Almost every elopement I prepare is for a couple from abroad who come here to marry on their own. To me an elopement is a real wedding, with no artifice and no protocol: the couple marry in a civil or a church ceremony, and besides hair and makeup they usually book only a photographer.
What changes most compared with a large wedding is the pressure, and there is very little of it. Usually I only get the bride ready, the morning is relaxed, and the day revolves not around the dancing but around walking and being photographed in several places. Micro weddings and small weddings, with just a few guests, share almost everything with them, so these answers work for both.
Do I need a hair and makeup artist for my elopement?
An elopement has no reception and no dance floor, but it does have a photographer, and the whole day becomes a photo session that moves from place to place: the ceremony, the streets of the old town, the beach or a clifftop at sunrise. Those photographs are what remains of the day, so the hair and makeup are designed to work in every one of them, in whatever light there is at each moment.
Many couples plan their elopement with a photographer or a package that does not include hair and makeup, so it is booked separately. Whenever possible, I agree the timings directly with your photographer, so the bride is ready just as the session begins.
Can I skip the trial for an elopement?
The trial matters and it almost always happens, because it is where I learn how the bride’s skin and hair respond. But eloping couples often arrive only a few days before, and sometimes there is no way to fit it in. That is what happened with the couple who came from New Zealand to marry in Málaga.
When there is no trial, the look is built beforehand, at a distance. Over the months before, the bride sends me photographs of what she likes, we talk about her dress, the place and the time of the photographs, and with all of that I arrive on the morning with a very clear idea of what will be done.
What time do you start for a sunrise elopement?
The start time is set by the light you want for your photographs. For the Málaga elopement the couple wanted the sunrise, so I began at five in the morning and my alarm went off at four. It is not always like that, but when it is, the planning is more involved: you have to know the place at that hour, allow for traffic and check that the car park, if there is one, is already open.
I get the bride ready wherever she is staying, whether a hotel, an apartment or a house. In Málaga it was an apartment, and from there she left for the clifftop with her veil already on.
Will my hair and makeup last through a day of photos in different places?
Yes, because even without dancing, couples usually spend the day walking around the city and being photographed in very different places, and the look has to arrive intact at every one of them. So the hair and makeup are planned to last the whole day.
What changes is the intensity of the shades. At a conventional wedding the colour is built a little stronger, so the makeup survives the friction of so many hugs and lasts as long as possible. At an elopement it can go straight to the finish the bride wants, without having to think about that. In the Málaga photographs, with the wind on the clifftop, the updo still had the shape it left the apartment with.
Can you also do my partner’s or our few guests’ hair and makeup?
At an elopement usually only the bride gets ready, although sometimes the groom asks for a light touch so his skin does not shine in the photographs. At a small wedding the mother or a friend may want to get ready too, and then they are quoted and fitted into the same morning schedule.
As a rule I leave when the bride sets off for the ceremony. If you would like me to stay for touch-ups during the photo session, that can be booked and is quoted separately.
