Breegan Jane, interior designer and host of The House My Wedding Bought, talks about how she guides couples making the financial decision between throwing a big wedding or buying a starter home (and sometimes has to act as a couples therapist). Then, HGTV Editor (and former florist) Chelsea Faulkner gives advice on how to save on your wedding flowers, when to DIY them, and when to leave it to the professionals (and shares her own wedding flower horror story). Finally, award-winning hair and makeup artist Claire Balest gives her best tips on how to work with your beauty team and her favorite piece of advice for feeling your best on your wedding day.
Breegan Jane, interior designer and host of The House My Wedding Bought, talks about how she guides couples making the financial decision between throwing a big wedding or buying a starter home (and sometimes has to act as a couples therapist). Then, HGTV Editor (and former florist) Chelsea Faulkner gives advice on how to save on your wedding flowers, when to DIY them, and when to leave it to the professionals (and shares her own wedding flower horror story). Finally, award-winning hair and makeup artist Claire Balest gives her best tips on how to work with your beauty team and her favorite piece of advice for feeling your best on your wedding day.
Start your free trial of discovery+: https//www.discoveryplus.com/hgtvobsessed
Follow HGTV on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hgtv/
Follow Breegan Jane on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/breeganjane/
Learn More About The House My Wedding Bought: https://www.hgtv.com/shows/the-house-my-wedding-bought
Follow Chelsea Faulkner on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chelseafaulkner/
Follow Claire Balest on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clairebalest/
Find episode transcript here: https://hgtv-obsessed.simplecast.com/episodes/weddings-when-to-save-when-to-splurge-and-what-to-diy
[MUSIC PLAYING] MARIANNE CANADA: Hello and welcome to HGTV Obsessed, your podcast for all things HGTV. Oh, you guys, a long-overdue wedding season is underway. So we are diving into our first-ever wedding episode.
Whether you're trying to figure out how much to spend on your wedding, or you want to know the latest and bridal hair and makeup trends, we have all the experts on this episode to get you down the aisle in high style. I'm your host, Marianne Canada, and I'm so excited about this episode. Even though I've been married for literally over 15 years, I just love a good wedding. I can't help it.
Our guests today include Breegan Jane, interior designer and host of the brand new show on Discovery+, The House My Wedding Bought. Then we have HGTV editor, Chelsea Faulkner, on to talk all about DIY wedding flowers. And finally, award-winning hair and makeup artist, and one of my best friends, Claire Blessed, is giving us her thoughts on 2021 wedding trends that she is loving lately. I mean, even if you are not headed down the aisle, this episode's got something for everybody. Let's get started with my conversation with Breegan Jane.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
All right, Breegan, welcome to the podcast. We're so excited to have you.
BREEGAN JANE: Thank you for having me.
MARIANNE CANADA: For everyone who doesn't know, Breegan is a Los Angeles-based interior designer and the host of the new Discovery+ show, and not so secretly one of my favorite new Discovery+ shows, The House My Wedding Bought. Can you tell us a little bit about the premise of this super fun show?
BREEGAN JANE: Oh, I'm so excited because I feel like this show is just so relevant to everything that's going on in life right now. So a bunch of people put off weddings and are now having them. But I also think generationally, these big, exciting moments are happening at the same time. And that, I mean, is buying a house and getting married.
Everyone is super excited for their wedding day, but they usually have some savings or family that are contributing to this moment. And then they have the second thought of like, well, where are we going to live? And so a lot of couples become first-time homebuyers at the same exact time. And so now there are these two super exciting, super expensive moments where they have never been here before. So it's really, really fun to help be able to guide them through that process.
MARIANNE CANADA: Yeah, it really is, I mean, such huge milestones and so many emotions involved, and we're definitely going to get to that. I mean, it's true. Deciding how to split that budget between a home and a wedding it's really a very real issue, and it's a decision that couples face every day.
In your experience working with these couples, how often do they disagree? And what's the key to getting them to compromise?
BREEGAN JANE: I mean, never, never. No couples ever have any disagreements, no. This is reality. I think that we all tend to prioritize things differently.
And so what I've seen is that what is really important to one person might not be important to the other one. And that actually really allows me the moments as a third party to come in, show them both options, but then also help guide them through the process, so they're not bickering over it, that it becomes OK, well, that's what you want, and this is what she wants. And being that person in the middle I think really helps them through this decision making.
MARIANNE CANADA: Yeah, you really have to play like therapist. I mean, I think, I joke all the time that our HGTV hosts often end up having to play therapists. But in this case, I really-- because you're dealing with wedding and first time home buying. It's very fraught.
BREEGAN JANE: Us and hairdressers, designers and hairdressers, we are the best therapists that you can pay for.
MARIANNE CANADA: You know everybody's secrets. Something else I really love about the show, and I think it's something that sets it apart from a lot of other real estate shows or shows where people are planning weddings, is it's not just about choosing the home that works for you or choosing the wedding that works for you. But you really do dive a little bit into finances and helping people figure out what makes a good investment decision for them. What is your advice for couples on how to stretch that budget for both the house and the wedding?
BREEGAN JANE: I think the vulnerability of talking about money and your life savings is often where people tend to just stick to that one thing they think they worked their whole life to have. And so I really think that it's important when you're making financial decisions to make sure that you're empowered to use your money to get you what you want but that you aren't holding on to it so tight that you strangle its ability to give you this new life.
And I think that's different for everyone. What's nice is all the couples were on different budgets, and we had different amounts to work with. But at the root of it, they're taking their savings and this money to really begin their new lives. It's so much more about the love and emotional part of how hard it is and how anxious it can be and how exciting and thrilling it can be to have those moments. But then how do you do something you've never done with your whole life savings?
MARIANNE CANADA: Yeah, it feels so momentous. It's a very heavy decision to make. And then on top of it, you have the people out there. I mean, there's definitely some haters out there about weddings, about big weddings.
And I can already hear people-- I can just hear it. They're going to be like, who would choose to put money towards a wedding when they could buy-- put that money towards the house? There's just always going to be those people.
I personally, I love a good party. I love a good wedding. What do you have to say to these people, these kind of negative nellies?
BREEGAN JANE: I think what's nice about our show is it's not even my decision or the viewers' decision. It's really their decision. And in our show premise, they're getting both because that is the reality of life.
And we show them, OK, you want to just walk up to the courthouse? That's what this looks like. Or you want to have that day with 300 people? That's what this looks like, but they are getting married and buying a house in the end, which makes our show so much more relatable.
And I think the fun of HGTV and of watching other people's lives on TV is being able to go, I wouldn't do that. I would do that. I wouldn't do that.
And the couples themselves go through that. And I think hopefully what that's getting us all to is the root of our own wants and needs and how we can facilitate those in our own lives.
