Gail Gardner Blog

We are well and truly in the middle of summer and what wonderful weather we are having too! I have had the pleasure of working with so many beautiful brides and bridesmaids on their wedding day. I have also been working on a few photo shoots for an album cover with accompanying video too and I think I have probably finished with all the proms for this season as schools have now broken up. I am due to work back stage later this year on a local production of Oliver Twist, more of that to come later in the year. For now, please take a look at some of my work over the past two months. My diary is pretty much full up for the summer but do get in touch if you have an autumn wedding or special occasion as I do still have some availability.

I absolutely loved styling Alana at her recent wedding at the beautiful venue, Gosfield Hall.  Alana had a very hectic life and did not have time for a trial so we met for the first time on her wedding day.  She was so sweet, very happy and so very busy.  She wanted to oversee everything so she kept disappearing out of the room for long spells to perfect everything.  I had to search for her several times to pin her down as time was ticking by.  She had a wonderful love story to tell, of how she met her fiancé at church, which I really enjoyed listening to.  I carried out Alanas hair and makeup on the day along with her bridesmaids too.   Jan was the wonderful co-ordinater on the day and as usual, dressed in similar colours to the theme of the day.  The photographer was the fabulous Ben from Lavenham Photographic www.lavenhamphotographic.co.uk, such lovely photos, as usual.  The venue looked absolutely stunning.  Congratulations Alana. x

I have been extremely busy with wedding trials, and weddings.  It is going to be one very busy summer.  I  must say congratulations to all my lovely recent brides and to my bride of yesterday, Kelly Groves, who married at Maidens Barn, also to my bride of today, Kelly Perry who married at Leez Priory and my bride tomorrow, Alana, who is getting married at Gosfield Hall.  Earlier this week I attended a Mac Makeup Masterclass in London.  I had such a fabulous day as always, meeting new people and learning the latest tips and tricks of makeup artistry and of course I spent far too much money. I am attaching a couple of photos of the Makeup Masterclass Model.

I have also been busy working on a photo shoot for an album cover for a lovely lady which has been great fun.  We are filming the music video over a couple of days in London in June.  Here are a few photos of some of my recent activity, all involving hair and makeup.  Ignore any blurry images, I am responsible the poor photos!  Will be back in touch again soon.  Gail

Today I met lovely Emma, who married at The Fennes Estate in Braintree, Essex.  Emma was marrying a strapping 6 foot 7 young man today.  For this reason, I had to take a photo of her beautiful shoes.  Today I decided to have a good look around the Fennes and I was amazed at how spacious and beautiful it was.  The house is yours for the entire day.  There are lots of little rooms dotted about and plenty of places to go for a walk.  The ceremony room looked so beautiful with the most gorgeous chair covers, which Emma brought with her.  They made the entire room look stunning.  The wedding breakfast tables looked so inviting, and once again, I just wished there was a space for me.  It is clear that Emma has style and taste, everything was perfect, even down to the tiniest detail.  The favours were different on every table, each favour was selected for the individual guest.  There were 56 in total attending the wedding so it was quite an intimate affair.  I took plenty of ‘unprofessional’ photos today to show off.  Naturally, the first one being of beautiful Emma. Congratulations Emma! xx

I met a lovely bride today who married today at the beautiful Gosfield Hall.  Gosfield Hall is such a grand venue, you can imagine Kings and Queens getting married there!  It really is a very special venue.  I was lucky enough to attend a friends wedding there a few years ago, but I do work there all the time carrying out hair and makeup for the bride and her party so I do get to enjoy the beautiful decor very often.  I am always envious of the guests because I have eaten the food at Gosfield Hall and I know just how good it is.  Today Elisa married there.  Elisa was such a beautiful bride, she was unusually calm but maybe that’s because she was planning on mingling with her fiance and her guests before she walked down the aisle.  This is becoming increasingly more common as it takes away the nerves for many brides.

Today Elisa had her hair and makeup carried out along with her mother.  I managed to take a few ‘unprofessional’ shots but will be making a call to her photographer soon to chase up some lovely photos to show you all of Elisa in her dress.  The first photo is of Elisas’ hair but the rest of the photos are just of the specatular venue that is Gosfield Hall.  I could not resist taking a photo of the very very long aisle that the bride has to walk down to meet her husband to be!  Congratulations lovely Elisa. xx

Loved spending yesterday with bride Rebecca at the stunning Mulberry House Hotel in Ongar, Essex.   Rebecca had beautiful hair to work with so I did not need to use any extensions or padding to create this pretty hairstyle.  These photos are just from my camera, hopefully the lovely photographer Scott from The Edge will supply me with a few professional photos soon with Rebecca in her wedding dress.  I carried out the hair and makeup yesterday.  I cannot resist posting a photo of her wedding breakfast room.  Rebecca was having a very small wedding with only 12 guests, all direct family.  The table was set up so beautifully and I felt envious of her lucky wedding guests, this was one wedding I wished I was invited too!!  The room looked absolutely stunning and was finished off with the most beautiful flowers by the extremely talented T J Floral Design.  To top it off, the most beautiful wedding cake.   Congratulations Rebecca, I hope you had the most amazing day.  Gail xx

Spring is coming and I am currently meeting many of my March and April brides for their trials.  Today I enjoyed creating this lovely hairstyle which I think is going to be quite popular this year.

