Winter Wedding Fun

New Leaf's 2009 wedding season closed out this past weekend with two fantastic brides. Danielle Bassi called last year to book herself, her mom, and 2 sisters. Her winter wedding at Linden Place was to be a destination for our Pennsylvania bride. Little did I know that I would be reminded of how small of a world we live in!

Imagine my surprise when I opened up the deposit to find that I graduated high school (year not-to-be-named) with her fiance, Aaron! Danielle lives in Pennsylvania and I grew up in Massachusetts so it's pretty rare that I run into people I know. I immediately found Aaron on Facebook (shamless New Leaf plug alert: Become a Facebook Fan, if you aren't already!) and we were reunited again. Ah, Facebook.

Needless to say, I was pretty excited to beautify my old friend's fiance on their wedding day!

Here are Danielle's girls: Krista, the "Official Sidekick", Mom, and Nichole, the "Bad Influence"..LOVE the snazzy tank tops!

We enjoyed hearing the 'loving' banter between the ladies all afternoon...1 mom + 3 sisters= lots of laughs (and teasing, of course!)

Danielle needed a tank top too.."Soon-To-Be Mrs. Dufour"

Aaron and Danielle met at school--they are both teachers--

proof of what nice people they both are.

Amy's fave action shot...

We told you that headbands were 'in'!

Checking out the rear view...

It's Krista's turn to be beautified by Amy...

Meet Tessa, Danielle's future niece. Too cute for words!

Trust me when I tell you that there was NO shortage of hair in the Bassi family. Here is Leah workin' hard.

You know I love to award people with things. A past bride, Gretchen Babyak, won the award for the Most Hair. Well, folks, that trophy has been passed on. Krista Bassi is now the winner of the Most Hair Award. Holy Moly, put your 2 hands together to form a circle and that was her ponytail. It was gorgeous!

Krista gets nervous getting her hair done because it's so thick. I promised her that I have been 'managing' my sister's hair for years and I was quite qualified in this department. I always thought my sister had so much hair but I called her as soon as I was done to tell her that she was not alone!

Leah's creation for Nichole...

Love the braid accents...

Aaron was a sweet (and sneaky) guy. He emailed me to see if he could drop off a gift for Danielle that morning so she could open it when she was finished getting ready. I told him I was really (really, really, REALLY) bad at lying but he assured me that I didn't have to. I simply had to present her this gift when she was all done.

I wanted to give her the gift before her make up was done because letters usually produce lots of tears. Boys just don't know these things, right? I couldn't make that happen so I just made sure Amy was on hand for make up touch-ups.

Doesn't Danielle look like Lacey Chabert from the movie Mean Girls and the old school show Party of Five? I thought so.

Danielle reading Aaron's love letter (which was 3 pages long which she decided was best to finish later...smart move).

Danielle's family was in on it too. I love how they are watching her...

Beautiful (real) diamond and pearl earrings for her to wear that day.

Danielle was hilarious in asking, "But what about my fake ones that I have?" Put those away, Danielle, you have the real deal now:o)

Just perfect.

Thanks Danielle, Mrs. Bassi, Krista and Nichole. You were SO much fun. We love when we can gossip about trash television (Jersey Shore anyone?) and just listen to sisterly love.

Congratulations Danielle and Aaron...we wish you a long life of love and happiness.

Feathers & Fancy Lips

There is nothing like a beautiful red lip...if you can pull it off. We see it in magazines. We see the celebrities wearing it on the red carpet. We all dream of doing it but it's just so darn hard to get it right.

Well then, your dreams of feeling as sexy as a vintage pin up girl can come true...Just find Amy, our make-up guru, and you too can rock the red lips for the holidays!

Who is our inspiration for the red lipped look? It's our November bride, Cassandra Deluca. She travelled from Providence to Bristol to be beautified by our team of Leah and Amy.

She was was working it!

Check out this hair ornament...The flower is adorned with fancy feathers to complement the Bridget Bardot look that Leah created for Cassandra. Love the volume and L-O-V-E the accessory!

With shiny long locks like this, it's pretty hard to go wrong on your wedding day.

Amy created this flawless canvas for Cassandra's skin. Don't you love the lined eye paired with the red lip? There is nothing wrong with looking sexy for your wedding (or any other day for that matter!)