MARIANNE CANADA: I mean, you're so right. Reality television would not exist if there weren't human beings on the other side of the television screen going, oh, really? That's what you're going to do? But I want to ask you, if you had to make the same decision, if you had a chunk of savings and a wedding to plan and a house to buy, what do you think you would decide to do?
BREEGAN JANE: Well, I lived this very moment. So I am uniquely positioned to experience it once more with each one of these couples. Beach wedding with a home investment was what I chose at the moment in my life. I can feel for what these couples are going through and how hard it is to be in that position.
But at the root of it, they're so excited to start the rest of their lives. They're so in love. They're so cute, and that's what I am able to just help remind them of.
MARIANNE CANADA: Yeah, they are. I want to talk a little bit about the episode that we previewed. I think it was the premiere episode.
And I loved it so much because I felt like it really flipped the traditional script in that it was the male half of the couple that wanted a big wedding. And the female half of this particular couple, she really wanted to invest in the home. How often does that happen in the show? Because I was like, this is delightful. This guy wants-- I mean, he wanted his big day.
BREEGAN JANE: All right, I mean, the whole season for me was full of surprises in that way. Even just meeting them, you're like, oh, I think I know what's going to be important to you. And I was constantly surprised by what they wanted and what they cared about and how it was completely different than maybe my assumed presumption would have been.
I think it's great to be having those conversations for everybody else to see on TV because we all work hard to provide our own lives. And at the root of that, there's usually a deeper story of reason. And it's fun to unveil some of those.
MARIANNE CANADA: It is. I mean, I don't want to spoil too much because everyone really needs to go watch this show. But the same guy wanted these beer donkeys-- beer burrows that carry beer around the wedding. And I mean, I literally, I fell over laughing. Were there any other interesting requests that the couples had on the show?
BREEGAN JANE: The beer burrows were a standout moment because I am a California girl, and I do events. And I know design. I had never heard of a beer burrow.
But in Austin, it makes sense, and they're actually way cuter than they sound. They're like these tiny little miniature donkeys, and they put these saddles on them with beer on both sides and flowers around their neck. Yeah, you get to learn all sorts of things, where you're like, oh, that's a thing we need to set aside $1,000 for? Mmm. OK. Here we go.
MARIANNE CANADA: Oh, just wait. It's going to be like the new thing. There's going to be beer burrows and lager llamas. And I'm running out of rhyming, but--
BREEGAN JANE: Gin giraffes.
MARIANNE CANADA: Yes, exactly. Yeah, it's so exciting. I think another thing that is so fun about the show is that with the world starting to open up, with it being increasingly safer to gather if you're vaccinated and you're taking precautions, weddings are coming back. A lot of these people have put things on hold for over a year. So I do want to ask you, are there any wedding trends lately that you've seen that you love?
BREEGAN JANE: I do think that one of the exciting things that I'm seeing is that the celebration is getting back to the root of family and friends and the love that's there. I think because we long so much to touch those close to us that we had to spend time apart from that I'm seeing that the big extravagant show off moment isn't as trendy as how curated the collection of people is. And I really like that.
MARIANNE CANADA: I do as well. Something I have noticed is that people are coming back, and they're rescheduling their weddings, and they're still keeping them small. I think that's so special. And I do feel like that trend of really being thoughtful and injecting everything with so much meaning is really special.
Since we've got you here and we're talking about trends, we would love to have you give your thoughts in one of our favorite segments, Defend the Trend.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
All right, Breegan, this topic is something I personally feel very strongly about. I actually requested this to be the Defend the Trend. I would love to know your thoughts on wedding favors. Do you think we really need a takeaway with the bride and groom's name on it? Or should we do everyone an actual favor and stop the Koozie madness? I don't need another Koozie.
BREEGAN JANE: I don't need another Koozie. I think that we can let it go. If it's important to you or there's something that you really want to give, if you have a nail polish company and you want to give everybody a custom takeaway color, that makes sense to me. But to do it for the sake of having a giveaway item, they all end up in our junk drawers. We're just being honest. I think we can let it go.
MARIANNE CANADA: I mean, I think you nailed it. I get called out sometimes for being really anti-favor, and it's more that I'm anti the favor just to have a favor. It's one thing if it's a little something you can eat later. That's my personal, like a little snack, a little cookie, or candy, or something that you can eat later.
BREEGAN JANE: But if you work in LA--
MARIANNE CANADA: --totally into that.
BREEGAN JANE: --like I do, nobody's actually eating it anyways because half of LA is on a diet constantly. So the cupcake is useless.
MARIANNE CANADA: Yeah, if you're maybe just considering your audience if you're on the West Coast, skip the cupcakes. Having a favor just to check a box, it's just not my thing. And I think the work ends up often on the bride who already has a pretty long list of responsibilities for the wedding anyway.
BREEGAN JANE: Can I give you my favorite favors that I have gotten? Somebody pre-mailed their invitation in a frame, a very beautiful frame. And then they took the time to get a photo with everybody at the wedding and then sent you the picture to fill the frame.
Now, it was a very expensive, thoughtful gift. But I was like, I totally wouldn't have framed a picture from your wedding if you hadn't have done that, and I'm so grateful to have it, and I didn't have to find the frame, and I didn't have to fill the frame. You solved the issue for me, and it felt meaningful.
MARIANNE CANADA: Oh, wow. That is so my next level organization. I do like that. That's really impressive.
BREEGAN JANE: But it has to be heartfelt. If you're going to do it, go big, or just skip it.
MARIANNE CANADA: Yeah, go big, or stay home, I guess. All right, well, Breegan, this has been so fun. I can't wait for everyone to see this show. It's just like the delightful, warm hug that we all need and such a great idea in general. So before we let you go, where can we find you on social media? And tell everyone when and where we can watch your show, The House My Wedding Bought.
BREEGAN JANE: So The House My Wedding Bought premieres on June 16. And it's coming to Discovery+ and HGTV. You can find me @breeganjane everywhere across social app, Breegan Jane, which is B-R-E-E-G-A-N J-A-N-E, .com, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, all of it. And be sure if you see the show and you want to connect and talk with us to hashtag it #TheHouseMyWeddingBought.
MARIANNE CANADA: Yes, and we will also put all of that in the show notes at hgtv.com/podcast. Thank you so much, Breegan. I hope you come back again soon.
BREEGAN JANE: Thank you.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
MARIANNE CANADA: You know, I feel bad that I'm so hard on wedding favors because people clearly like them. Brad, did you guys have a wedding? Did you go, I don't know, a little like Star Wars figurines?
BRAD: No, I think we had candy, bags of candy.
MARIANNE CANADA: OK. I like things I can eat.
BRAD: Yeah, I think it was candy, but I honestly don't remember. That was so long ago. I've been married for a very long time, 14 years.
MARIANNE CANADA: I was trying to think, I've gotten some bad ones.
