Inspirational Brides

Sally Riceman teaches us about inspirational brides

Sally: The biggest thing that rules Sally Riceman is that she’s driven to make women feel beautiful and confident. I’ve had that ever since I used to watch ___ in Dallas. And I used to watch those beautiful actresses and those big shoulder pads and their red lipstick and I just used to think, “Wow! That’s so confident. I want to look like that.” And then I started spotting women all the time. I’ll say to my mom, “Her nails are nice, aren’t they?” or “And her hair looks fabulous.” And I became nearly obsessed with what was making women feel good. Yes, I could say that it was the hair and the makeup and the cloths. There must be other things in their lives too but it got me thinking, “Well, I want to learn how to do hair and makeup and some beauty and know how to do it for myself.” And I ended up on this journey from being fascinated in what makes a woman look and feel beautiful, learning everything that I could, hair, makeup, beauty, wig making, airbrushing, nails, everything I could get my hands on so that I can think, I’m going to have all the tools to help everybody and all these women feel really gorgeous and powerful and sexy and vibrant. In regards to my weddings, I think that the thing that I noticed is that most film and television industry stylists aren’t available for everyday girls like my self. And I was thinking, “When will I get married, I want to have someone that I know really knows this stuff. And it’s no disrespect to people that work for makeup houses because they’re very good at what they do and their jobs really sells. A real makeup artist is someone who has studied for years. So what I offer women is industry standard, but also, I’m so particular for my detail not only on how you look but how you feel. And so, I don’t want to go home when I’ve just studied hair makeup. I want to dress you. I want to make sure that every need is taken care of. I’m not a wedding planner, I want to call a rented best friend. I’m going to make sure that every single thing that you need is done for you. And hopefully, before you’ve even though of wanting it and that’s where I like to think I’m different. How I approach doing a bride is we always do a trial. It’s absolutely imperative because I need the bride to feel relaxed on her wedding day. I mean, everybody would want to feel relaxed. There’s such a big buildup. So having the trial and spending time doing it allowing her to try different styles. And particularly when someone else is doing your makeup, that’s really weird. Getting used to sort of—you know, “I didn’t think I could have it like that?” And having some time to feel whether this is something that’s really right for you. And then on the wedding day, I go to the bride wherever she is and that could be anywhere in the world as long as it has electricity. And I would take care of her for as long as she wants. Some buy that towards the next day. Mya has come to me for a trial today and she is getting married in about three months in Barcelona. She’s very excited. But Mya does have a tendency to get really nervous and she either giggles or cries. What I’m hoping is that by getting her relaxed and getting her to know me that she’s going to then calm down and she’s going to feel more secure on the day because she’s going to know I’m there which is like a security blanket really. I know this works because I’ve done it quite a few times now. So she’s going to walk down that aisle feeling absolutely stunning and she won’t be giggling or crying. I’ve been doing this a really long time so I don’t think there’s anything that I haven’t heard. No one surprised me yet, I don’t think with nerves, worried about their weight. I mean, I don’t know a woman that couldn’t give me a list as long as my arm as to how—you know, of all the things she’s not happy about. So I’m pretty much equipped to deal with any insecurity and any vulnerability that a woman would have. Many of the brides will always bring out their weight and they want somebody to hold them accountable to and I’m good at that. But there’s also—a lot of ladies say, “I’m really excited and I’m going to have all my friends around, but it’s the idea that everyone is going to be looking at me.” And it’s a really common one. So in this safe little space, an awful lot of magic happens actually. Well I believe that the one thing that is truly unique to my work is that my passion is to have you feeling outstanding. I know I can get you looking good. I’ve done it for years. But that is not enough. For me, I’ve got to have you so that you’re feet aren’t even touching the floor and that you never thought you could look that beautiful. Okay Mya, this is your hair and makeup look for your wedding day. What do you think. Mya: I’m just loving it. It’s just stunning. Amazing. Sally: It’s very natural, isn’t it? You look really, really beautiful. Mya: Thank you. Sally: I’m really thrilled to how Mya’s hair and makeup turned out today. I know that she was really looking forward to this. And I can imagine her in Barcelona and the sun shining just really looking forward to getting married to Ted and me being there making sure she’s going to look gorgeous. So I’m thrilled.