To all of the brides out there - do yourself a favor and add Ashley to your team. Ashley pulled off 22 services between Friday and Saturday during my wedding over Memorial Weekend 2024 and Ashley herself did my wedding makeup. First of all, my "natural" wedding makeup look was perfect. My makeup somehow looks equally good in our 3 pm first look photos as the 10 pm dance floor shots - I don't even know how that's possible but I am so happy about it! I am not someone who typically wears makeup, and it was such a relief to work with a makeup artist who listened to my feedback and completely delivered. Not only did Ashley do a great job on my makeup, but her 2 assistants were also incredibly talented. My bridesmaids were all commenting how usually the 2nd and 3rd MUA's at weddings can be a clear 2nd tier, but Ashley and her assistants all delivered the same incredible results on every single girl (and they had to do 15 of them!). Every one of my bridesmaids and family members were raving about their makeup - something I didn't even think was possible. Lastly, and most importantly, when you hire Ashley you are not only getting a MUA you are getting a wedding teammate - a ride or die! We had some chaos in our planning process and ended up searching for a new wedding planner just 5 weeks before our 230+ person wedding at the Inn at Rancho Santa Fe. Needless to say - we were panicked! Ashley got wind of this and quickly connected us with her friend Cara from Luxe Events. Ashley then proceeded to convince Cara to cancel a family vacation and do my wedding! At one point, Ashley even consoled me by saying that if worst came to worst she would do the day-of coordination herself! On the day of the wedding, one of my Mom's friends comes into the ready room and is a little envious of everyone's hair and makeup. Ashley proceeds to offer to do her makeup as well - the 16th service for the day! - which meant so much to my Mom's friend. Then, after we've finished the ceremony and Ashley is packing up - we realize that we have a bustle crisis and no one can figure out how it works. Here comes Ashley! Up in the folds of my dress, on her hands and knees looking for bustle strings, staying a full 45 minutes later than she had hoped - but refusing to leave the room until we were successfully bustled! Her kindness and commitment to my day was amazing. From day 1, Ashley felt like part of the family and she showed up for us big time. I could not possibly recommend her more!

My experience with Ashley was amazing! From our phone consultation I knew she would be someone I wanted to worth with for this special day, she was so kind and really took the time to get to know me and what I was looking for. Our makeup artist Eileen was perfection! All of my girls loved how they looked and felt like their absolute best selves on the big day. The trial process was easy and also a wonderful experience. Could not recommend working with this team more for all your makeup needs!

Ashley is my hero. She was referred to me by my wedding planner (Lisa Friesen) and I also vetted her on Instagram. I loved her immediately after I reached out to her because:

1. She scheduled a call with me to make sure we were a good match and to get to know me, my bridal party and what I was looking for before we scheduled a makeup trial.

2. When I did my makeup trial with her, she knew the look I was going for but GRADUALLY worked up to it, and had me check it at every stage so I could be like: "Yes I love this, please do more of this, not dramatic enough for me yet" etc. Which was refreshing after just having done another trial with another artist in the weeks before, who basically turned my chair around to the mirror in the end and I was terrified. The gradual and natural layering really helped. She also then wrote down exactly what she had done that I loved so she'd have it in her back pocket on my wedding day.

3. I did my trial at 8am in the morning and my makeup stayed on and essentially perfect ALL DAY LONG. Into the night.

4. I generally HATE foundation b/c I think (the kind I would buy/use) looks fake and feels cakey (even though I need it b/c I'm 39 and my skin is a little uneven / no longer perfect) - but whatever Ashley used made me look perfect and felt weightless.

5. Um, I don't know - she's an absolute DOLL of a human and so cool and fun to be around? Those are precisely kind of people you want around you for 4 hours the morning of your big day.

6. When we were sadly forced to reschedule my 4.4.20 wedding because of COVID-19, she was amazingly empathetic, responsive, supportive and flexible in working with me to find a new date.

7. The biggest thing, I think, is just that I feel SO COMFORTABLE in her capable hands. I'm super picky and I almost thought about doing my makeup myself that day (not smart, I know) but after I met Ashley and she glammed me up I was like, I ACTUALLY CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT YOU ON MY WEDDING DAY. Even when we were rescheduling, I knew I couldn't settle on a date where she was unavailable b/c she is indispensable. There are lots of places to cut corners when you're planning and budgeting for a wedding, and this is just not one of them - feeling like the best version of myself and not having to fuss or stress about anything that morning is part of why I feel like I can't live without her that day.

PS I didn't think to take pics BEFORE my trial but trust me when I say that I look like Jaba the Hut when I wake up in the morning.