MADELEINE: I mean the Koozie, the monogrammed Koozie, or the Koozie with the couple's name and date on it is pretty much a give in. And I just, I don't really need it. I love a favor that you can eat. I've also seen succulent favors. OK. I'm done with that.
MARIANNE CANADA: Yeah, that's fine.
MADELEINE: Our plan is very cute, but just anything with the couple's name or anything-- I'm like, I love you guys but not that much. Every time I grab a beer, I don't need to see you. I don't need to-- I don't know.
MARIANNE CANADA: I don't. I love and appreciate you, but I do not-- what am I supposed to do with this single engraved wedding like wine glass engraved with your names and your wedding date? I just want people to save that money. Go out for an amazing dinner on your honeymoon. Just don't do it.
Take that pressure off yourself. Skip the Jordan almonds. I only know one person on the planet that likes them. Just no.
But anyway, I really, I'm going to stop my hot take on wedding favors before I insult anyone. I want to get to our next conversation because we've got one of my good friends and coworkers, HGTV editor, Chelsea Faulkner.
Chelsea is a former wedding florist, and she's here to give us her thoughts on wedding flowers and advice if you're thinking about doing them yourself. I know this is a hot topic. So let's get to it.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
So, Chelsea?
CHELSEA FAULKNER: Yes.
MARIANNE CANADA: Chelsea Faulkner, you are an HGTV editor and flour enthusiast. And you also used to be a professional florist. We just talked to Breegan Jane about splitting your budget between home and wedding. And I personally know that flowers can be a huge chunk of your budget. So just how much are wedding flowers running these days?
CHELSEA FAULKNER: Last I checked, wedding flowers were about $2,000 to $4,000. That's an average cost. Now, that's not including the lower end of the budget or the higher end of the budget.
And I know that sounds like a lot, but when you consider that the average wedding these days it's about $20,000, and that's not including all of the factors that came in when COVID happened, like shipping delays and stock shortages. I mean, it just-- the cost of flowers is only increasing. But these days, there's a lot of different options to lower the cost of a wedding.
So you can do your own flowers, for example. Or you can have a professional just to use certain parts of your wedding flowers instead of going full out peonies and hydrangeas and roses. There are ways to mess with the cost. Or if flowers are a make or break for you, just make sure that you budget that into the total cost.
MARIANNE CANADA: Yeah, I mean, I have to say yes $2,000 to $4,000 is a lot of money, especially for something that is going to end up in the trash most likely. But it doesn't seem that astronomical to me because I'm a flower person. So I would definitely have to set aside budget for that. And I've also been to some insane over-the-top weddings, where I feel like the flower budget was like $100,000.
CHELSEA FAULKNER: Yeah. Yeah, over the four years that I did wedding flowers, I think the most expensive wedding we did, it was like $40,000 just on flowers. And we had to rent two refrigerated trucks just to get them all to the venue.
MARIANNE CANADA: OK. That is what I wanted to get into next. It is, I think, hard for people who are not flower people. It's hard for them to wrap their head around the expense. Why is it so expensive? So can you give a little of that Insider Insight as to why the cost is so significant? For example, you may not realize that people are having to rent refrigerated trucks for your flowers.
CHELSEA FAULKNER: It's a lot of work. Putting flowers together is work. It's a big lift for florists. And that's why a lot of people don't do their own flowers because you have to plan months in advance.
You have to order flowers months in advance. You have to consider labor delivery like refrigerated trucks, seasonality of flowers, shipping costs. I mean, I'm honestly surprised that it's not more expensive.
MARIANNE CANADA: Yeah, I mean, when you consider the amount of labor and manpower that goes into it, and it's not like you can work ahead. It has to be done within two or three days of the wedding max. I mean, that's the earliest you can get started.
I feel like I have more than the average amount of knowledge about this because I actually did my wedding flowers with my mom. But I had a secret weapon, which is that my mom worked at the time for a wedding flower florist. So she-- we borrowed-- it was one of our neighbors at the time. We used her refrigerators to keep the flowers in, and so we were able to get professional results and still do them ourselves. We could use her wholesalers license to order the flowers and things like that.
But your average person does not have access to a professional florist in all of their resources. So what advice do you have for people who do want to take wedding flowers into their own hands? Because it is not as easy as going out into your front yard or just seeing what's available at the grocery store that week.
CHELSEA FAULKNER: Four big tips-- prep. Consider the season. Order early, and leave the important things to the professionals.
The one thing that I think the average person does not realize about flowers is that you really do have to know how much you're going to order. So you have to think about an arrangement. So if you're going to have 10 table arrangements and you know that you want your arrangement to be the standard vase size, you need to count how many blooms are going to be in that vase. And then you need to calculate the amount of flowers from there.
So say, we would do for one large table arrangement five staple blooms, so five roses, and then five filler flowers, so five pieces of stock, or five whatever the other-- chamomile, five stems of chamomile, and then seven stems of greenery. So you would count all that up times the amount of tables that you have. And that's how much you would order for your flowers.
But then you also have to consider bar arrangements. You have to consider entryway arrangements, altar arrangements. And then you have to think about bouquets, so your bouquet plus the bridesmaids' bouquets plus any boutonnieres that you're going to have for the groom and the groomsmen. And then you also have to think about extended family. Does your mother want to carry a bouquet down the aisle?
Once you have all of this together, once you know exactly how many arrangements you need, and you know about how many flowers are each one, you can do the math from there. And then account 10% on top of that because inevitably when the flowers come in, some are going to be dead. Some are going to break. And then a lot of times, you just miscalculate, and you need more than you thought you did. And that's just prep.
MARIANNE CANADA: That's just one of the four.
CHELSEA FAULKNER: Calculating your flowers, and then you have to figure out where to order them. So like you mentioned, your mother had a wholesaler's license. Not just anybody can get a wholesaler's license.
So you either have to work for a florist, work at a grocery store, or be a florist or a local business. And then you have to go to the wholesaler in your town and be like, please let me buy from you, which a lot of times, they're going to tell you no because they want that business to go to those local florists because that's where their bread and butter is. And they want to be loyal to them, and that's totally understandable.
So a lot of times, what you'll end up having to do is go to a grocery store. That's where you're going to get flowers for the cheapest because their markup isn't a lot, and they also get bulk orders in, so their price is a little bit lower. So then you have to go to the grocery store. You'll have to order at least six weeks in advance. So that's important to remember. So order early.
And then you also have to consider the season. I mean, like I said earlier, if you get married in December and you want peonies, it's just not going to happen. You're going to pay $15 per flower. It is astronomical considering in the summer, you can order peonies for $6 a stem.
So you have to do your prep. Maybe even ask the grocery store like, hey, what flower is going to be in season right now? And then cultivate your look and your style and your arrangements based on what's going to be readily available.
Now, if you do want to splurge and get those peonies in December, go for it. But then try to economize elsewhere. Instead of getting Ivy or Jackson vine greenery, which is a little bit more expensive, do you lemon leaf.