Almond shaped eyes look amazing when they are precisely lined with black pencil or liquid liner. One must have a steady hand, otherwise you might look a bit more like you belong on a street corner, not at the end of a church aisle.

We love Smashbox's Jet Set Waterproof Eyeliner. This innovative gel-based waterproof liner stays blendable for 60 seconds then dries to a smudge-proof, budge-proof finish that lasts all day. Tears of joy are okay, girls.

Jet Set is perfect for lining the inner rim of the eye or as a stay-put traditional liner. It glides on effortlessly with an arced liner brush.

Don't you hate it when your liner that you so carefully applied in the morning finds its way under your eyes by lunch time? I don't know how this happens. You know...when you don't look in the mirror all day and then think of all the people who saw your raccoon look and didn't tell you. Boy that's the worst.

This liner withstands the New Leaf test. This test is working a 10 hour day...Lots of laughing, talking, sweating (ew!), and eye smudging take place in 10 hours at New Leaf. This liner stays put. REALLY.

We perform this scientific 10 hour New Leaf test for all sorts of things...We have tested shoes. Tall riding boots? PASS. Ballet flats? Fail, fail, and FAIL.

We test hair products, those wrap sweaters (look pretty but do NOT work for hairstylists), lint rollers, stain sticks (Tide to Go works color stain miracles), deodorant, hairdryers, and all sorts of make up (Smashbox Limitless Lipgloss really DOES last all day, because really, who has to time to reapply?), and everything else you can imagine.

You should ask us some time and we can tell you how something really works.

Our sincere thanks to Cassandra and all her girls. You were a hair and make up artist's dream to work with....your look was beautiful and unique, just like you...As always, thanks for choosing New Leaf!

Once Upon a Time...

Once upon a time, Sue Austin gave birth to a beautiful baby girl named Anne. She dreamed of planning her wedding one day. She pictured her daughter wearing a gorgeous gown and long, flowing veil, fit for a princess.

All of Sue Austin's dreams came true for Anne.

Sue booked Anne's wedding over a year ago so we were dying to meet Anne. We got a sneak peek of her on Snap! Photography's blog, wearing the sassiest skirt and heels, skipping around Castle Island in Boston with her fiance, Tony. We were not disappointed when we met her.

Anne is one of the sweetest, nicest brides we have ever met. She has a smile that lights up any room, the cutest giggle, and was super easy to please. It is no surprise that Tony is smitten with his princess.

Anne's ceremony was in Bristol and her reception was at The Glen. She had this super swanky black and white theme, just perfect for a Boston bride. Check out Anne and Tony's room at the Glen, courtesy of our fabulously fun friends at Snap!

Nothing says celebration like a glass of bubbly to start the morning...

Salud!

Okay, let's talk about Anne's dreamy hair. It's all natural. Pinky swear.

I just couldn't get over it.

No one, and I mean NO ONE, has hair like this. The color was amazing, something that could never be duplicated. She had this long-thick-sandy-beige-blonde hair with sparkly golden highlights. Incredible. Anne was probably getting sick of us drooling all over it. But probably not, because I can't picture Anne ever getting annoyed.

Here we are getting started....

See what I mean?

Anne wanted volume, not curl.

Here we are brushing out the set...

Take 1.

Take 2.

Take 3.

Take 4.

This was Anne all. day. long. Adorable.

Danielle styling Anne's bridesmaid...

Stage 1 of the style--the blow dry.

Stage 2--the backcombing.

Stage 3--the polishing.

Here is Anne's lovely mother, Sue.

Every mom loves to be queen for the day.

How pretty is Sue's comb?

Every princess must have her court.

Ella, the lovely flower girl, even had a American Girl Doll made to look just like her!

Fancy-shmancy!

Look at that sassy pose!

Leah working her wand...

Anne's turn for the magical make up chair...

Isn't this comb just beautiful? It was Anne's 'borrowed' from her bridesmaid.

The long flowy veil...

The princess and her 'court'...

Now it's hard to compete with the Snap!-pers, but these were too pretty to pass up!

The gown. Can you believe this belt?

And pockets too? Oh my!

Pretty, pretty.

I love how natural and flawless Anne's make up looks...kudos Amy!

A peaceful moment before...

Anne and her prince!

Thanks to Anne and Sue for choosing New Leaf! We had a blast with you and hope you stop by next time you are in town...

We know Anne and Tony will live happily ever after...

The End:-)