I generally don't wear makeup and when I do it's very minimal. And my hair is usually down, platted, or pulled back in a messy bun. If you scroll through my entire history of Facebook photos, there are hardly any photos of me anywhere with lots of make-up on. I would't say I'm a tomboy, but I'm not a particularly girly-girl either. Mascara, eyeshadow, perhaps some eyeliner and BB cream if its a special occasion. That's pretty much as good as it gets. While many people feel uncomfortable without makeup, I felt uncomfortable with it.

When we were planning our wedding, one of the bits of advice that I read everywhere was that I should definitely hire a professional to do my hair and make-up. I also read in many places that I should not be afraid to wear heavier makeup than usual as although it may look heavy in person, it would look more natural in my photographs.

A few times during the planning I'd take a trip to one of the makeup counters in one of the local department stores. But every time I came away, I felt like my face was plastered thick with makeup, and I felt really self-conscious. When I showed my fiancé, his reaction was always the same: "It's too much make-up. It doesn't look like you." And when I washed it all off and came out of the bathroom, looking my usual shade of pasty-white, he'd always come over and say "now that's beautiful, that's the woman I love".

I desperately searched for the right look that would make me feel beautiful and like a bride, but I just couldn't find it, or that feeling.

Now I never considered going make-up free to my wedding, but these experiences made me seriously consider my options.

So I decided that I had time to learn to do it myself. I spent hours watching videos on youtube and practicing different looks. I took selfies of myself to see how the makeup "photographed" too. My favourite tutorials were from the fabulous celebrity makeup artist Lisa Eldridge, who wonderfully talks you through a different look in each episode of her vlog. I found a few very natural ones that I loved...

After a few tries on my own, I finally felt happy about doing my own makeup.

On the wedding day itself, I was a bit nervous, but I left myself more than enough time to do my hair and makeup. And when I look back at my photographs I know that I made the right choice.

I may not have looked like the flawless, airbrushed bride that you see in magazines, but I felt like me, a more beautiful version perhaps, but still me.