You have to do your research. You have to get online. You have to know what prices are, or maybe talk to a florist friend, or just the florist at the grocery store are always very willing to help. They're always very knowledgeable.
And then my other piece of advice is at the end of the day, if you know for sure that you may not be able to do the best job, leave the big things for the professionals. So leave the bouquet, the bridal bouquet, for the professionals. And then let your bridesmaids make their own bouquets the night before.
Have a little sleepover. Let them make their own the night before. And then leave the arch, the beautiful, big arch arrangement to a professional. And then you guys can do the arrangements that go down the aisle or the table arrangements, things that people aren't going to be looking at as closely. So that will save you a little bit of money, but also make sure that nothing goes wrong on your big day.
And the things that are the most important are the things that are going to be photographed the most, which are the bridal bouquet and the archway arrangement. They're the absolute best they can be. And you're also not having to spend $4,000 at a florist.
MARIANNE CANADA: Yes, I mean, suddenly, everyone is like, oh, that's why florists get paid what they do. It's so much work, and it's so much to think about.
I know that you do-- you also have some interesting ideas for floral alternatives. If you don't want to spend a ton on flowers, especially for your table arrangements or things like that or even alternatives for people to carry down the aisle, can you share a couple of those?
CHELSEA FAULKNER: I wish I had done this a few years ago. I saw a wedding where the only flower arrangement was the bridal bouquet. And then her bridesmaids carried these beautiful gold lanterns down the aisle.
MARIANNE CANADA: Ah, I love that.
CHELSEA FAULKNER: It was so pretty. It was so whimsical, and it was dark, so they glowed. And then also the table arrangements were the same ones. So after the bridesmaids were done and they came back down the aisle, they set those lanterns in the middle of the tables, so they doubled. They doubled as arrangement or as table arrangements and then also bridesmaid bouquets.
MARIANNE CANADA: That's so smart.
CHELSEA FAULKNER: Yeah. And then also I've been seeing a lot of pure greenery arrangements, which will save you a lot of money, I mean, because a stem of greenery is a tenth of the cost of a flower. So I mean, just full arrangements of eucalyptus or Jackson vine or Ivy, it'll save you a lot of money.
MARIANNE CANADA: So there you go. Anyone who is out there who heard that peony cost and has sticker shock, you've got some alternatives. As you know, I've got a ton of peonies for the four weeks of the year that they bloom, and I don't care which of my children, but one of my children has to get married during peony season.
CHELSEA FAULKNER: Absolutely.
MARIANNE CANADA: You guys don't understand. This is like $1,000 worth of flowers out front right now.
CHELSEA FAULKNER: More than that. It's more than that, for sure. Yeah, I did a friend's wedding who got married in June simply because her neighbor had a huge hedgerow of peonies. And we went outside, and we cut every single one of them.
MARIANNE CANADA: Oh, my gosh.
CHELSEA FAULKNER: It was gorgeous. It was gorgeous. And she saved a lot of money.
MARIANNE CANADA: That's insane. I'll drop onto the show notes a picture of-- I had to cut-- it wasn't all of them. It was like a tenth of them, but it was after a big storm, and it was-- I mean, they were I felt like something out of a magazine. It was such a huge bunch of peonies. So we'll drop that into the show notes.
CHELSEA FAULKNER: I saw that picture. You looked like Martha Stewart.
MARIANNE CANADA: I know. I felt like Martha Stewart. I was like, this is it. So yeah, we'll drop that picture into the show notes at hgtv.com/podcast.
So you've got obviously a ton of knowledge. But you also have some really great stories about weddings. One of my personal favorites, this might be a little cringy for you, but it's the story of your first solo wedding as a florist, and things went a little awry.
CHELSEA FAULKNER: Yeah, you're right. It is cringy. I still feel sick in my stomach every time I think about it. But it is a good lesson to be learned. So I will share it with you.
Yeah, a good friend of mine is-- I was probably a year into the industry at this point. And I was like, I can do my friend's weddings. No problem.
We had ordered all the flowers. We had accounted for everything that need-- I mean, I thought that I had prepped out the wazoo. I had done everything I knew to do. And the wedding that day, it was in June in Tennessee, and it ended up being about 90 degrees.
I had never made boutonnieres by myself before. For anyone who's made a boutonniere, they are not in water. So any bloom that you use needs to be something that can survive outside of water for more than three hours, so like greenery or succulents, things like that.
Well, she was really-- this was back in 2000, gosh, 2011, I think when hydrant-- blue hydrangeas were like all the rage for wedding flowers. And she wanted them and everything. And I was like, yeah, we can definitely put blue hydrangeas in a boutonniere. No problem. That will be gorgeous.
So about an hour and a half before the wedding-- and I was going to this wedding. So I had to do the flowers that morning and then get ready and come to the wedding. I was putting the boutonnieres together, and I was using the boutonniere glue and putting everything together.
And I noticed that the little hydrangeas were starting to die. And I was like, well, maybe I just got a bad one. So I threw those away, and I made a whole fresh batch. I put them in the fridge, and they were fine.
So I delivered everything I delivered. Her bouquet was all hydrangea. All of the bridesmaid bouquets were hydrangeas. All of the boutonnieres were hydrangeas, and they were gorgeous.
When I deliver them, she was thrilled. She was over the moon. So I delivered them. They put them in the fridge.
I went home, got ready. Came back to the wedding. And as I was sitting in the pew. And I was looking-- so the wedding was outside in June in Tennessee. Like I said, it was 90 degrees.
They had done all of their photos before the wedding, so about an hour's worth of standing in the heat with those flowers, everyone-- groomsmen, bridesmaids, everybody. So I'm sitting in the pew, and I look down the aisle. The bride is coming down, and her bouquet is just wilted, wilted almost to her hands.
And I was like, what? Oh, no. What happened?
And then I look up at the altar, and I noticed that every single one of the grooms men's boutonnieres were just flopped over like little, sad, dead baby flowers. And I was horrified because these were friends that I-- everyone there I knew, and they knew me. And they knew that I did the flowers.
And I was just so embarrassed and humiliated. But the thing is I don't even think they noticed. I don't think they noticed.
She never said anything to me afterwards. In all of the pictures, they looked good. So--
MARIANNE CANADA: That's what they say. They looked great in the pictures. And they were in the heat, the heat of the moment.
CHELSEA FAULKNER: Yeah.
MARIANNE CANADA: No pun intended.
CHELSEA FAULKNER: Yeah.
MARIANNE CANADA: So I'm sure they didn't, but oh, man. I just, I feel worst for you in that situation because you're the one that's going to be the hardest on yourself.
CHELSEA FAULKNER: Absolutely.
MARIANNE CANADA: Lesson learned about hydrangeas.
