01
Clear matte
A quiet, even base with the shine taken down only where it moves. Soft neutral lid, defined lash line, a lip close to your own colour. The most forgiving option in hot rooms and in flash.
Bridal makeup · Studio trials · On-location mornings
Skin first. Then the veil.
Elio Works is a two-artist bridal studio. We build a face that survives a nineteen-hour day, a warm room, and a camera two feet from it.
- Trial
- Ninety minutes in the studio, in daylight, with photographs taken at the end so you can see how it reads.
- Wedding morning
- We come to where you are getting ready. Veil placement and hair pinning are part of the booking, not an extra.
- Party size
- Six faces or fewer for one artist. Beyond that we bring a second, so nobody is rushed at the end.
The approach
Makeup that is still there at the last dance.
A wedding face has a long job. It is photographed in flat morning light, under a marquee at four, and under tungsten at eleven. Most of our work happens before colour ever goes on: cleansing, a slow massage, the right base for your skin that week rather than the one that photographed well last spring.
We keep the palette close to you. You should recognise yourself in the mirror, and so should everyone waiting downstairs.
Looks index
Three directions we build from.
Nothing here is a fixed package. They are starting points — at the trial we take one of them and move it toward your dress, your light and how much you want to see in the mirror.
02
Lit skin
Sheerer base, visible skin texture, warmth built along the cheekbone rather than dusted over it. Lashes stay individual. Best when the ceremony is outdoors and the light is doing half the work.
03
Drawn eye
The one direction with real graphic weight — a smoked or drawn line, deeper lash, everything else kept bare. Chosen most often for evening ceremonies and for anyone who wears liner every ordinary day.
Bookings
What a booking actually covers.
Every wedding is quoted individually, because travel, party size and the getting-ready window change the shape of the day. These are the four things we are booked for.
i
Bridal trial
Held in the studio, ideally six to ten weeks out. We work through one direction properly rather than rushing three.
- Skin consultation and patch test
- One full look, adjusted as we go
- Daylight and flash reference photos
- Written product list for your own touch-ups
90 minutesIn studio
ii
Wedding morning
We arrive where you are getting ready, set up by a window, and work to the schedule agreed two weeks before.
- Bridal makeup, start to veil
- Hair pinning and veil placement
- Stay through first photographs
- Touch-up kit left with you, matched to your base
2–3 hoursOn location
iii
The rest of the room
Mothers, sisters, friends and anyone else getting ready with you. Booked per face so you can add or drop names late.
- 45 minutes allowed per person
- Second artist added above six faces
- Shade matching before the day where possible
- Names can change up to a week out
45 min eachOn location
iv
Evening return
An optional second visit between the meal and the dancing — for a stronger lip and eye, or simply to reset a long day.
- Full reset of base and lip
- Optional deeper eye for the evening
- Lash reapplication if worn
- Booked in advance, not on the day
40 minutesOn location
We do not publish a price list, because a two-face morning nearby and an eight-face morning two hours away are not the same job. Send your date and we will reply with a full written breakdown.
The wedding morning
How the room runs.
A sample schedule for a two o'clock ceremony with four faces. Yours is built backwards from your photographer's arrival and sent to you two weeks before.
08:15
Arrival and set-upTwo tables by the best window. Nothing starts until the light is sorted and the room is tidy.
08:30
The rest of the partyWe start with everyone else so nobody is finishing while you are trying to get into a dress.
10:45
Bridal skinCleanse, massage, prep. The unglamorous twenty-five minutes that decides how the next twelve hours behave.
11:10
Bridal makeupThe look agreed at the trial, checked in the room's own light rather than the studio's.
12:20
Veil and pinningVeil set, hair pinned, a last pass on the lip once the dress is on and not before.
12:45
First photographsWe stay for the first frames, hand over the touch-up kit, then get out of the way.
Preparation notes
Three things worth doing early.
“Almost every problem we fix on a wedding morning was decided four weeks earlier.”
Skin, four weeks out
Stop starting things. No new actives, no first facial, no peel inside four weeks — skin needs to be predictable, not improved. Keep whatever already works, drink more water than feels reasonable, and tell us if anything changes. If you are having brows or lashes done, book them ten days before, never the same week.
Bring to the trial
A photograph of the dress neckline, your veil or hairpiece if you have it, and two or three images of faces you like — including one you dislike, which tells us more. Come with clean skin and your usual moisturiser only. If you wear a particular lip every day, bring it; we often build around it.
Light and photography
Ask your photographer whether they will use flash indoors, and tell us. It changes the base entirely: heavy SPF and some primers bounce light straight back and read grey in the frame. If the ceremony is outdoors at midday, we go lighter and warmer than the trial photographs suggest.
Questions
Asked most often.
If yours is not here, put it in the enquiry form — answers come back in the same reply as your quote.
Do I have to have a trial?
For the bride, yes. It is the only way we learn how your skin behaves over ninety minutes rather than five, and it is where we agree the look so the wedding morning is execution and not decision-making. Anyone else in the party is welcome to skip it — we shade match on the day.
How far in advance should I book?
Saturday dates between May and September are usually taken nine to twelve months ahead. Midweek and winter dates are far easier, often three or four months out. If your date is close, ask anyway — cancellations happen and we keep a short list.
How far do you travel?
Anywhere within about two hours of the studio as a normal booking. Beyond that we still come, but the morning usually needs an overnight stay the night before so we are not driving at five in the morning. Travel is quoted openly as a line in your breakdown.
Will it last all day without me touching it?
It will last, but plan on two small touch-ups: the lip after the meal, and a press over the nose in the afternoon. Every bride leaves with a small kit matched to the exact base and lip used, so it is a thirty-second job rather than a rebuild.
I have sensitive or reactive skin. Is that a problem?
No, but tell us at enquiry rather than at the trial. We patch test at the trial, keep a fragrance-free kit for reactive skin, and can work entirely around an allergy or a prescription treatment if we know in advance. Bring the name of anything topical you are using.
What happens if the date moves?
Dates move; it is not unusual. Tell us as soon as you know and we transfer your booking to the new date if it is free, at the same terms. If it is not free, we say so straight away and help you find someone rather than holding onto a date we cannot serve.
Enquire
Send us the date.
We check the diary first, then reply with availability, a written quote and answers to anything you have asked. Nothing is held until you confirm, so there is no pressure in sending this.
Replies go out in the evenings, usually within two working days.