Ivory and White 2016 Shoot

I'm glad I got the chance to work with Ivory and White bridal again. They're an awesome bunch to work with. Also, I get to take a sneak peek at their lovely 2016 collection.

Although brides nowadays are quite adventurous with their look, the classic, clean look wins for some. I played with corals this time, giving the rosies and smokies a rest.

Some behind-the-scenes shots:

The usual mugshot. Rebecca, our model is just simply gorgeous and fun to work with. Her skin is flawless. With her hair up and clean makeup, she looks like a beautiful ballerina. The corally colors really made her blue eyes stand out

Shooting all those gorgeous dresses is fun!

Stop and smell the flowers. BTS kakulitan. In my head, I wish that I held a bunch of kale and spinach and a pineapple for a nice smoothie. Haha.

Thanks again to the team of Ivory and White bridal for getting me once again to do makeup for their lookbooks. For brides looking for affordable gowns without sacrificing quality, you can check their website.


Lookbook Photos Credits:

Photos by Chyvin Reyes
Make up by Bambi Dela Cruz Dimapilis
Hair by Mara Ashida

Bridal Work: Paula

I find it amazing how cat lovers or animal lovers find a way to become friends, and here's a story.

Paula is my neighbor. How I met her is so funny. I was on my way out when I spotted her talking to my cat Candy by the window and another one of our building cats. As you all know, cat ladies have a constant click. We happened to belong to the same Facebook cat group. She sent me a Facebook message when we found each other's profiles.  I also met Paolo, who happened to be more of a cat person than I was.  My friend Romina met them in one of our cat rescues and she still remembers them and tells me, "They're a fun and nice couple. I like them a lot."

That was a couple of years ago. Sending food to each other like forreal Titas of Manila and exchanging cat stories and kitty playdates later, I was tasked to do a very important thing - to be the makeup artist on their wedding day, which I am just super stoked to do. I did Paula's makeup already as a bridesmaid in one of her friend's weddings as well as a YOLO moment photoshoot. Even if I practically memorized her face, I wanted of course her wedding to be the most perfect makeup she would ever have in her entire life.

For Paula's wedding look, she wanted to still look like her and not have a total operasyon-level makeover. You can still wear bright lipstick or have smokey cat eyes and contour but still look recognizable that you're you.

Paula has a full head of natural, gorgeous curls, which she embraces. She wanted her curls to show on her wedding day. No 5 hours of straightening then recurling here. We just humidity-proofed her hair. I think it was the quickest bridal hair my hairstylist ever did.

candy pink lips is MAC Pink Nouveau, a shade usually worn at the reception but we used it as a ceremony color. 

Adorable shoes + short wedding dress. 

The couple inserted their own individuality in their wedding, choosing food they really like and having a theme that fits them. They also inserted elements of them being cat people in their wedding.

Groom's gift to bride is an illustration of their life together - artwork done by Chichi Romero

wedding favors: Spanish fans. Note the kitties on the logo. I kept the cards. Hihihi. 

 Having a summer garden wedding, they chose a white-themed wedding where the guests wore summery whites to keep things cool and clean. I'm thankful for the discovery of airbrush makeup because they stayed on fresh up to the end of the festivities.

The three bridesmaids are the three sisters of the bride, each sister had makeup that fits their own style and personality, natural, smoky, rosy glow.

Family Photo

 Paula loves rom-coms and it fits that her prenup video would be rom-com themed. You guys can watch it here. The masterpiece was done by VOV Productions. Makeup and hair for the couple, both done by me.

The thing I loved about their wedding is that it expressed their individuality so much and it really shows who the couple is instead of following every single celebrity wedding or going through cookie cutter conventions. At the same time, the element of classiness is still there. All I felt was genuine happiness.  It was one occasion to be remembered by everyone.

Final touch-up before the ceremony. 

I've witnessed Paula during her preps up to the last part of their reception and she's super cool and calm about everything. As she wrote in her post-wedding status message, she emphasized one aspect: You can have a great wedding without being a bridezilla. I definitely would have to agree with that, and she's a perfect example to that part. It was so easy to do her makeup and her smile was all natural. She was talking to her friends, suppliers, eating the good food, and she had so much energy to really talk to everyone and make sure her suppliers are well taken care of. I would definitely recommend that as a number one advice to all brides.

The happy couple

Congratulations Paula and Paolo! It was one gorgeous and super cute wedding! Love, hugs, and lots of kitties.

