Russian couple getting married on the beach in Sitges, close to Barcelona

The Absolutely Gorgeous BCN team did the hair and make up for a beach wedding outside of Barcelona.  The Russian couple, Julia & David currently living in Germany, got married on the beach in Sitges, a lovely town just outside of Barcelona. After that the ceremony had been held on the beach and the wedding party continued at Vila Almiral de la Font.


Catrin Söderdahl from the Absolutely Gorgeous BCN team did the hair and make up for both the bride Julia and her bridesmaid. Julia is a former ballet dancer and a model. She wanted all her hair putting up and to emphasize her eyes for the make up.

The wedding was organized by Barcelona Wedding. To see more about the wedding, both from the ceremony on the beach and from the wedding party, click here.

All images are by photgrapher Neli Prahova

Meet Wedding Photographer Sara Lázaro

Recently I met up with Sara Lázaro, a wedding photographer specialized in Vintage Weedings, originally from Granada but working all over Spain and abroad. Sara has many years of experience as a wedding photographer. Here’s our conversation from the other day both in English and in Spanish.

“Who is Sara Lázaro? – Describe yourself with one or two phrases”

I am a photographer specialized in weddings. Some people might call my style “Wedding Photo Journalism”. Personally, I like saying that I am telling a story about a couple on their wedding day.
I do not believe in artifical posings. Instead, I try to capture the emotions that people are living that special day. In fact, every wedding itself is a small world of feelings and moments and what I simply love and do is to “freeze” these moments and turn them into images.

Quién es Sara Lázaro? (Una descripción de 1-2 lineas)

Soy una fotógrafa especializada en bodas. Mi estilo algunos lo pueden llamar fotoperiodismo de bodas. A mi personalmente me gusta decir que lo que me gusta es contar la historia de lo que pasa el día de la boda de una pareja.

No creo nada artificial, tan sólo plasmo lo que sucede ese día y los sentimientos que se viven. Cada boda es un pequeño mundo de sensaciones e instantes y a mi me encanta congelarlos en imágenes.

How come you started with photography? And how did you end up specializing yourself in wedding photography?

I started with photography already as a small child. My father always use to have reflex cameras and I remember I used to get very curious watching all the buttons they had. I also loved to spend a lot of time flipping Photo Albums and thought; someday I want to be the author one of these books. And this is how I started practising with my father’s camera and that’s when I fell in love with the world of the light and photography.

I started doing weddings already as a 20-year old. I hadn’t planned to specialize myself in weddings, but when I started to investigate a bit more I realised that in Spain, the wedding photos were not that artistic. Instead, the style was still very classical and a lot of posing. This was the contrary to what had always inspired me; telling a story through photos. I started benchmarking what type of wedding photography was done outside of Spain and I got it confirmed that I wanted to go the opposite direction. I got my inspiration and ideas from the United States and like this I proposed and introduced new ways of doing wedding photography in Spain.

¿Cómo o por qué empezaste en el mundo de la fotografía? Y luego la especialización de fotografía de bodas?

Empecé con la fotografía cuando era muy pequeñita. Mi padre siempre tuvo cámaras réflex y a mi me maravillaban todos esos botoncitos que tenían. Entonces veía fotografías en libros y siempre pensaba en que yo quería hacer esas fotografías. Así fue como empecé a meterle mano a las cámaras de mi padre. Y en cómo empecé a enamorarme del mundo de la luz.

Con las bodas empecé con unos veintitantos. De manera totalmente casual. No tenía en mente dedicarme a las bodas, pero cuando vi que quería vivir de la fotografía y empecé a investigar en el mundo de las bodas, me di cuenta de que entonces en España no se hacían aún cosas muy artísticas. La fotografía tradicional de bodas en España era muy artificial y posada, no contaba historias que es lo que mi de siempre me ha motivado. Investigué lo que se hacía en otros países y ya no tuve dudas. En esos momentos EEUU fue toda una fuente de inspiración para intentar hacer que la fotografía de bodas empezara a cambiar por aquí.


Do you have a “favourite” wedding?

Hmmm, I fancy any wedding that is celebrated in the open air. I enjoy spending time close to nature and the opportunity of combining it with my work is ideal to me.

¿Tienes algún tipo de boda favorita?

Mmmmmm, cualquier boda que sea al aire libre me encanta. Soy una persona de estar mucho en la naturaleza y la oportunidad de realizar bodas en entornos naturales es lo ideal para mi.

Do you have a top three of places where you took wedding pictures?

No, honestly I do not have a very clear top 3. But I have to confess that I enjoy very much the weddings that has been celebrated in old Catalan Country Houses (Masías). Usually the weddings are smaller and more intimate and for the pictures the scenery and aesthetics are just perfect.

¿Tu lugar favorito o top-3 sitios donde has hecho fotos de novios?

jajaja, no tengo un top tres muy claro. Pero he de reconocer que me encantan las bodas que he tenido en Masías Catalanas. Tanto por la estética de los sitios como por el tipo de boda tan íntima que se realizan en ellas.


Since summer is the top wedding season, do you have time to relax a bit as well and if you have a day off in the summer, how do you celebrate it?

My busiest seasons are spring, summer and early autumn and this is the time when I basically work non-stop; editing photos, retouching photo albums, interviews with clients, “pre-weddings” and doing my own marketing… So my vacations start in late autumn/winter and that is when I breathe profoundly, relax and try to travel as much as I can…

En la época de verano hay muchas bodas, tendrás tiempo de descansar algún día y si es así como lo disfrutas un día de verano de fiesta?

