Dana's Day in Beautiful Bristol

What a day Dana had for her wedding! So we are three for three for beautiful Saturday weather--our lucky streak continues....

This weekend, Leah, Amy, Pam and I (Courtney) packed our beauty bags and didn't have to travel far...we walked across the street to the Bristol Harbor Inn to prep Dana's uber-fun girls for her wedding at Blithewold Mansion (www.blithewold.org).

This is just a cool shot of a bit  of our make up--Cargo and Smashbox.

Ahhhh...the preparation. We LOVE our Bumble Spray de Mode hairspray (www.bumbleandbumble.com)!

After Dana's hair and make up trial where we got a sneak peek, we talked about this dress for weeks. The scoop collar had hand-sewn silver, pewter and black beading. Amazing...and once again, we didn't get to see our bride wearing it! (Dana, you promised you would send us pictures:o)

Here is Amy, doing Dana's future mother in law's make up. What a pretty lady!

This is Leah, styling this beautiful and elegant updo on Dana's sister in law.

Brides, pay attention! Bridesmaids don't always have to have their hair long, so please don't insist that your girls  grow their hair  for your wedding. There are plenty of ways we can style short hair--

it's so fun and different!

Pam is working on Mollie's sassy 'do.

Mollie's AFTER...we love the flower accents the girls brought along.

Meet Oliver, a French Bulldog. He chilled, and I mean chilled, with the girls all day. We dubbed him New Leaf's newest mascot. Is he not the cutest dog you've ever seen? I wish my dog was as laid back as Ollie (yes, this Frenchie even has a nickname).

Ollie is all packed up and ready to party.

Here I am working on Dana. She was another fabulous bride--totally fun, funny, and wanted everyone to feel really comfortable. She must get all these wonderful traits from her equally as fabulous mother, Sandy. Sandy must have been hiding from our camera!

This is Sarah's stunning style. She had pretty amazing hair and tons of it!

Ah, a bride after my own heart...Dana LOVES volume. A big mistake brides make is not wanting enough volume. Sometimes, at trials, when you are just wearing regular clothes, you feel funny seeing your hair all fancy and 'bigger' than usual. We don't like pageant hair either, we swear. But trust us, when you put on your glam dress, heels and veil (maybe), a little height never hurts. That is unless, you are taller than your groom;o)

Apparently, there was an 'issue' with Dana's veil. This was not her real veil because her new one was being delivered later. Fortunately for us, Dana's seamstress whittled her a shorter version for us to play with. Love, love, LOVE the vintage style of a birdcage veil--such a classic.

I love this shot. Leah and Amy are working on our mother and daughter duo. 

So sweet.

Because I am photographically obsessed, you can imagine my disappointment when we got back to the salon and found we didn't have an after shot of Dana...WHAT?!? I know, I know...we really dropped the ball on this one. Wedding preparation can be pretty crazy. 

I promise to post Dana's glamorized version (hopefully, in full get up) when she sends us pictures. 

Time to get married! Wow, this pooch is pooped. Was this before or after the wild reception?

Sometimes after all the excitement we feel like this too, Oliver.

Thanks to Dana Ropper and her fantastic wedding party. I know you thought we "have to say" this, but you were an absolute pleasure to work with and stop in at New Leaf next time you are in town. Maybe your one year anniversary? And, hey, bring Oliver, will you? 

Stay tuned for our next wedding post...another stellar day for Melanie's wedding in Colt State Park.