CHELSEA FAULKNER: Lesson learned, you just put them in arrangements. Don't use them as-- well, I mean, you can use them as bridal bouquets, but just make sure it's not 90 degrees and outside. I didn't even stay for the reception. I bolted.
MARIANNE CANADA: Oh, man.
CHELSEA FAULKNER: I was so ashamed.
MARIANNE CANADA: Pure flower shame.
CHELSEA FAULKNER: Yeah.
MARIANNE CANADA: Oh, well, assuming we're not talking about hydrangeas, I do want to talk about current trends because I do think we are cruising into a bumper wedding. You're right. Everyone had to cancel and put off, and everyone is so anxious to get married and have their celebration.
So what kind of flower trends are you seeing right now or are you into for weddings, especially bouquets? Because things have changed a lot since I got married.
CHELSEA FAULKNER: Oh, yeah, definitely. When you got married, I'm going to just guess that it was roundy-moundy. That was--
MARIANNE CANADA: Oh, yeah.
CHELSEA FAULKNER: --what the bouquet looked like? Yeah.
MARIANNE CANADA: Oh, yeah, I could have taken someone's head clean off. That bouquet weighed 20 pounds.
CHELSEA FAULKNER: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And it was a nice, big beautiful ball of peonies, wasn't it? It was not peonies. It was a big ball. It was green hydrangeas, green roses, Phalaenopsis orchids, Lily of the valley, and white Lisianthus.
MARIANNE CANADA: It was beautiful. But it was exhausting to carry. I had to set it down.
CHELSEA FAULKNER: Yeah, those are the same flowers that were in Princess Diana's bouquet.
MARIANNE CANADA: Oh, well, Princess Diana and I are basically the same.
CHELSEA FAULKNER: Yeah, absolutely. I still love that look, and that's what was in file when I started doing wedding flowers. And it is so much easier bouquets like that than it is the ones these days. But I personally like what's in style right now, which I would call organically artful, flowers that are loose and draping and almost on the side of wildflowers.
It looks easy. It looks like you just pulled it together from a field of flowers. But obviously, it takes longer than that. It's art.
Flowers these days look like art, and they're beautiful and fresh and free and flowing, things like berries, greenery like Ivy and Jackson vine, like I mentioned earlier, flowers like chamomile and ranunculus, just beautiful free-flowing artful types of flowers. That's what the wedding industry is really seeing these days.
And we're also not seeing as many table arrangements. Like I said earlier, people are opting to spend their big bucks on their altar flowers and their bridal bouquets. And then everything else is just lanterns and greenery and things that don't cost as much money but still look beautiful.
MARIANNE CANADA: I love that.
CHELSEA FAULKNER: Me too.
MARIANNE CANADA: I mean, I loved my wedding. There's honestly nothing I would change. But I do think it would be fun to have another one. I just, I don't want a new husband, so I can't.
CHELSEA FAULKNER: Maybe you can renew your vows.
MARIANNE CANADA: Yeah. Well, see. It's also a lot of work.
CHELSEA FAULKNER: A lot of work and a lot of money. For the amount of money you spend on a wedding these days, you could go on three vacations.
MARIANNE CANADA: Also to say, I think I would rather go to Europe. But it's fun to think about and relive. So something else that I think people are more aware of now than they were when I got married, for example is the carbon footprint associated with flowers.
I mean, it is pretty hefty these flowers, like you said. They're often being flown from across the world. They require a lot of water and fertilizer in greenhouses.
And if we want to maybe explore options to make wedding flowers more sustainable or give them life beyond that one day because it also generates so much trash, do you have any thoughts around that or advice for people who want to make less of an impact?
CHELSEA FAULKNER: Yeah, definitely. I mean, other than just paring back on how many flowers you have at your wedding in general, your other options are to order locally, which means local flower farms. So, for example, here in Tennessee, we've got a handful of flower farms just around us.
There's a lavender farm down the street. There's a farm that does or that grows zinnias and ranunculus and peonies, which you wouldn't think would happen in East Tennessee. But at certain times of the year, it does.
So planning your wedding to be in a season where the most flowers are grown in your area will allow you to order locally. And also, ordering locally, sometimes will save you money because, like you said, you're not having to pay shipping costs. It's not going to come from Holland. It's not going to come from Columbia.
So there's not an airplane involved in these flowers getting to your front step. And plus, you're able to give money back into your community, which I think is great.
And then at the end of the day, which there is absolutely nothing wrong with ordering flowers the traditional way, ordering them to the grocery store or ordering from your florist. If you do go that route and you go traditional wedding and you go all out with your flowers, instead of throwing bouquets away at the end of the reception, which shocker, I did not know until I had my own wedding, that that's what people did. They throw them in the trash because there's-- nobody wants to take them home after they're hot, and they've been drinking all day, and they don't want to put a bouquet in their car.
So there are multiple organizations across the US that will pick up flowers from your event, so whether that'd be a wedding or a birthday party or anything. They will pick up those flowers at the end of the event as long as you coordinate with them beforehand. And then they will take them, and they'll donate them to hospitals and nursing homes and places where people can use a little bit of joy and would love a fresh arrangement, an arrangement that probably has two more weeks of life left in it.
So that way, you're not totally wasting those flowers, but you're also giving back.
MARIANNE CANADA: Yes, we've got an organization like that here in East Tennessee called Random Act of Flowers. And I love their work. We'll make sure and put that in the show notes as well and so that you can look for something similar in your area.
I will also say as someone who has used a lot of floral foam and oasis in her time, I think that people are trying to use that less, too, because it's not biodegradable. It's always been the go-to. And I feel a lot of residual guilt about that. But all we can do is try to do better in the future, right?
CHELSEA FAULKNER: Yeah. Oh, and that's another point. There are two different types of floral foam. So if you are going to do your own arrangements, there's faux floral foam, and then there's fresh floral foam. And a lot of times, people don't know that those are two different things. So if you're going to do fresh flowers, make sure you're ordering fresh floral foam.
MARIANNE CANADA: And that also adds to the cost. So that is just one more reason that you may decide you want to work with a florist after all. Well, Chelsea, before we let you go, I have one more question for you about if you do want to try to take your bouquet home, and you do want to try to preserve all or part of it, do you have any tips for that? Because I definitely set mine down. My mom hung it from her-- she hung it in her laundry room to dry it, and it didn't really work, let's just say.
CHELSEA FAULKNER: Yeah. I mean, traditionally, that's been the only way that you can preserve your bouquet. I did the exact same thing. My book hung in the garage at my parents' house for a year and a half before finally, my mom was like, I'm throwing this in the garbage.
I was like, yeah. This is trash. I just don't know what else to do with it. And people they will send them and have them professionally dried and then put in a shadow box.
But that's outdated these days. Nobody really does that anymore. And plus, where are you going to hang it? I mean, I don't know.