Mi período de trabajo es en la época de primavera, verano y comienzos del otoño. En esos meses es cuando se concentran la mayor parte de las bodas y básicamente me dedico a trabar sin parar: edición de fotografías, maquetación de álbumes, entrevistas con clientes, prebodas, trabajo de márketing, etc…. Mis vacaciones empiezan ya con el invierno y es ahí cuando respiro hondo, descanso y viajo todo lo que puedo.

Thank you so much Sara for sharing your story and the pictures with us. I leave you with the link to Sara’s web page and Facebook page to see more images of her lovely work.

Web: http://saralazaro.com/

Catrin Söderdahl, Professional Hair & Make Up Artist, Barcelona

Sarah and her naturally elegant wedding hairstyle

Sarah and Roger from Texas, currently living in France, wanted to get married in Barcelona. Thanks to the Internet, the couple found my wedding hair & make-up services and when they had decided to celebrate their wedding outside of Barcelona in July, we met up for a trial.

Highlights at the trial
Sarah, the bride to be, wanted to be blonder for her wedding day, so at the trial I suggested a full head of natural blond highlights. The result was a success! It looked very nice seeing the different colours in her hair when trying out the wedding hair do.

¨Catrin was amazing. I gave her an idea of the romantic side-swept hair do that I wanted and she completely went above my expectations. She put in some gorgeous blonde highlights before we began styling and then incorporated the hair’s highlights into the details of the hairdo. The result was amazing. After the hair and makeup testing I felt so confident that she would take care of me on the wedding day.”


Wedding hairstyle – naturally elegant
Sarah had sent me photos of her wedding dress beforehand so I could think about suggestions for her wedding make-up and hair do to go with the style. The wedding dress was beautiful and very romantic and Sarah’s wish was to have her hair romantic looking but messy and with curls swept to one side. For the wedding make-up we decided to go with an elegant but natural look with fake eyelashes.

60’s hairstyle for the cousin
The aunt and the cousin let me decide on their hairstyles. As her aunt always wears her hair straight I thought it would look nice with loose natural curls. For the cousin I chose a retro 60’s up style because I thought it would suit her style.

“ Not only did she do my hair and makeup but she also styled the hair of my aunt and cousin who were not sure what to do with theirs. They looked amazing! Catrin stayed with me until I left for the church to make sure everything stayed perfect. Everything stayed in place through the rain and wind we had that day and through the dancing, kissing, hugging and tears that night” says Sarah.”

All images by Natan, to visit he’s blog and see more of he’s excellent work please click here.

Catrin Söderdahl, Hair & Make-up Artist Barcelona

Wedding venues in Barcelona and surroundings

Are you making plans to get married soon but unsure on the location? Perhaps is Barcelona high on your list as your wedding city? In this post Ill be giving you a couple of my favorite venues both in the city itself and in the beautiful surrounding countryside, all of which I have worked with various brides as a hair and make up stylist on their big day.

Best for city views

Absolutely Gorgeous BCN recommends hotel Miramar Barcelona

First on the list is the hotel Miramar, located on Montjuic one of the highest points in bcn. this hotel has amazing views of both the city and the sea and is one of the most beautiful and calmest parts of the city.
This place is very convenient since it is actually in Barcelona but still seems far away from the stressful city center.

Contact details and for more information:

Hotel Miramar
Pl. Carlos Ibañez, 3
08038 Barcelona
Spain
Tel.: (+034) 932 811 600
info@hotelmiramarbarcelona.com
www.hotelmiramarbarcelona.es


A typical Catalan rustic wedding venue on the country side


The second wedding venue place I can recommend, is called El Munt, and it is located only 40km outside of Barcelona, in a small calm town called Castellterçol. The venue place is a typical rustic Catalan house with a lovely garden that also has a pool. Perfect for a lovely countryside wedding.

Contact details and for more information:

El Munt
Carrer Major, 31
08693 Casserres
Barcelona
Tel: +34 938234 082
info@calbernadas.com
http://www.calbernadas.com/eng/Munt_lacasa.php

Unforgettable wedding by the Medditerreanean sea


Last but not least, which is also one of my personal favourites wedding venues en Catalonia is called El Convent. El Convent was built in 1583 and is located on 70km outside of Barcelona in Blancs, located on the Costa Brava. This beautiful historical building is open to the Mediterrean Sea surrounded with lovely typical Costa Brava garden with aromatic plants and old pines and has an impressive view of the coast.

Contact details and for more information:

El Convent
C/ Carles Faust 4
1700 Blanes (Girona)
Spain
GPS: +41º 40′ 30.92″ N, +2º 48′ 7.24″ E
Tel.: +34 972 357 345
e-mail: info@el-convent.com
www.el-convent.com

Wedding Organization & Corporate Event Organization
Irene Biosca
e-mail: irene.biosca@el-convent.com
Mov: +34 617 12 80 12

Preparation for a wedding L'Ampolla de Mar

Last weekend I did the hair for Swedish Therese who got married, just outside of Barcelona, in L’Ampolla de Mar. I wanted to share with you a few pictures of the preparation from that day.

 

Fixing the hair for the bridesmaid

Starting with the bride

Getting a bit further on the way

Now it’s starting to look like something

We are getting there…

Soon I will post actual pictures from the wedding so you can see the final result.

P.S  L’Ampolla de Mar, about two and a half hours outside of Barcelona is very beautiful