I have been busy travelling all around Essex preparing beautiful brides and bridesmaids for their wedding day.  A huge congratulations to Keeley and her bridal party who married at Gosfield Hall recently.  Also, congratulations to Karen who married at Leez Priory last week.  Good luck to lovely bride Julie who is getting married at Hylands House this Saturday.  Here are a few photos from a recent wedding I did at Gosfield Hall.  Photography is by www.samandlouise.co.uk who have recently won Essex Wedding Photographer of the year.

December is always such a busy month for weddings so I always welcome January with open arms.  January is always the quietest month of the year, it gives me a chance to relax and recharge my batteries, catch up with friends and plan the year ahead.  Even though January is generally quiet for weddings, the enquiries for 2016 are immense.  2016 is appearing to be one of the busiest years for weddings and the most popular months at the moment are appearing to be May, June and July so please do not leave it too late to secure your favourite suppliers.  Here are some photos of my beautiful brides who have married in the past couple of weeks.

Well December is appearing to be an extremely popular wedding month.  This is the busiest December I have known for weddings.  I am having the best time ever getting caught up in the magic of the wedding day with the excitement of Christmas running through as well.  This week I have been working at Leez Priory, Gosfield Hall, Newland Hall and The Fennes.  Congratulations to all of my recent brides.  A few images are below with more to follow.

I am pleased to have become a Recommended Supplier to Mulberry House in Ongar and also Maidens Barn too.  I look forward to working more regularly at these two local venues.

December is a very busy month so I am taking a little longer than usual to respond to enquiries so I thank you for your patience.

Here are some of my November and December brides.  More to follow soon.

Lovely Charlotte – who had Special Occasion hair carried out on Saturday.

I have just finished a wonderful week working backstage at a local production of Hairspray the Musical alongside doing weddings by day.  A very hectic week but very enjoyable too.  Congratulations to  Amber who married at Gosfield Hall on Thursday and to Katie who married at Bury Lodge Hotel on Saturday.  Here are some photos of backstage at Hairspray and I will be posting some photos of all my recent brides soon.  Watch this space……Gail x

Here are two of my lovely brides I had the pleasure of styling at Gosfield Hall yesterday and today.  Beautiful Samantha who married at Gosfield Hall yesterday and lovely Jennifer who married today at Gosfield Hall.  Professional photos to follow.

Crazy November.  I’m sure the month of November used to be relatively quiet but it appears to be a popular wedding month this year.  I have worked at some wonderful weddings already this month and its only the 6th of November!!  Congratulations to Wendy who married at Little Channels, Jennifer who married at Leez Priory, Denise who married at Newland Hall, Samantha who married at Gosfield Hall today and to Jennifer who marries at Gosfield Hall tomorrow.  I look forward to posting some photos of these stunning brides here very soon.

I am also about to embark on a world of craziness as I start working backstage at HAIRSPRAY the MUSICAL from Sunday afternoon.  There are to be lots of wigs, makeup and quick changes involved so watch this space and I will upload some fabulous photos once I am in the thick of all the madness.  I expect lots of late nights involved and tons hairspray too!  Very excited!

Also, I am still bubbling with excitement from learning I have become a Finalist for Hairdresser of the Year, I truly love what I do and I like to think it shows in my work.  I will spend hours creating the perfect hairstyle if that is what it takes and long will I continue to do so.

Finally, I spent a wonderful day yesterday at Mac Cosmetics in London.  I attended their Makeup Masterclass in Carnaby Street.  I love these masterclasses, you can always learn something new, different techniques, keep up to date with their latest products to keep up with current trends. Obviously I always spend far too much money afterwards making sure I have all the latest products but I cannot wait to try out my new found knowledge on all of my beautiful brides.

Lastly, just thought I would mention a fabulous classic VW Camper company I recently met at a wedding.  The driver/owner was called Richard and he was taking the bride and her bridesmaids to the church and then on to the venue.  Lovely guy who could not do enough for everyone.  Here are some beautiful photos of his VW Camper Vans.  If you are considering travelling to your wedding in retro style, I can not recommend Richard highly enough. You can contact Richard on www.essexcampervanweddings.co.uk – 07731 799155.

I’ll be back in touch again very soon with Hairspray frenzy photos and pictures of all my November brides.

Gail xx