When Dan and I decided to get married, we were both adamant that we wanted it to be completely on our terms. I love attending traditional weddings, but I instinctively knew that a white dress, colour-schemed country hotel, and the stress of organising a church or synagogue just wasn’t for us. We wanted it to feel personal and unusual, and to involve only those close to us - and this even extended to our suppliers. One of my oldest friends, Julia of Urban Cakes, made us a homely, non-traditional cake, my two sons’ godfather Edan flew over from Melbourne to arrange the flowers, our friends Lauren Laverne, Paul Simper and Michael Hogan DJ-ed the party, while another, Mary, came from my home town of Cardiff to take the pictures. The wedding breakfast was served in our favourite local Indian restaurant, The Chilli Pickle, and my black and green dresses were custom-made by Susie Cave of The Vampire’s Wife, whose studio is based just two minutes from my house in Brighton. To my endless gratitude and delight, it just so happened that this friends-only policy also meant that my hair and make-up was created by two of the fashion world’s most legendary artists, Mary Greenwell and Sam McKnight.

Despite the fact that I’ve written two bestselling beauty books and a beauty column in The Guardian for some seven years, I really hadn’t planned to have a professional glam squad for my wedding - never mind the artists who, between them, have created iconic looks for Cate Blanchett, Uma Thurman, Jennifer Lawrence, Keira Knightley, the late Princess Diana and over 200 Vogue covers. I was hugely fortunate to have several major beauty brands offer their artists’ services for the big day. But, despite loving my job and the industry I’ve worked in for some 27 years, I felt adamant that my wedding should be as separate as possible and I’d just do it myself (I began my career as an assistant make-up artist). It was only when Mary, a close friend and guest, said she’d like to do my make-up as a wedding gift, and a few weeks later, Sam, with whom I was working at the time, offered to do my hair, that I decided some opportunities are just too fabulous to turn down.

Of course I knew unquestioningly that Mary and Sam would make me look the best I possibly could, but their involvement had deeper resonance for me. While my school friends in Eighties and early Nineties South Wales stuck posters of Duran Duran and Bros on their bedroom walls, I’d carefully cut out fashion and beauty shoots from The Face, Blitz and Vogue. My room was plastered with Mary and Sam’s work with the original supermodels and photographers like Peter Lindbergh and Patrick Demarchelier, and I could often identify their breathtaking hair and make-up creations before I’d even checked the page credits. I moved to London as a teenager with the sole intention of being a part of the world they dominated, of writing words to accompany their imagery, and to my endless gratitude and good fortune, I somehow managed it. Having Mary and Sam first as colleagues, then as friends, then finally in my kitchen on one of the most important days of my life, felt oddly moving, like the natural but utterly extraordinary closing of a circle. It seemed so symbolic that having run away from home and worked almost without break since I was 16, here I was, with a decent career, a comfortable home, two happy children and a man I love deeply, giggling over a celebratory champagne with two of the people who’d inspired me most.

Naturally, Sam and Mary did an impeccable job of fulfilling the brief of “me, but on my best hair and make-up day” - Sam using his own Hair By Sam McKnight products and my home Dyson dryer, and Mary, applying Nars and Tom Ford shadows, Chanel foundation, Laura Mercier concealer and blush, and my usual lipstick - Charlotte Tilbury’s Stoned Rose. But I felt it would be polite to prepare for their artistry with good raw materials, and uncharacteristically, decided to make the most of my contacts book of beauty professionals in advance of the big day (people imagine me to spend my life having spa and cosmetic treatments but the truth is, I have two children and at least five jobs, and so I simply don’t have the time for regular facials, massages, tanning and the like). I look after my skin pretty diligently, but a few days before the ceremony, I visited Dr Frances Prenna Jones for a laser facial (less scary that it sounds - there’s no down time, only instantly firmer, brighter, more even skin). It had a remarkable effect on the uneven pigmentation I’d acquired during my first pregnancy and had never fully lost, and I’ll certainly go back for more when time allows. I’d trust no-one with my pre-wedding haircut but my regular stylist, Luke Hersheson at Daniel Hersheson. I also got my usual hair filler extensions (for thickness and style durability rather than length) replaced by Hadley Yates, also at Hershesons. Two stylist friends, Adrian and Jordan from the same salon, were also on-hand on the big day, to get my girlfriends (and my newly image-conscious sons!) ready.Read more at:http://www.sheindressau.com | http://www.sheindressau.com/bridesmaid-dresses-australia