Gail Gardner Blog

Spent a lovely day with my bride Caroline and her bridal party.  Caroline married at Pontlands Park.  As usual, it was quite an early start as Caroline had a large bridal party.  Caroline got ready at her parents house in Chelmsford and they made me feel so welcome.  Carolines photographer was none other than the wonderful S E Photography.  I then spent my Saturday afternoon carrying out a trial for a July wedding.

I have a lovely week ahead full of trials, proms and weddings so please do be patient if you have emailed me, I try to respond to all emails on the same day.   I will try and upload some photos here soon of my lovely prom girls this week.

Gail x

Looking forward to working with my lovely brides to be this weekend.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that there is no sign of rain!   I am going to give a huge shout out to a fabulous lady called Jayne from Weddings Days Essex.  Jayne is very professional and visits brides on the morning of their wedding to steam and iron the brides dress and veil, to help dress the bride and her bridesmaids.  I have come across Jayne at a few weddings and cannot believe the calm she brings to a brides wedding day.  She has been worth her weight in gold.  She makes sure that the dress fits perfectly and is there for last minute sewing and readjusting bridesmaids dresses.  If I had my way, she would be there for every bride at every wedding as I have seen many nervous mothers of brides attempt to dress their daughter.  Her website address is:  www.weddingdaysessex.co.uk. 

What beautiful weather we are having!  Have worked with some beautiful brides recently and am working with some lovely brides to be too.  I have also been working at Maidens Barn lately and actually got to prepare a bride there.  Most brides get ready at home if they are getting married at Maidens Barn.  What a beautiful hidden gem.  The weather was amazing on Saturday and just perfect for an outside wedding.  Here are a few of my recent brides and bridesmaids and also Maidens Barn. 

Working at so many beautiful venues with lovely brides and bridesmaids.  I just love this time of year.  I get so excited about creating beautiful hairstyles and flawless makeup and have just enjoyed a lovely spell of doing just that.  Here is some of my work but I am waiting for professional photos but for now, below are just a few I took on my phone.  I am up at 5am tomorrow to work with a bridal party of 8, all requiring hair and makeup so I think it will be quite an early night for me tonight.  I try and upload my brides on twitter when I can, on the day of the wedding so do keep an eye on that if you would like to see my work more regularly.

Firstly, my apologies for any delay in responding to your enquiries.  This is a busy time as it is half term and lots of teachers are getting married so I am booked up with weddings and trials and I am also working backstage at a local production of Grease the Musical.  Please do bear with me as I will respond to every enquiry I receive but I am working on weddings during the day and Grease at night so I have a very small window to keep up with my enquiries, it will all be back to normal after Easter.  For now, here are some pictures of my beautiful brides from this week so far.  Happy Easter to you all……

I am thoroughly enjoying Mothers Day today and being utterly spoilt by my four beautiful children.  This is just what I need in preparation for the two weeks that lie ahead.  From tomorrow I go straight into a week full of trials and weddings and just as I reach to Sunday, my preferred day of rest, I am thrown into a crazy week of backstage theatre by night and more weddings by day.  I think it works out that I do not get a day off now for the next 14 days.  I am looking forward to meeting new brides to be on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and also my brides that are getting married on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  On Sunday I start working backstage at Grease the Musical on hair and makeup.  This involves lots of late nights with no time for dinner, so quite good for my waist line!  During my week at Grease, I am also carrying out weddings during the day, at The Reid Rooms, Crondon Park and Stock Brook Manor amongst more trials.  A busy time.   I will not have the time to update my blog regularly but will give you one big update when I do.  If you would like to keep up to date with me on a daily basis and see my brides and also me working backstage at Grease, follow me on Twitter by clicking on the Twitter icon at the top of this page.  Catch up soon!  Gail x

Its that time of year again when the phone is constantly buzzing with young ladies booking their Prom hair and makeup.  My daughter is also having her Prom this year so I am experiencing first hand how important it is that they look and feel absolutely fabulous.  Its all about the dress, shoes, Hair and Makeup.  All this thrown in amongst their GCSEs so it is important that they look fabulous and have a wonderful time celebrating the end of their exams.  Please do book your prom hair and makeup early to avoid disappointment.  I can usually fit in approximately 3 people on a prom day for hair and makeup but I usually get approximately 5 – 10 enquiries per prom so please do book early.

I have been working at many of the usual venues for Weddings and have not had much time to write about them but here are some photos of my recent brides.  The first bride is Hayley who had the surprise wedding at Leez Priory.  She could not believe her husbands impeccable taste.  I helped lace up Hayleys dress as her bridesmaids suddenly panicked that they would do it all wrong.  It was a team effort!  Also I have beautiful Lisa from Gosfield Hall, Melanie at Leez Priory and a few more.   I have a very busy week ahead with more weddings over the next two weeks.

I am also getting ready to work backstage at Grease the Musical for a week in April.  Busy times.  Gail xx

I am just in the process of getting all set up for my bride who is getting married tomorrow.  This is the bride that has no idea where she is getting married.  She should find out this evening and I know she will be very happy.  I will reveal the venue in my next blog but for now lets say Good Luck to Hayley.  Also, good luck to my bride Kate this Saturday who is getting married at Pleshey Church and is having her celebration party at Maidens Barn.  Kate is then emigrating to Dubai the following day!!!  That is one extended honeymoon.

