Thinking about how to wear your hair for the big day? Well, we’ve compiled 15 gorgeous wedding hairstyles and updos from real Junebug brides for a little bridal beauty inspiration. Enjoy!
Nothing says “timeless bride” quite like a gorgeous lace wedding dress, and Sage looks ravishing in her soft ivory gown. After their wedding ceremony, the newlyweds honored the bride’s Chinese heritage with a traditional tea ceremony, with Sage dazzling in a stunning red lace dress from Hong Kong. These gorgeous photos from Christina Carroll Photography capture every exquisite detail of her wedding day look. Simply radiant!
The Vision: We wanted our wedding to be elegant and classic with a vintage flair. I wanted the guest to feel transported back in time and out of Austin, Texas from the minute they walked into the front door of the Chateau. I did not have to do much for design because the venue itself is so beautiful that it practically did all the work for me. Our florist Visual Lyrics really helped make the venue come to life. I met with her a few times and sent pictures back and forth. We had to change our original plans with the ceremony piece because the Chateauis a historical building, nothing can hang from walls or light fixtures. The wall and door we stood in front of was so breathtaking, so I wanted flowers to highlight and not distract from the architectural beauty. I love what she created for us, I have never seen anything like it! I had complete trust in her from the start to work her florist magic, she is truly an artist.
The Style: For my bridal style, I was not sure at first what I wanted. I just knew I wanted to look like a bride, but that can mean so many things to different people. Most important I wanted to look like me. I wanted the dress, shoes, veil, hair and makeup to help me look the most radiant as I could be on our wedding day.
The Dress: The dress selection process was the hardest part of the whole wedding for me. My mom played a big part in helping me decide and was such a trooper going to ALL the stores with me. I did the big “no-no” and went to a ton of stores and tried on everything possible! It was important to me that I try on a variety of styles to really help me narrow down my favorite, it’s for my wedding after all. I wanted a dress that was nothing like I have worn before, something different from the most popular styles, and of course made me feel like a bride! After trying on all kinds of dresses nothing really stood out to me and made me feel like the bride I wanted to be. When we first went to Unbridaled I didn’t think I would find my dress there! But when I tried on my dress I instantly liked the color, it was the first one I had tried on that was not super white and I loved it. I found that most dresses in the white color washed me out. When I put my veil on, it hit me like a ton of bricks, I felt beautiful, I felt like a bride! This was the first time I had any kind of emotional moment. I matched my favorite veil with my favorite dress and it was a match made in heaven!
The red dress was for the Tea Ceremony. Red in the Chinese culture is the color for celebration. The tea ceremony is a tradition I wanted to include at our wedding to honor my Chinese heritage. We decided to do it after the main wedding ceremony during cocktail hour, and it worked out great! While in Hong Kong for my cousin’s wedding my dad took me shopping for a Qipao for my wedding day. It was a great opportunity to find something I would never be able to find in the states.
The Accessories: Finding accessories was the fun part. Once I selected the dress, it all fell into place. Earrings were easy to find, I wanted something that matched my ring so I just looked for the pear shape and selected what best fit my dress. The belt was pretty easy too – I knew I wanted something sheer as not to distract to much just a little something to sparkle and pull it all in. As for my shoes, I needed as tall a heel as I could find in ivory to go with the dress, closed toe and no rhinestones because I did not want it to get stuck in tulle while walking in my dress!
The Advice: Give yourself time to plan the wedding – don’t rush. I am so glad we had a whole year to put it together. Decide what is most important to you first and spend your money, time, and effort there and the rest will fall into place. If you choose a beautiful venue you won’t need to do much to decorate and all your photos will be amazing. Because we had a year to plan I was able to really take my time, do a lot of stuff myself, have down time when I needed it, and most importantly enjoy being engaged. Brides, consider doing the “first look” photos! I was totally against it and decided last minute to do it due to time constraints. I really wanted to make sure I got the photos I wanted without the guests around looking at us or feeling super rushed after the ceremony to hurry up because everyone is waiting! When I look back on the wedding the first look is one of my most favorite times, it was so peaceful, no stress, it was like time slowed down for us. It did not take away from the emotion of seeing him waiting for me at the end of the aisle. If anything it helped calm me down before the ceremony. Have fun planning, enjoy the little moments, splurge a little where it counts because in the end you will be happy with all your decisions, after all it is your wedding!
Caitlin and Mike planned their fall wedding alongside Lauren Carrillo of Something to Celebrate. Taking advantage of the warm fall weather in Austin, Texas, the bride and groom tied the knot on the steps leading up to Hotel Ella with a beautifully decorated fireplace behind them. Caroline + Ben Photography captured the celebration wonderfully!
The Couple: Caitlin and Mike
The Wedding: 10.19.2013 – Hotel Ella, Austin, Texas
The Goals: We knew from the beginning that we would have a small wedding, so we always tried to think of ways to make our wedding feel intimate and comfortable for our guests. We wanted to create an environment where everyone felt like they had known each other forever. We wanted a really fun party with great food, great music and a great environment.
The Design: The mansion of the venue really dictated most of the design. We really just paid attention to how everything would work with the mansion so that it would feel organic. We also included a subtle “bring NYC fall to Texas” with the flowers. We were also always thinking about how to encourage a small, family, intimate feeling through everything.
The Look: I didn’t really have a style inspiration, but I wanted to make sure that my look had a rather classic, elegant feel with bit of a quirky twist. I really loved everything about my look but I was really happy for the internal corset and lace-up back on my dress because it meant that I didn’t have to wear a bra and yet felt fully supported and never worried about “popping out.” I was also really fond of my dress fabric, which was a raw silk because I haven’t seen that a lot. Finally, the dress was called the “Christina” which is my mother’s name. My accessories were a way for me to add some sparkle without over doing it, again thinking more about a classic, elegant feel. But then I added a little twist with my red Jimmy Choo shoes, which were a nod to my studies in Classical cultures (ancient Roman brides wore entire outfits that were “flame colored.”) The bridesmaids wore a dark navy dress from J.Crew and each of them choose their own pair of silver shoes. I gave them each earrings from M&J Trimming in New York and my friend Kate Halcrow, who was a member of the house party, made individualized fascinators for each of the bridesmaids. The House Party all wore their own dresses in blue. The men of the wedding party all rented Vera Wang Black from Men’s Wearhouse.
The Moments: I’d like to just say “the whole freaking day.” Honestly, I can’t really pick because there were so many moments that were the best for different reasons. Of course I loved the first kiss, but also seeing Mike as I walked up the aisle. Tripping on my dress as I walked up the stairs, if only because it made me and everyone laugh and relax a little. Seeing my dad for the first time in my dress. My mom hugging me as I cried over my grandfather’s metals. Looking around the table at dinner or while dancing and seeing people interacting as if they were all old friends who just hadn’t met yet. Looking over at my grandmother and great aunt during dinner just as Johannes (one of Hotel Ella‘s staff) was wrapping blankets around their shoulders. Everyone dancing the night away. Really, pick any second of that day and I could probably tell you a reason why it was “the best moment”.
The Advice: Prioritize. Our wedding planner made us pick our top three things and those things got more of our money, attention and energy. Photography was our top top top number one priority, so we focused more on that than say, lighting. In a sea of things to worry about it gives you an island to focus on.
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