Suppliers:

Photographer: Shutterpanda
Video: VOV Productions
Makeup: Bambi de la Cruz Makeup Artistry
Groom's Makeup: Jinky Ureta
Hairstylist: Annaliza Alejo
Bridal Gown: Curitthy Couture 
Venue; The Henry Hotel Manila
Caterer: Apartment 1B


Photo credits:
official wedding photos by Shutterpanda
Bambi with the couple, fan, and bridesmaids by the author

Bridal: Cheriza

Cheriza is one of my first pole friends when I first started out doing pole. She gives us tips and tricks in nailing our pole moves and we bond outside the pole studio in her house for pole-jamming, and of course, eating really yummy food. As she gets married to her longtime love, I couldn't be happier to take part in her special day, which she planned herself, and made sure everything was perfect.

As most brides, they want fresh looks usually on their big days. Cheriza had the same, but told me that she wanted neutral colors and peaches instead of rose and pink. I put an emphasis on her eyes because according to the groom, he loves her eyes.

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I used moderately thick lashes to get that right subtle smokeyness without black liner during the ceremony

 Love the details of her Veluz RTW gown! She really looks like a princess that day!

Photos: Mark de Guzman
Hair: Lei Ponce
Venue: Edsa Shangri-La Hotel.

Bridal: Vevette

Vevette was referred to me by my pole teacher Myla. She's all sunshine personified from our trial up to her wedding day - all happy and smiles.

She personally wanted neutral makeup for herself with just a tad of emphasis on the eyes, while her entourage would have smokey eyes and red lips.

It's almost going to be a year since her wedding last year but this was one of my most memorable 2012 weddings with an awesome crew, awesome people, and having such a fun-filled happy day.

Venue: Manila Peninsula
Hair: Lorybelle Barretto

Bridal Work: Grace

Most ladies are at their happiest and prettiest come their wedding day. My pole bud Grace was all megawatt smiles and giggles come the day of her wedding. She's been really excited planning about it since she and her longtime boyfriend Eph decided to get married. This wedding was held last December at Manila. Grace and I have been pole friends and batchmates since we started poleling. I have our pole bud Tricia to thank me for  this because she was the one who insisted Grace get me for her wedding to do her makeup. I think it all started when I brought my kit to the studio and Grace was early so I asked her if I could play my tools on her. Being the very kikay girl that she is, she said yes.

Her wedding preps were as early as 4 am and I told her the night before to get some sleep. Being the excited girl that she is, she was like "Please don't get mad. I wasn't able to sleep. I tried but ang hirap talaga." She didn't look like she was super sleepy or had no sleep at all.  It was a breeze doing her makeup. She loves pink and I gave her a very fresh pink palette for her wedding with just a bit tad of smokiness. For her hair, my good friend Lorybelle gave a very soft and romantic bun for her, one of my personal favorites in bridal hair.

 Her poler self is revealed at the bridal shoes, Pleaser shoes, nonetheless next to her very girly pink bouquet.

Happy lady at the bridal car. Excited and nervous at the same time.

 Prettiness as sunshine. It was a sunshiney morning December wedding.

Crazy pole friends represent! Hannah, Rj, and me were there for her and so were two of our pole teachers Amaya and Kayleen.

As of this moment, Grace is already expecting her first baby. Yay! Congratulations! She's having a very breezy and exciting pregnancy and we can all expect nice things for her. I'll be seeing her in a few weeks as she'll be watching us in our annual recital.

[All photos are taken from Grace's personal Facebook account, a mixture of photos from her family and the official photographer of the event, iSnap Creatives]

E-Session: Kaye and Lennart

Kaye is the sister of my client/friend Touie, who has been my client since I started doing makeup. I've been doing makeup for their family since 2007. Kaye already booked a different makeup artist  for her wedding, so she asked me to do her makeup for her e-session (for her wedding, I did the makeup of her sisters, tita, and cousins). I really love my loyal clients. They're practically like an extended family to me.

Kaye and Lennart have a beautiful love story, where fate directed them together. You can see it in their eyes that they're truly happy with each other.

Photo credits:
Photo: Ariel Javelosa
Makeup: Bambi de la Cruz Makeup Artistry
Hair: Wacks Joaquin
Location: La Mesa Ecopark

(Note: Kaye's hair was done by my good friend and hairstylist Wacks Joaquin. This is one of Wacks' last work with me as he already is an angel in Heaven making his fellow angels prettier. I'm really going to miss him. The curls were so pretty, and Kaye and Lennart really loved the curls.  Thank you Wacks. It was a pleasure working with you.)

