At the front of Val’s hair I created a French Plait to create interest. Braids are very popular at the moment.
Once the hair was prepared I began Val’s make-up. She has lovely eyes so I wanted to bring out the colour by using gold and bronze eye shadows with a hint of grey. I created a soft smoky eye-liner to frame the eyes. I always use a waterproof mascara for the bride as I know there is bound to be a few tears of joy!
The lipstick colour I chose for Val was a deep pink/burgundy which really suits her complexion. Once I had completed the make-up I removed the rollers and finished styling Val’s hair. I chose a pretty Bohemian style for this Bridal Look.
Ewa Morawski, a bridal hair accessory designer provided some of her pieces for the fashion show and for my hair demo. She also kindly lent the pretty shawl for Val to wear for these pictures.
I took a few photos of Val in front of this lovely display which was set up opposite my stand. During our photo shoot this dashing, mystery man popped in to play our ‘Groom’!
W4 Wedding Films were busy filming the highlights of the Landmark Wedding Fair. View this snippet of all that was on offer at the fair.
I think everyone enjoyed the Fashion Show and the Wedding Fair as a whole. It was great to meet some of the bridal couples planning their special day. Please feel free to contact me if you have any enquires about my Hair and Make-up Artistry Service or if you would like to book a Bridal Trial.
I would like to mention Enjoy! the caterers who provided lunch for the exhibitors. Thank you, I loved your delicious 3 Cheese Frittata slice with Caramelised Onions, potato, roasted baby plum tomatoes and Asparagus! http://www.enjoycatering.co.uk/
![Group photos-0644[7]](https://tiffanycartwrightmakeupartist.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/group-photos-06447.jpg "Group photos-0644[7]")
Tiffany Cartwright Makeup Artist 