So my very favorite way to preserve your book right now-- my mother-in-law did this for me for Christmas. You can take pieces of your bouquet, so say, your favorite flowers, like a rose or like a small piece of chamomile. And you can send it to a jewelry maker. Have them either press the flower or crush up the leaves of a dried flower and make them into jewelry, like earrings, rings, bracelets. It's beautiful, necklaces.
So you can have these little pieces of your-- it's not your full bouquet, but it's little pieces of it. And you can still be reminded of that special day any time you wear this jewelry. And it's really gorgeous stuff. It's not gaudy at all.
So that's my favorite way to do it. But there's also other ways. You can dry it in gel, which will preserve it for about a year looking exactly like it did the day you got married.
But then after about a year, the liquid from that gel starts to evaporate. And then it just turns into a dried bouquet. And you spent all that money for no reason.
You can have it professionally preserved. But it's never going to look like it did the day of your wedding. And it costs a lot of money.
But there's also a lot of other ways. We have an article on HGTV, which we can link to.
MARIANNE CANADA: Yes, we can put that in the show notes, for sure.
CHELSEA FAULKNER: We did three really gorgeous ways to preserve your bouquet, one of them being pressing the leaves and then arranging them in a backless frame with your wedding invitation, which I thought was so gorgeous. So we'll link to that, and you guys can look at it.
MARIANNE CANADA: Yeah, I love that. Well, you'll find that at hgtv.com/podcast. But I mean, you're right. The best way to remember if you really want to remember it exactly how it was, that's why you get great photographs taken because that's really the only way.
I also have a sentimental love of just finding a pressed flower in a book. Or just knowing that those little treasures are tucked away, I think that's really special, too.
Well, Chelsea, this was so great and so helpful. You always are a wealth of information. So thank you so much, and I can't wait to have you come back because, guys, we just scratched the surface on all the things Chelsea knows about.
CHELSEA FAULKNER: Oh, we also scratched the surface on wedding flowers, so good luck to anybody doing your own flowers. You can do it. But like I said, prep and do your research.
MARIANNE CANADA: And you don't have to.
CHELSEA FAULKNER: And you don't have to. Exactly. Thank you so much for having me. This was so much fun.
MARIANNE CANADA: Thank you.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
OK. Pop quiz, podcast team. Who remembers their wedding flowers? Brad. Brad is raising his hand. OK.
BRAD: They were hydrangeas.
MARIANNE CANADA: Hydrangeas. What color?
BRAD: Did I say it wrong? Hydrangea-- they're blue. They were blue hydrangeas.
MARIANNE CANADA: And did they wilt?
BRAD: I don't remember that.
MARIANNE CANADA: See, nobody here remembers.
BRAD: I was wilted from the open bar.
MARIANNE CANADA: Brad was not paying attention to the flowers, let's just say. How about you, Madeleine? Do you remember your wedding flowers?
MADELEINE: This is really bad. I am having to look at my wedding photos right now on Facebook and see. OK, so I got married in the fall in Tennessee first weekend in November. So it's peak leaf. It's gorgeous. And so we did-- it looks like a palette with some muted greens and some purples.
MARIANNE CANADA: I like that you're like it looks like you weren't there.
MADELEINE: It's so weird. So I just, I was the only one who planned my wedding. I did it on my own.
I didn't have any family here, and I had a lot of friends in the industry who I basically was like, here's the vibe. Do what you want. I didn't have a specific vision around anything other than that I wanted people to have a good time and feel really good.
I even let my bridesmaid-- I said, pick a shade of gray. Wear what you want they didn't stand up with me. I wanted them to be able to sit and enjoy themselves. So I had a very laid back approach to my wedding.
But it looks like there was some pretty deep purples in there to contrast with the orangey fall of Tennessee. But I couldn't tell you what specific flower is there at all.
MARIANNE CANADA: I just feel like the way you're describing your own wedding makes me feel like someone gave you a muscle relaxer like the sister in Sixteen Candles. You're like, I hear that I wore white.
MADELEINE: I wish that they had. It's so funny because I was very relaxed to my approach and letting people do their own thing. But on the day of, I was pretty-- I just don't remember a lot. It was all a very big blur.
So I have to go back and be like, that's what happened. OK. Because I was a little stressed. I wish I had been more relaxed on the day, to be honest, and taking it in a little more, but--
MARIANNE CANADA: I hear that. I hear that. Don't we all? There's always something that we wish was different about that day. Well, I'm excited to get to our last little interview because we're talking to one of my best friends who just happens to be an award winning hair and makeup artist.
If you're wondering, gosh, Maryanne seems to have a lot of really talented friends, you are correct. I have basically surrounded myself with the creative Avengers. Do you like my comic book reference there, Brad?
BRAD: It's so great.
MARIANNE CANADA: Thank you. I knew you'd be proud. Anyway, we've got Claire Blessed on to talk all about the 2021 trends that she's loving and her number one piece of advice to feeling your best on your wedding day.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Oh, my God. Claire, I feel like we could really go some places.
CLAIRE BLESSED: We could go a lot of places. That might be a different kind of podcast, but--
MARIANNE CANADA: We'll do a Patreon that is just Claire and I talking about high school and what we talk about on Marco Polo. But people have to pay for that.
CLAIRE BLESSED: Oh, yeah.
MARIANNE CANADA: They're getting this conversation for free.
CLAIRE BLESSED: We're not giving that stuff away, absolutely not.
MARIANNE CANADA: That is gold. Oh, my God. Anyway, before I completely get off track, Claire, besides being one of my oldest and best friends, you are an award-winning hair and makeup artist. You're recognized by Martha Stewart Weddings, Brides Magazine.
You're everywhere. You're the business when it comes to hair and makeup, especially for weddings. So everyone listening right now wants to hear about the top pair and makeup trends that you're seeing this year. And I want to hear what's your favorite.
CLAIRE BLESSED: Well, I'm so happy to be here. I can't believe we come full circle to this moment. OK. So we have completely reimagined what weddings can be, what they can look like, what the bridal looks can be. And so brides are stepping away from this whole idea of a traditional bridal look to something much more authentic.
They're being more playful. They're having more fun. And I think that they just feel like they have permission to do that now after everything that we've gone through.
So with that being said, I think that brides are opting for more lived-in looks, whether that's hair or makeup. I personally adore the unexpected punches of fun like a party pony, which is brilliant for the dance floor. So you do a more traditional ceremony look if you want to and then throw your hair up into a really fun pony for the reception or the after party dance floor.
It's perfect for that. It's functional. But it's also unexpected, and it's really, really fun.
I love the big embellished headbands that we're seeing. It's a really great way to elevate a chic updo, where you can wear them with your hair down or which also is a big trend of going natural. But it's a fun way to elevate any look. It's just pop one of those really big, fashionable headbands in.
