Trial diary for the 2027 season opens in November — spring and early-summer dates go first. Check your date
Bridal makeup studio · the valley & surrounds
Elm Current is a one-artist bridal studio. Every wedding begins with a trial, ends with a written look sheet, and runs to a timed schedule on the morning — so nobody is doing their lashes in the car.
The work
Bridal makeup is judged in two places: across a room, and in a photograph taken thirty centimetres from your face. These are the finishes I return to — and what each one asks of your skin, your dress tone and your light.
Services
Each lane below is a fixed scope with a fixed time allowance. Your fee is confirmed in writing after the trial, once the party and the morning schedule are settled — never estimated from a form.
The core booking. Includes the trial, your written look sheet, and the wedding morning itself with me on site until you are in your dress.
Added to the bride's booking for mothers, sisters, attendants or anyone else in the room. One artist handles up to six faces; beyond that I schedule a second pair of hands.
Where the decisions get made. Bring a veil or hair clip, a photo of the dress neckline, and anything you have tried that did not work — that is usually the most useful information in the room.
For a change of dress or a deliberate shift from ceremony to evening. Booked as a return visit at a set time, so the rest of the day is not held up waiting for it.
Process
Five stages, from first message to the moment I hand over the pouch and leave. Nothing here is a surprise on the day, which is the entire point of working this way.
Within two working days
You send the date, the rough location and how many people need makeup. I reply with availability and hold the date informally for seven days while you decide. One wedding per day, so a held date is genuinely held.
Three to six months out
Two hours, unhurried. We settle coverage, eye depth, lash choice and lip, then photograph the result in daylight and with flash so you can see both. Anything that needs patch testing gets tested here, not on the morning.
One month out
You receive a written look sheet with the products used, plus a timed running order for the morning built backwards from your photographer's first call. Your planner or venue coordinator gets a copy if you want one.
On the day
I arrive ahead of the schedule, set up near the best available light, and work the running order. The bride goes last so the base is freshest. Quiet, no music unless you want it, and I keep the room moving to time.
Before I leave
Your pouch is mixed to your exact shades — lip, powder, blotting papers and a spare lash band — and handed to whoever is carrying your things, with a thirty-second explanation of how to use it. That is usually all anyone needs.
I would rather spend twenty minutes on skin than twenty minutes on a look you will scrub off in the photographs.
Elm Current — studio approach
Field notes
Longevity is decided weeks before the makeup goes on. This is the guidance I send every bride after the trial, shortened. Follow the first three and the morning gets much easier.
Six weeks out
Finish any new treatment, peel or prescription change now. Skin needs a settled baseline — the trial is only useful if what I see is what shows up on the day.
Two weeks out
Last facial, last brow shape, last tint. Keep exfoliation gentle from here. If you are considering lash extensions, decide now so I can plan the base and the mascara around them.
Three days out
No new products, including samples and hotel skincare. Drink more water than feels necessary, and go easy on salt — puffiness around the eyes is the hardest thing to correct in the chair.
Night before
Cleanse properly, then a plain moisturiser you already know. Skip masks and overnight oils; a slippery surface is the main reason base moves by lunchtime.
Morning of
Come with a clean, dry, product-free face and a button-through or wide-necked top. Eat something before I start — it is a long gap to the meal, and nobody photographs well light-headed.
During the day
Blot, never add powder over shine. Reapply lip after the meal and after the cake. Leave the rest alone; the base is set to be touched as little as possible.
Questions
Anywhere in the valley is included in the booking. Beyond that I quote travel time at a flat rate per hour of driving, stated in your written quote before you commit. For very early starts a long way out, I will suggest staying nearby the night before rather than adding a four-o'clock drive to the morning — it makes a real difference to the work.
I build the schedule backwards from the moment your photographer wants you in the dress, then add a thirty-minute buffer. As a rough guide: ninety minutes for you, forty-five for each additional face, and half an hour of setup before anyone sits down.
A bride and three attendants usually means a start about four hours before you need to be ready. You will have the exact times a month ahead.
Tell me at enquiry rather than at the trial. I will ask what you react to, swap out the usual suspects — fragrance, certain adhesives, some mineral powders — and patch test anything new on your inner arm at the trial, two weeks ahead of the day.
If you have a dermatologist's advice or a product you know works, bring it. I am happy to build the look around something you already trust.
Yes, and it is tested. Heavy SPF in a base and certain high-coverage powders can bounce light back as a pale cast on camera. At the trial I take a flash photograph as well as a daylight one, and adjust the base if anything flashes back. Your photographer is welcome to tell me what they prefer.
The approach changes rather than the look. In heat and humidity I go lighter on cream layers, set the areas that actually move, and choose a lash adhesive that tolerates moisture. For wet or cold weather the base can be a touch richer without looking heavy.
Tell me at the trial if the ceremony is outdoors — it is the single most useful detail for planning longevity.
Routinely. Once your running order is drafted I share it with your stylist so we are not reaching for the same head at the same time. Generally hair goes first for anyone with a complex style, and makeup last for the bride. If your stylist prefers the reverse, that is easy to accommodate.
The studio is bridal-first, but the same booking structure covers engagement shoots, anniversary portraits and mothers of the bride or groom booking independently. Non-wedding sessions do not need a trial unless you would like one.
Send the new date as early as you can and I will check it against the diary. If I am free, the booking moves across with no additional fee. If I am not, I will tell you honestly and pass you to two artists whose work I would be happy to stand behind.
Enquire
Six fields, one reply within two working days, and an honest answer about availability. If the date is taken I will say so straight away rather than leave you waiting.