Gail Gardner Blog

Congratulations to lovely Denise who married this weekend at the Andaz Hotel in London. It was a very early start but it was perfect. I got to spend the morning with Denise and her mum and her aunt who were so much fun and so witty. I honestly don’t think I have laughed so much, they really brightened up my morning. Here they all are….

I had the most wonderful morning with my beautiful bride Sarah this week. Sarahs family are from New Zealand and due to the restrictions, could not make the wedding. It was quite an emotional morning but Sarah had all her family present, on Facetime, all in different locations, from the moment I arrived right up until she got married. I styled Sarahs hair and makeup and helped her into her dress, as Sarah only had 6 people attending her wedding, which included Sarah and her husband. I also took over her mobile phone and live streamed her walking down the aisle so all her family could see her.

I had the pleasure of styling beautiful Jessica and her bridesmaids recently at Hylands House. We had such a lovely morning. Jess did not have access to Hylands House until 9am so we had to start setting her hair at my house, as I live close by to Hylands. I introduced Jess and her bridesmaid to my newly hatched ducklings. I always offer my brides to start getting ready at my premises if their venues do not allow them access early enough. Below you will see some images from Jess’s wedding morning, her beautiful flowers and also lovely Sam Easter, who carried out the makeup on the wedding day. Sam and I always love having a catchup after the bride is all complete.

I enjoyed meeting Denise, who came to me for Special Occasion hair and makeup. Denise was attending her sisters wedding at Friern Manor. She was so happy with the results, it was lovely to see her so looking forward to the event with her new look.

What can I say about Mulberry House? How about, it has to be one of my favourite wedding venues in Essex. It’s like a place to escape, somewhere stunning, peaceful, tranquil. The house and gardens all to yourself and your guests for the entire day. The staff are incredible, so caring from the first point of contact right through to your wedding day. It’s no wonder I love to work there, I always feel at home.

I was lucky to get the opportunity to get bride Claire and her mum ready for her wedding there on Sunday. Her wedding was a little different to a traditional wedding. Claire and her fiance spent the whole morning together with their new baby boy, while I got her ready. Her fiance was even walking around while she was getting dressed, but it felt so comfortable, it was so relaxed. I styled Claires hair and makeup and her mothers too. Below are some of the photos I took of Claire and her family and some before and after photos too. Her florist was the incredible TJ Designer Weddings and the photographer Gavin Woollard. Below is Claire, with her hair and makeup and underneath Claire is her mother.

Beautiful Becky married yesterday at the wonderful Lion Inn Wedding Venue. Becky very rarely wears makeup so was very nervous when she came for her trial. We decided to go for a natural but radiant makeup. She looked so beautiful.

I carried out all the makeup on all the bridesmaids before they had their hair styled by the hairdresser. Such a lovely morning with a group of wonderful close friends. I did not get to see Becky in her wedding dress so I am looking forward to seeing her professional photos. Photographers on the day were ‘Andy Bennett Photography’ (a husband and wife team). Both such lovely and talented photographers.

It was a very early start on Friday morning at Leez Priory. I arrived at 6.30am at the Fishermans Cottage and I was very surprised to see the entire bridal party all up and very excited including the mothers of the Bride and Groom. I loved styling all the girls hair. Danielle had lots of hair extensions incorporated into her hair so it was quite easy to achieve her desired hairstyle. We all had such a lovely morning. Danielle hired JK Styling to decorate the venue which looked incredible! Scott from Boutique Wedding Film was the photographer for the day, Scott is one of my favourites! Below are some images I took on Danielles wedding day, professional photos will be uploaded soon.

I had the absolute pleasure of styling beautiful Amy and her bridal party, which consisted of her mum and her bridesmaids. They were all so wonderful on the wedding morning. Amy was so organised, she really was incredible. Below I have some before and after photos of Amy and also of her bridesmaids and her beautiful mum who looked amazing. I loved styling Amy’s hair. I knew exactly what she wanted when she said she wanted a soft romantic hairstyle. She looked so beautiful. I used a little padding at the back and lots of hair products to create the volume.

I had the joy of styling beautiful Kathryn for her wedding day at Gosfield Hall last week. We did a hair and makeup trial and tried a few different hairstyles. She looked so pretty. Below are images of her hair and makeup from her trial and her hair on her wedding day. These are just images I took so I will post professional photos once they arrive.

What a beautiful venue I visited today. Stunning Crondon Park based between Stock and Billericay. I had the absolute pleasure of getting Sue and her lovely bridal party ready for her wedding day. We had quite a busy day ahead as Sue had quite a large bridal party so we started getting everyone ready at The Harvard Inn, in Stock. We then moved over to Crondon Park for the finishing touches. We were met by lovely Tracey, who was the Front of House for the day. Below are some before and after images of our morning. I always takes these on the morning of the wedding but I will be uploading some professional ones soon.

Today I met with beautiful Alanna for the first time, on her actual wedding day. We did not get time to fit in a hair and makeup trial as Alanna’s’ wedding was moved several times due to the pandemic, that when she eventually booked her new date, we did not have any time left. Her family were all so lovely. Unfortunately her dad had a stumble a few days before and injured his face, so I offered to patch him up so he looked respectable as he gave his daughter away. He was happy for me to take a ‘before and after’. Here are also some photos of beautiful Alanna today.

I have had a wonderful few weeks meeting more brides to be at their trials and meeting them again on their wedding days. This is Linda, who married recently at stunning Mulberry House in Ongar, Essex. Linda has very fine hair shoulder length hair but wanted quite a full hairstyle and wanted to look glamourous. When Linda put on her dress, she looked so elegant so I managed to snap a few images of her just before she headed for the aisle.