Brides are really wanting to feel effortless anymore. They're not wanting anything too overwrought or over the top. They very much want to feel like the most special version of themselves. So I feel like that always it's timeless. It begins and ends with beautiful skin, and that's not something that you can get overnight.
So everyone started really focusing on skin care last year since we weren't wearing as much makeup. And so there's much more of an emphasis on skin care trends, maintaining great skin regimes, and wear a little bit of lightweight foundation with a radiant finish. That's my favorite way to elevate the gorgeous skin to that natural no makeup, makeup look.
MARIANNE CANADA: Yeah, I mean, I couldn't be more thrilled that that is the trend, especially someone who occasionally has to be on camera, not having to do that thick makeup that feels like a second skin, it's just good skin is the goal. And then you don't have to wear as much makeup.
CLAIRE BLESSED: 1,000%. And I feel like all of the tutorials that float around everywhere on the internet has just done nothing but perpetuate this kind of very heavy mask-like makeup trend. And we are moving far away from that.
MARIANNE CANADA: Thank goodness. I want to know, are there any other trends that you're happy to see phasing out when it comes to hair and makeup, especially for a big event like a wedding?
CLAIRE BLESSED: Well, like I said, I've loved the movement back to natural beauty. It's so important to me that people see the bride and not the makeup first. The makeup should not steal attention away from a bride. It should just be her look.
So like I said, I think the flood of makeup tutorials cause heavier makeup altogether. And I think with us minimizing all of our beauty routines, it's taking everyone, including brides back to basics. So another trend that we've seen fall aside is the heavy sculpted brows. So we're moving more into feathered, less sculpted brows that aren't so extreme and dramatic.
MARIANNE CANADA: You know that I'm very interested in this topic. I probably text Claire about my personal eyebrows 17 times a week.
CLAIRE BLESSED: Probably. It's fine. But I mean, I could talk about brows all day long. There's just all different ways to get there. But ultimately, you want it to look like you just have gorgeous, full natural brows.
And there's a very fine line between making them, creating them, creating a full brow, and going over the top, and just creating a very scary brow. And we've all seen those.
MARIANNE CANADA: Yes. You feel like a Muppet, like Bert, like it's just pasted on there. It's tough out there, though, for those of us who grew up in the '90s, early 2000s. And so it was a hard time for the eyebrows.
CLAIRE BLESSED: It's so true. We plucked our eyebrows within an inch of their lives. And we're paying for it now. But that's what great beauty products are for.
So less sculpted brows, I love the movement away from heavy contouring. The fact that every woman thinks that contouring is what she's supposed to be doing on a daily basis is insane to me. I mean, how has that become the narrative?
MARIANNE CANADA: Preach. I've just preached-- unless you are literally a drag queen, making your living expressing this kind of art. I do not understand what we're doing.
CLAIRE BLESSED: It's true. It's true. The drag queens, that is their ministry. They need to stay with the contouring. And it's not something that you need to be doing on a daily basis. It was an industry secret that went public, and now I wish that we could take that conversation off the table.
MARIANNE CANADA: I hear you. Well, which this is a perfect segue because I know this is something that you feel strongly about or have just thoughts and opinions about, I should say.
I do want to talk a little bit about using Pinterest or using YouTube, going out onto the internet for hair and makeup inspiration because I actually think that you have a very unique point of view on this that I think a lot of people need to hear, to be honest.
CLAIRE BLESSED: I'll be honest. Pinterest is an incredible resource for brides to collect inspiration pics. It's a great tool to visually communicate a client who isn't in beauty for them to point to something visually and express their thoughts that way. That's fantastic. But it's really important to remember that it is just a tool.
I joke that Pinterest and YouTube are the beauty equivalents of WebMD. It's entirely too much information for the general public. And honestly, we're only going to harm ourselves with what we come up with.
And no one really has the frame of reference to be able to sift through all of that information. It's way too much. So I'm giving everyone permission to step away and to not feel like they have to be the expert on everything. And that's why you need to hire people that you trust that you can openly communicate with and who will be honest with you and honestly that you really ascribe to their aesthetic. You need to be drawn to the work that they do all the time and not just take a picture in and say, do this, right?
MARIANNE CANADA: Yes. Yes. Yeah. If you're going to use social media for inspiration, use it to dig into the work of the people you're considering hiring. See if they have-- if they already are good at what you want them to do.
CLAIRE BLESSED: 1,000%. Yeah, and I mean, I'll be honest. Absolutely nothing has the potential to stifle creativity like instructing someone to make you look exactly like a picture. It's so limiting when someone hands you something that says do exactly this.
Then you've got these parameters that you feel very, very stuck within. And you're really not going to use your creativity to come up with something more organic. You're just stuck.
MARIANNE CANADA: Are you telling me that you can't make me look like Gigi Hadid if I just--
CLAIRE BLESSED: That is another podcast, Marianne. That's another podcast.
MARIANNE CANADA: That'll be another bonus episode.
CLAIRE BLESSED: Promise episode.
MARIANNE CANADA: Well, I think you have touched on something now, is that people do-- they have a lot of trouble communicating or verbalizing to a professional how they want to look. It's really intimidating to a lot of people, especially if they don't have a lot of makeup skills or can't verbalize what they want. So what is the best way for someone to get on the same page with their hair and makeup team before their wedding?
CLAIRE BLESSED: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I will just say that the beauty industry as a whole is so overwhelming. It's incredible.
I honestly think that they make billions of dollars off keeping women confused. And so they're like, oh, oh, this is what I need to be doing. OK. I'll do this, or I'll do this. And it's overwhelming.
But like I said, you don't have to be the expert. You hire people that you identify with that you see something that you love in their work. You do bring inspiration pictures to help describe what you like. I also think it's very important to describe what you don't like. That is just as important.
I always tell my clients I might think that you look beautiful in a red lip. But if your idea of lipstick is a tinted Chapstick, you're never going to feel great that way. So it's not just about my artistry and what I think would be beautiful. It's very much about client-led and about what makes them feel beautiful and making sure that we take that path together.
And I maybe help them to push the boundaries a little bit beyond their every day, but I use them to help guide me to-- this is about them. This is not about me.
MARIANNE CANADA: I think something that need-- something people need to remember is this is literally the most photographed you're ever going to be in your life. It's just most of us, unless you are Gigi Hadid, are not being photographed every time they step foot outside their apartments. So it is a time to scale up a little bit.
I know a lot of women who don't wear a lot of makeup. They have a very, very pared back beauty routine. Let the makeup artist amp things up a little bit.
You'll feel better. You'll look at those pictures. You'll be glad you did because photography and video can really wash out your features.
CLAIRE BLESSED: It can. But that being said, it's also there are ways of defining your features without making you feel like a drag queen. Because even if they look great in pictures, if they're not feeling beautiful in-person, that also will come across in pictures. So it's so important to me that my clients feel as beautiful in-person as they do afterwards when they're looking at the pictures. And they realize, yeah, hey, that eyeliner was a good idea, but we didn't have to make it a smokey eye.
