Hokay. So. Ze make up....
I'd mentioned before about having booked with Shana Beals from Shana Beals Makeup Artistry And Skin Studio in Sac. Her work is obviously good, she is obviously knowledgeable, and she is obviously very nice. One other obvious facet; she is obviously very, very expensive. $225 plus a $60 make up trial to have my make up done, plus $80 each person after that with a two person minimum. As part of the gift for our bridal party, we're paying to have their make up done and once I re-crunched the numbers, I realized that that was going to be waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much to be spending on this portion of our wedding :-(
For a while, I'd been kicking around the idea of going with someone else that had been recommended to me by another bride that had used the Monte Verde Inn; Traci Lynn Makeup Design. I took a look at her work; yes, yes very good...
I took a look at her philosophy regarding bridal makeup (she's there to enhance what's already there). Sounding better....
I checked out her rates, and they were beyond reasonable, PLUS she was (and still is) offering a 25% off coupon off all her services. Seriously.
Still, I'd already placed $100 deposit with Shana so I wanted to afford both of us the opportunity to work together first. So I emailed her to ask if she'd be willing to negotiate her prices. Unfortunately, the rate she quoted me WAS the discounted rate, and she needed to be firm. I understood that.
Meanwhile I emailed Traci to see if she was still available on November 20th. She emailed me back to say that she was and would I like to set up a trial (which she currently is offering for free)? I emailed back to say yes I would, and she was then able to fit me in on Saturday. Perfect! We could head to the florist, then after the florist head to her studio.
Our appointment at O'Shays lasted from 11 to about 1:30 or so. Mom and I dinked around for a while, we visited the local Ross (and I got my church wedding dress! I'll post on that later!), grabbed a bite to eat at Starbucks, and then finally at 4:15 we decided it was time to head to Traci's place.
She has a beautiful studio in her home, very clean and organized. I was immediately at ease. She definitely knew what she was doing, bustling around taking out brushes and creams. I told her a bit about my dress and from that she created a palette for me that was just gorgeous. I truly enjoyed her and the time went by so quickly! Better yet, her work was so good! I booked her on the spot.
I learned a valuable lesson regarding researching. The make up artistry is thus far the only aspect of the wedding that I didn't spend a significant amount of time (say, 4 to 6 hours minimum) researching before I put down a deposit. Luckily the $100 I lost doesn't mean much compared to the money that I'm saving going with someone that I'm inevitably more comfortable with anyway.
After I emailed Shana to let her know that I wouldn't be able to use her services, she emailed me back with another less expensive option that - had she presented it to me earlier when I first asked - I may have stayed with her. But then again, it's ifs and ands and I'm very happy with Traci. I can't wait! 223 days to go...
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