Kelly’s Stunning Destination Florence Italy Wedding. 

This was to be a total dream wedding in Florence, we would be getting ready at Forte Belvedere, the venue made infamous by the high profile wedding of Kim Kardashian to Kanye West. However Kelly, not to be outdone by the celebrity K’s, would be wed in Florence’s gorgeous Castello di Vincigliata - I for one could hardly begin to contain my excitement!

If you're enjoying this post, check out Lauren's Amalfi destination wedding here!

The moment I met Kelly I knew she was going to be a wonderful bride to work with. She had such a clear vision of the makeup and hair style that she wanted. Kelly on the other hand, was a little worried regarding her hair, as it quite fine and was concerned she wouldn't have enough volume to create the updo she had dreamt off - I put her concerns at ease and set to work. Kelly brought a good collection of images of her chosen style and showed me pictures of her sumptuous Suzanne Neville dress. This really helped to paint me a picture of the total look and feel of her Wedding.

I loved creating Kelly’s look at her trial and we certainly didn’t run out of conversation. Kelly was conjuring a canvas of her upcoming big day, the details of which sounded amazing. She had thought of everything from the table plan, to the flowers, the back drop setting and colours. Kelly, like me, had also just had a baby boy, so it was baby talk as well as wedding talk - a great girly catch up…. I was now even more excited about the next time I would see Kelly in Florence!

Italy here we come…..

We arrived in Florence the day before the wedding, if anyone knows me they’ll know how I buzz up and down with excitement - we drove to the venue to have ourselves a nose!

It was a beautiful, very warm Wedding morning. Kelly was so excited to see myself and David from Modern Vintage Wedding Photography.

While we were having a good catch up I prepared my work station ready to start on Kelly’s hair and makeup.

I prepped Kelly’s skin first and applied a great primer from Chantecaille Ultra Sun Protection Sunscreen Primer SPF 45. I used this as it has a high SPF and is lightweight and oil free.  I left this to sink into Kelly’s face and started on her hair.

Kelly has quite short and fine hair so I weaved in some of our temporary natural hair pieces to create the full glamorous look Kelly was after. I sectioned the hair and curled each part and pinned with a side parting to create a softer look with that glamorous hair bun.

Now for Kelly’s makeup. 

I applied another layer of primer on to Kelly’s face.  Being in a hot climate it's all about using oil-free products.

I used a studio fix foundation mixed with a light wearing foundation from the Golden Range of Charlotte Tilbury. Again, I can’t stress the importance enough to use an oil free products when the weather is warm. I mixed different shades of studio fix from MAC to contour Kelly’s face. Kelly already has a great bone structure but she wanted me to enhance this a little so I did this very softly.  Highlighting I go one to two shades lighter on the cheekbones temples and nose. Then for the contouring, go one or two shades darker on the hollow of the cheeks underneath the jaw line. I then add a bronzer and lightning illuminating powder to enhance these features.

For Kelly’s eyes I used a waterproof mascara and a gel based liquid eyeliner from HD. Waterproof products around the eyes are a must with high temps and I know Kelly said she could get emotional so again I wanted her makeup to look perfect even if there was a couple tears involved.

A good eye primer is a important to hold eyeshadows onto the eyelids and to stop any creases. I used a couple of soft golden shades from Tom Ford. The pigment in these eyeshadows are quite strong so you only need to apply a little.

I applied a lip balm to Kelly’s lips as they can get quite dry. I then outlined and coloured them with MAC’s Spice lip pencil.  Then I applied a lipstick shade also from MAC called Cosmos. To make the lipstick last as long as possible I added a lipcoat to help prevent any transfer onto our beautiful bride’s teeth.

I added a small amount of soft pink powder to Kelly’s cheeks to give her face a little more colour and to compliment the colour of her lips.

To finish I applied a HD setting powder to take away any chance of shine and to hold the makeup. I also like to add a fixing spray from Urban Decay All Nighter which is brilliant!

Kelly certainly looked stunning in her Suzanne Neville dress, as she set off from Forte Belvedere to her fairytale ceremony at Castello Di Vincigliata.

All Pic's by: David Wickham @ Modern Vintage Weddings.