Make me over: Trials and tribulations of a brunette bride

I had every intention of doing my own wedding day makeup. I don't wear much on a regular basis and I'm a total klutz when it comes to precision application (eyeliner scares the bejesus out of me), but I'd be damned if I was paying $250 for makeup I wasn't sure I'd like. I'd checked out every portfolio the Internet could offer me, and what I found was a lot of this:

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and this:

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Do they both look amazing and beautiful? Absolutely! But do they look anything like me? Not in a million years! I just couldn't imagine this kind of bridal make-up transplanted from a fair-skinned blond, or a woman with beautiful East Asian features, onto my face. Let's just say my make-up needs were different.

Not to be quickly discouraged, I started looking at MUAs who specialized in South Asian make-up, or looking for inspiration among Persian brides who tend to share my coloring. But most of what I saw was far too dark for my taste. It's hard to go from wearing almost no color to imagining such saturated color on your skin.

So then I was discouraged.

I sat on this for a little while and didn't start thinking again about wedding make-up until a few weeks ago. I wasn't feeling so great about doing my own makeup anymore. My lashes always disappear in photos, and despite Miss Rainbow's awesome lash tutorial, I couldn't seem to get false lashes on straight without multiple applications. And I still can't get a damn straight line with my eye liner. I didn't want to have to be worrying about reapplying botched eye makeup on my wedding day, so I started looking again for an MUA that I could afford (and who would offer a free trial, because I still didn't find a single woman in any Los Angeles area MUA's portfolio who had my complexion but wasn't covered in super dark makeup).

I finally found someone whose other work I liked and whose prices weren't going to kill me, but I needed to find some inspiration pictures to bring in. Without many real bride photos to share, I started to think of celebrities. Who did I want to look like?

Well, that was an easy question. How do you say "gorgeous" en español?

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Obviously I looked nothing like Penelope Cruz when we were done (DAMN IT!), but was I happy with the results anyway? Find out... next time! ;)

Was there a celebrity's look you tried to emulate for your makeup style?