Gathering Inspiration

These not only assist in visualizing your overall look, but also help you narrow down stylists to choose from.

At the beginning of your "finding the look" process, it's important to gather inspiration images that reflect your vision.

Think about it...

If you want a look that has tons of drama and glam, the makeup artist who specializes in “No Makeup Makeup” is probably not for you. Same goes with hair- if you’re dreaming of old Hollywood waves, the stylist who only posts photos of ballerina buns isn’t going to work. Luckily, you can do double duty by searching for inspo and finding stylists all at the same time. 

Before you deep dive into your search, we need to explain some steps to stalking safely: 

Think about the little details

Where do you part your hair? Do you hate wearing eyeliner? Do you like your hair sleek and smooth, or more textured and piecey? Do you love bold lip colors? Then, look for images that align with those specifics. 


Do not fall in love with one part of any style

Have you ever noticed how you never see the front of the messy bun on your FYP? Even if you get the exact bun from that image, you might hate the way it looks straight on. Instead, be open to mixing and matching- the back of one hairstyle, the front of another, the eye makeup of one, the lip color of another. Trust your artist to find balance and create a look that compliments you best/looks good on YOU.

make sure your buzz words are aligned

When it comes to beauty, “natural” can mean different things to different people. To some, it means minimal makeup, understated eyes, and a little powder. To others, it means Kim Kardashian eyes but with neutral colors. Have photos available, they will help you describe what you want!

BE REALISTIC

The goal of your wedding hair and makeup is to look like the best version of yourself, not somebody else. If you have super cool-toned, fair skin with light colored eyes, you’re not going to look like the inspiration image of J.Lo that you’re obsessing over. And if you don’t have multidimensional highlights, your messy bun isn’t going to have the same variety and texture you see on that Insta model. You want to emphasize your natural beauty, not morph yourself into someone else. 

STALK SOCIAL MEDIA

Search hashtags like #bridalhairstyles, #weddingtok, #naturalmakeup, #weddingupdos, #bridetok, etc. Once you find stylists you like, follow them! Even if they live in a different city, seeing their content regularly can help narrow down the overall look you want your artist to recreate. 

We give you full permission to channel your inner Joe Goldberg from You to find potential stylists and inspo (just without the killing people part). Look up your favorite wedding accounts, photographers, venues, hashtags, geotags, and literally anything wedding-related you can think of on Instagram and TikTok. You’ll find a ton of photos from real weddings. 

If you find images you love but the stylists aren’t tagged, just slide into the poster’s DMs! We promise this isn’t weird- if frat boys can slide into the DMs of girls who are way hotter than them, you can slide into the DMs of wedding professionals. 


Pro tip: You can “favorite” photos on Instagram and TikTok and separate them into folders, so every time you see a hairstyle you are obsessed with, just save it to your Hair folder and stalk the stylist later. 

CAUTION: It is way too easy to get stuck in a Pinterest rabbit hole

First you’re casually browsing through images and the next thing you know, you’ve created a 46-slide PowerPoint of contradicting looks, and you don’t know if your style is “French twist chic” or “fishtail chill.” Instead, limit yourself to 2-3 images of each style that reflect how you envision yourself looking. 

You can search terms like “Bridal Hair,” “Wedding Makeup,” and more, but can also get more specific to your personal look. Try phrases like “Makeup for dark hair and green eyes,” or “Bridal hairstyles for short hair.” This is so helpful because it gives you a clearer sense of how a look will translate on you. As a reminder, if you have jet black hair, the blonde braided updo with tons of color dimension and depth that you’re obsessed with won’t look the same on you (sorry boo). 

PINTEREST IS AN AMAZING RESOURCE FOR INSPIRATION IMAGES.

Check out our Pinterest page for looks we absolutely love, which we’ve separated into folders based on coloring and style (you’re welcome). 

peruse pinterest

START PINNING

pinterest

You can also search for wedding websites like Brides, Green Wedding Shoes, Junebug, SMP, Carats and Cake, Over the Moon, and more. These websites are always posting real weddings, and are usually great about tagging the vendors. 

Your big advice is to Google it? Well, yes. Google is a great tool to find real weddings that can provide inspiration. If you Google “VENUE NAME wedding,” it will pull up all of the blog posts featuring real weddings that took place at your venue, and even photo galleries from photographers who recently shot there. 

Pro tip: Search your wedding venue like we explained above, and then click “Images.” This way, you see all of the images laid out like Pinterest for easy viewing. You’ll be able to easily pick out which images are sparking interest, and which ones you just glaze over. 

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