It is said, that one of the most important days of a couple, is their wedding day. It’s no joke that looking your absolute best, is a must within the wedding industry. At LIUNA Gardens, we take pride in having a great list of preferred vendors, to help make your special day one to remember fondly. We recently caught up with Trula Pissas, founder of Montana The Art of Makeup & Hair, to get the inside scoop of the hair and makeup industry, advice brides should keep in mind when planning their big day, and why Trula would love to beautify your wedding party!
LG: Tell us the story behind Montana The Art of Makeup & Hair?
TP: I started Montana The Art of Makeup and Hair in 1987 with just myself. I was always told how good I was doing makeup and hair. The beauty industry has always been my passion as long as I can remember. Having the opportunity to change how someone feels about the way they look with makeup and hair has given me the most satisfaction that I could have ever hoped for. I then decided to add more artists to fill the demand for weddings, so 21 artists later and over 2500 weddings we are still going strong!! We are the longest running bridal makeup and hair agency in the city so we must be doing something right 🙂
LG: What are the top hair and makeup trends you see in the wedding industry?
TP: Things have changed a lot in the beauty industry in the past few years, our brides are more in tune with what they want. With all the makeup and hair information from social media at their fingertips it makes our job easier that they can let us know exactly what they want. The biggest trends I have noticed with makeup is we have brides that want the full on glam look now a days. From false lashes to hair extensions which are both huge in the industry. Hair is mostly more loose and flowy, and braids are still hot. As for makeup, lots of shimmer on the eyes and matte bold lips. Having said that, we still get brides that want the very natural look as well. We can do any look, it’s whatever the bride feels more comfortable with of course.
LG: How does Montana The Art of Makeup & Hair differ from its competitors?
TP: With Montana not only do we have excellent artist that have many years of experience (we do not hire student makeup or hair stylists for someone’s wedding) but we also know being a great artist is not enough, it’s also about the customer service. We find that there is not enough customer service out there. It’s now all about emailing back and forth, this is not what we consider customer service. We still take the time to speak to each and every bride by phone not just email as most of the new beauty companies do. We do not want you to just fill out an online form and then treat you like a number. I personally speak to each bride to explain everything we do in detail including the trial run. We take our time with our trail runs, on average it takes 2-3 hours as we take our time to do the bride’s makeup and hair and then we offer a complimentary consultation with the mom’s and bridal party. We believe everyone is important. The bride and groom are paying for photography and if one person doesn’t look good then the pictures won’t be as good and we would have an unhappy bride for sure.
LG: What advice do you have for readers when planning their big day?
TP: Keep the stress to a minimum I would personally hire a wedding planner myself that way the couple can delegate what they want and someone else takes care of making it happen. If they cannot hire a planner then I suggest starting plans early and use a wedding planning magazine such as The Bridal Guide that comes with a planner in the back to keep track of all the appointments and use the checklist to make sure nothing is forgotten.
LG: Can you share with us one of your most memorable events at LIUNA Gardens?
TP: We had a bride at LIUNA that was extremely nervous and was so worried about everything. We asked the maid of honour what the bride’s favourite song was and we started playing it for her and her whole mood changed,she started to relax almost instantly. We told her to remember what this day is all about and stressing won’t change a thing. We brought her to the window that overlooked the beautiful gardens of LIUNA and told her to invision herself walking outside through the gardens and towards the water where her groom would be waiting for her with the people in her life that love her. We did have to wipe a few tears of happiness off of her cheeks, good thing our mascara is waterproof LOL! Needless to say she looked amazing and we felt her happiness in the very tight hugs she gave us before she walked out of the door 🙂
LG: With over 30 years experience, what is the most rewarding part of being in the bridal and beauty industry?
TP: Seeing how happy we make our brides, the many hugs and kisses we receive from our brides every week. They tell us that they have never felt more beautiful in their lives, this really makes what we do worth it. Just knowing what a little makeup and hair can do for someone is an incredible feeling!!
LG: Weddings can be stressful, how do you keep the wedding parties emotions in check?
TP: We usually find that laughter always works best, so make the bride laugh and she will forget why she was upset in the first place 🙂 Tell them to breath and take it all in as it’s only one day and boy does it fly by very quickly, don’t sweat the small stuff and just enjoy the day!!
We’d like to thank Trula from Montana The Art of Makeup & Hair for taking some time to chat with us. Be sure to head over to LIUNA Station blog to check out a mini interview with Ettridges The Studio, and learn about their wedding and event design company.
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From all of us at LIUNA Gardens, thank you for following along!