I have worked alongside some fabulous people recently and I am going to give a huge shout out for them.  If you have not already secured your florist, photographer, Cake lady and videographer, I can highly recommend the following as I have worked alongside them all recently and have been very impressed by their work and they are good fun to spend the day with too.

Florist – Simply Wedding Flowers by Juliet – 07843 606458

Amazing Cake Lady:  A Good Crumb – 07827 888972

Rideout Videographer – be prepared to be blown away by his work – 07989 533047

Photographer – The Edge Photography- 0845 4680159

Just back from another wedding at Leez Priory.  Very sorry I have not had the chance to blog very much but I am completely snowed under at the moment with weddings and trials.  For almost every wedding there is a wedding trial and I often hold two trials a day just to keep up.  Recently I have been working at Leez Priory, Gosfield Hall, Prested Hall, Gaynes Park, Newland Hall, Maidens Barn, the Reid Rooms, Blake Hall, Braxted Park and I could go on…….if you follow me on Twitter, you will have more frequent updates of my whereabouts and also the brides hair and makeup styles I carry out on the actual day of the wedding.  I also try to post on Facebook regularly.  Both of these social networks are accessible from this website so please do try and follow me.  I am still getting many calls for weddings in August, even though I have announced that I am fully booked.  I pride myself on one wedding per day so that I can give myself totally to the bride for that one special day.  Its unusual for me just to carry out hair and makeup, I normally end up helping the bride and bridesmaids into their dresses, assist putting on their jewellery, I take photos for them all and I am generally a spare pair of much needed hands in many cases.  I do also know when my job is done and it is time to leave and I then make a discreet exit.

For the past two days I have been at Leez Priory and have not long returned so I am feeling rather tired.  Yesterday Laura McCarthy married and became a Mrs Pooley, she had a very big wedding party.  She looked stunning.  Today’s bride, Melanie, also had a large bridal party.  They were all in the Police Force so it was a very entertaining day listening to all their stories.   I now enter a very busy week again with trials and some wonderful weddings.  One of my brides this week still has no idea where she is getting married, as her husband has organised absolutely everything!  Her wedding trial was tricky as I was given strict instructions not to discuss her wedding day.  So I am really looking forward to working with this particular bride this week.   I have also been practicing my backstage hair and makeup for the production of Grease the Musical, by Young-Gen.  I will be working backstage on Grease for a week in April and I cannot wait.

Well, I’m off now, to rest my weary head and feet as they are particularly sore as I was with my bride from 9am to 3.30pm. Catch up again soon.

Gail x

A very busy year ahead and running out dates fast.  If you are getting married this year, please do not waste anytime in securing all your favourite suppliers as it is appearing to be a very very busy year for weddings.  I have had many brides contact me to ask when is a good time to secure their hair and makeup.  I always say ‘now’ to avoid disappointment.  I have taken so many bookings for 2015 and 2016 so it is really important that you secure all your suppliers as soon as you can.  Here is a photo of Kara who I worked with last weekend.  Kara married at Gosfield Hall.  I have been at Gaynes Park Barnes several times this week and I am about to hit my busy time starting from Monday next week.  I am so excited about creating new hairstyles and keeping up with current makeup trends so that you can look radiantly beautiful on your wedding day and have compliments all day.

Well, what can I say!  This year is going to be a year of wonderful and beautiful hairstyles and stunning makeup.  I have an extremely busy year ahead and am so excited about the wonderful creations that my hands are going to weave and the beautiful makeup that I am going to apply to make you feel a million dollars.  I have been taking bookings for the entire year and I am now fully booked in August.  I must stress that I do only One Wedding Per Day so time will not be of an issue at all on your wedding day.  I have been very busy with weddings and trials and am looking forward to meeting a new bride tomorrow at Gosfield Hall that I have yet to meet.  Not all brides can have trials due to living abroad or just because they are trying to save costs, I am happy with whatever you decide as my aim is always to make sure you have the hairstyle that everyone is talking about.

Here is my bride from the weekend at Gosfield Hall.  I had not met Kiri before as she lived some distance away.  I started off at a hotel at 5am in the morning as Kiri had a large bridal party and a very early wedding, 12.00 midday.  At 9am we moved to Gosfield Hall, as that is the time the bride had access to the building.  It was a very smooth transition and everybody looked beautiful.  Please see Kiri below.  I am back at Gosfield Hall tomorrow and also at the weekend, with a visit to Gaynes Park and Leez Priory in between.

Gail x

I am still trying to put my feet back on the ground since winning Wedding Hairstylist of the Year 2013 with the Essex Wedding Awards on Thursday evening.  Such a surprise as this was my first time attending a Wedding Awards ceremony.  I was amongst some very talented competitors, so to win, was just absolutely amazing and the best feeling in the world.  The evening was hosted by Celebrity Compere, Paul Ross.  Professional photos will appear here soon but you will have to put up with my own for now.  Also would like to say Congratulations to my beautiful bride Sam who married at the Fennes on Thursday and Penny who married at Down  Hall Country Hotel on Friday.