Bridal Work: Kaycee

The day finally came where Mike and Kaycee finally tied the knot. Everything was beautiful, from the flowers, the details on the dress, and of course, our bride, Kaycee

During our prenup session, I discovered that Kaycee loves makeup too, she's got awesome gear that she specifically wanted to use. On her wedding, she got gear for the day. She had her foundation ready (MAC Studiofix, the holy grail of all foundations), her eyeshadow palette (Urban Decay Naked 2), and she had two choices of pink lipsticks - MAC Viva Glam Nicki Minaj and NARS Schiap. Since I wanted a bit of freshness, we chose the Nicki Minaj lipstick for her wedding lip, as I previously reviewed it before, it brightens up the face instantly for a fresh, youthful glow without looking too overpowering. we kept the rest of her makeup neutral - browns for the eyes and just a kiss of pink on the cheeks. 

Wacks busy at work. Photo from Kaycee's Facebook account

For her hair, Wacks decided to go with a loose and romantic updo, to fight humidity since it was raining so hair does not mushroom up or fall limp and flat. 

Artistic minds really do go together well. Kaycee and Mike designed and printed their wedding invitations themselves. Mike's a graphic designer. I love the vintage artsy effect of the invites. Their monograms were also reproduced into stickers on our powerpacks, which were snack packs given to suppliers so they are constantly energized. Thanks guys!

photo from Kaycee's Facebook account

For those getting married, they can design and print your invitations too! (Plug plug!)

Santuario de San Antonio provided an excellent backdrop for their photos. It was a rainy wedding day for both of them, but thankfully, there were no rains by the time the post-ceremony photos came.

 Bubbles! Bubbles! Bubbles! (Finding Nemo mode)


MIKE + KAYCEE | SDE from Kris Matanguihan on Vimeo.

Kris Matanguihan did an excellent job with their SDE. You can see most of the happenings there.

Thank you Mike and Kaycee, and have a happy awesome life together!

Makeup Technique: Airbrush
Hair: Wacks Joaquin
Photography: Bobby de los Santos (solo photo of the bride and photo of the couple are his)
Videography: Kris Matanguihan
Flowers: Vatel Manila
Coordination: Tie-The-Knot

Bridal Work: Claud

Claud without makeup is already pretty. I got to know her through Romina. She's one of Romina's closest friends in high school. When she went to my house, I was like, omigosh! She's so pretty! Romina told me that she looks like a fairer version of Kim Kardashian, and she did. Romina was there during the trial makeup too and I like that she gives her own opinion. After all Romina's the maid of honor. I told her, "The maid of honor is the bride's very pretty alalay."

Claud had a very nice and neutral theme of gold and ecru, so it was easy to play with color. When I looked at her face, I thought pink! With a tad of gold to tie with the motif. She has very expressive eyes and strong features to begin with so I kept everything looking pretty and gentle, a look to transcend generations.

My bias for hair for brides is really an updo, because I like everything looking neat. Bridal dresses are naturally heavy, so I thought for the crucial ceremony photos where all's formal and all, an updo would be really pretty, especially for indoor weddings. I added more falsies to Claud's naturally lush lashes for a smoky look without black eyeshadow.

Black eyeshadow wasn't allowed for Claud but it was a yes for Romina, the maid of honor, I gave her all the smokiness in the bridal makeup world crossing over to the red carpet glam world.

For "official" shots, here's the SDE created by Pictratto Shots, the official photo-video for the day:

Matthe

w + Claudine SDE 12.30.11 from pictratto shots on Vimeo.

Claud with her mum and dad in Church:

And here's when she's now the new Mrs. Matthew Guerrero.

By the way, I used traditional makeup on Claud, using one of my favorite bride-level foundations: Paul and Joe Moisturizing Compact - which gives her that shine-free finish with a glow. Since it was only her and Romina for that day, I also did their hair, since Romina has short hair.

At her request, I let her hair down come reception time and used the vine as a headband/headpiece on her hair. With all the hairspray I put, her hair has set into pretty curls.

Bride: Claudine Cura-Guerrero

Preparations: Mandarin Hotel

Church: St. Andrew the Apostle

Photo/Video: Pictratto Shots

(Photos here in this post are from the bride's guests and from my own personal camera)