So that's part of another thing with communicating with your hair and makeup artist. Communication is absolutely everything in this process.
I am a huge fan of the Zoom meetings with your creative team. I think it's a great way to almost instantly get together. You don't have to plan for an in-person trial until much later if you do that at all. A lot of times nowadays, we're skipping that completely because of-- for destination events anyway because of travel limitations.
Booking a Zoom meeting is a great way, whether you've booked a beauty team or not, to making sure that you feel comfortable with that team. If you don't feel like you guys can have a fun conversation in a Zoom meeting, you're not going to have rapport when you're stressed on the weekend of your wedding.
MARIANNE CANADA: You're completely right. The vibe needs to be there. And that is actually something I really love about your team is this is just a fun group of people.
You would be just as happy having a cocktail with this group of people as you would be having them do your makeup. And then I think it goes really far.
CLAIRE BLESSED: We cannot be fun. We are like, we all adore each other. And it's so much fun. And it's honestly such a celebration when we all get together with our clients. We have so much fun.
And again, that starts from the very, very beginning, communicating, creating this relationship where they feel safe. Hair and makeup is a small, small part of the overall weekend. But if they don't feel beautiful, it skews the entire thing. I would say we are in the 18 inches with these people.
And we are touching them. We are affecting their energy. We're affecting the way that they feel about themselves and the way they're experiencing everything. So it's so important that they feel like they can turn to me and say, hey, I changed my mind, or hey, let's go a different direction, or I don't feel pretty. Can we change the lipstick color?
And it means nothing to me. I don't show up with an ego because again, this is not my show. This is about them. And I'm so excited when clients do that to me because then it gives me an opportunity to make them feel even better.
So do not be afraid to speak up. Even if you can't say what you do want, it's perfectly OK to say, I don't know what I want, but I know that this isn't it. Just keep looking. There's only 3 billion lipstick shades, so you know.
MARIANNE CANADA: Yeah, we can go a different way. Literally the last time Claire did my makeup, I had to ask her to tone down the eyelashes. I was like, I need to take this-- I need to take this down like about 25% because, I mean, I looked incredible. But it was a lot for this circumstance.
CLAIRE BLESSED: It was for you.
MARIANNE CANADA: It was for me.
CLAIRE BLESSED: Yeah, it's about what makes you feel beautiful, and it went beyond those parameters.
MARIANNE CANADA: Yeah, you know me. I love a dramatic lash moment.
CLAIRE BLESSED: You always say, I'll put lashes on anything that sits still long enough. So I think you were just sat there too long.
MARIANNE CANADA: I did. You're like, I'm going to keep--
CLAIRE BLESSED: It just happened.
MARIANNE CANADA: I'm going to keep going. Well, Claire, you've dropped so many incredible nuggets of wisdom. Do you have a single bit of advice that you can give someone on how to look and feel their best on their wedding day?
CLAIRE BLESSED: I have several thoughts on that. I can't say, please don't--
MARIANNE CANADA: Just I don't have a single thought on anything.
CLAIRE BLESSED: Yeah, hold my beer. Let's unpack this for a second. Don't wait until the wedding day to think about your skin. Should I say that again? Don't wait until the wedding day to think about your skin.
The best makeup starts with gorgeous skin. That takes work. So make sure that you're taking care of it. Make sure that you're exfoliating, that you're really hydrating it, and that you're taking your makeup off at night.
Wedding planning is stressful, and your skin isn't great at hiding stress. So just make sure that you're sticking to a really great routine and that you're committed for the long haul to doing that and not just showing up and handing some problems skin to your team that weekend and asking them to make it right. Make sure that you hire people who you trust whose work that you love. That is such a huge piece of advice.
Make sure that they listen to you. If they don't listen to you, it's not a good fit. If they keep trying to push their own agenda, it's not a good fit. You're not going to feel safe in that space.
So don't be afraid to speak up. And if they don't listen, go a different direction. Opt for the hair extensions.
Pretty much every photo that you're going to bring your team is going to have extensions in them. They make updos fuller. They give the stylist something to work with. When you wear your hair down, it elevates every single look, and it's going to look gorgeous in photographs.
And honestly, hair extensions are the equivalent of wearing eye-- of course, I always love the individual eyelashes, not the strip lashes for clients. It's the equivalent of the individual lashes. It's just going to elevate the look. It's going to look incredible in pictures. It just makes it that much more special.
MARIANNE CANADA: Go for the hair extensions. You heard it here. Well, Clare, if everyone wants to follow along with your work, which I highly recommend if you are interested in beauty at all, even if you're not headed down the aisle, I recommend you follow Clare. Where can we all find you and follow you on social media?
CLAIRE BLESSED: My Instagram is @ClaireBlessed.
MARIANNE CANADA: We'll drop everything in the show notes at hgtv.com/podcast. So yeah, Clare Blessed. It's fun. She goes a lot of really beautiful places and does a lot of really beautiful work.
Well, friend, I hope-- I think you need to come back on some time. We can just do an occasional Claire segment, where like, I yell at you about buying trees that you don't put in the right light, or--
CLAIRE BLESSED: Right. Oh, that tree is right here.
MARIANNE CANADA: The tree actually looks good.
CLAIRE BLESSED: You know why the tree looks good because I put it by the window in my studio. It was in the corner in my living room, where Maryanne said, don't put that tree there. And I said, but, Maryanne, I want the tree there. And she said-- she texted me and said, it will die.
MARIANNE CANADA: Yep, I said, well, if you want the tree there, then just know that it's going to die.
CLAIRE BLESSED: And I said you're a hateful person. And I didn't talk to you for a while. And when the leaves started falling, I moved it up to my office, and it's very happy.
MARIANNE CANADA: We're just going to end on that.
CLAIRE BLESSED: We could go on all night.
MARIANNE CANADA: And would. Thanks, Blessed.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Regardless of your marital status or your own matrimonial plans, we hope you enjoyed this wedding episode and all of the helpful tips and tricks from our guests today. Kind of makes me want to plan a wedding all over again. I got to tell you.
I want to give a special thanks to Breegan Jane of The House My Wedding Bought, HGTV editor, Chelsea Faulkner, and hair and makeup artist, Clare Blessed, for all of their valuable insight. As usual, you can learn more about all of our guests by checking out our show notes at hgtv.com/podcast.
And for those of you who are still listening, I know there's a few diehards out there who are, I want you to tell me if you've gotten married if you had flowers at your wedding, what were your wedding flowers? Won't you head over to Apple Podcasts and tell me in a review. I will be checking them. Nothing thrills me more than when you diehards answer my question at the end of this podcast.
Don't forget to follow HGTV Obsessed wherever you listen to podcasts, so you never miss an episode. And I will see you guys next Thursday.
[MUSIC PLAYING]