Smart & Chic Beauty Lounge

Hair & Makeup is one of the most nerve-racking wedding-related items for me. First of all, I am super picky and high maintenance about my hair and even more so about my makeup. I considered getting everything done at the salon I go to but it's so far from all the wedding day activities it just wouldn't be convenient and to be truthful I'm not in love with my hair stylist. I am madly in love with my esthetician and she will most definitely doing my pre-wedding facial and waxing but that's her specialty, not makeup. Then I thought it would be great to go to one of my favorite salons (where I used to work) Juut. They have a training salon in Uptown (which is super close to where we'll need to be all day) so my girls could get their hair for really inexpensive and I could have one of the master trainers do my hair. BUT, then we have to coordinate getting to and from the salon and factor in a ton of extra time to get all the appointments in. Plus, these people are just trainees, what if they suck? AND, even worse, the masters change over quite a bit, so what if the master I do my trial with is no longer there come wedding day?

So, after pondering a million what-ifs, weighing pros and cons, over-thinking, over-analyzing and stressing about this I decided the best option was to find someone to come to the hotel to do our hair and makeup. I booked a hospitality suite at our hotel to use as a space for us girls to get ready, so it would be dumb of us to leave and use it only to get dressed. SO, the search began. I found a lot of local stylists and companies that offer on-site styling. I contacted a few places and was most impressed and most excited about a company called Smart & Chic Bride.

Smart & Chic specializes in bridal hair and makeup and use professional products specifically chosen for brides. Plus, their team of stylists travel to you and bring all their equipment and products! PERFECT! But, I don't trust just anyone with my hair or my face, so I needed to scope them out. Luckily, just this January Smart & Chic opened a Beauty Lounge in Northeast Minneapolis. So, I made an appointment for a haircut with their lead stylist Amber. UM.....I FELL IN LOVE INSTANTLY! Not only was Amber awesome to talk to, she gave me an amazing haircut, she was super cute, super fun and super nice. And, to top it off the Beauty Lounge is about the cutest place I've ever been.

I left there so excited and so relieved that I found someone I liked and now trusted with my wedding day hair AND her and her team could come to me. I was obviously sharing all this with my BB and going on and on and on about the extreme cuteness of the lounge and she had the beyond brilliant idea that we should get ready there. So I sent Amber an e-mail and asked if there was any possible way she would let us have the lounge to ourselves to get dressed and done up for my wedding day. SHE SAID YES! The Lounge doesn't open until 12pm on Saturdays and we need to be at the church by 11:30am so it seriously works out perfectly! I couldn't download and save pictures of the lounge from their website, but I did screen save them so I could show you all! If you want to see better pictures go to their website: http://lounge.smartandchicbeauty.com and click on "The Space." Otherwise, here's the ghetto version I jacked off their site!

For real! HOW CUTE IS THIS PLACE?!?! I showed my lovely photographer, Sara Jayne, these pictures and her exact quote was, "your wedding just went from amazing to EPIC!" I cannot wait to get ready here, I cannot wait to see the amazing pictures Sara Jayne will take in this space and I am sooo unbelievably relieved to have this major "To-Do" crossed off my list! PLUS, I am saving myself $350 by not using that hospitality suite! SCORE!