When you're hot, you're hot. And our friend Ashley Riddle, owner at Up Do's for I Do's, is on fire. Working with her at weddings, headshots and boudoir shoots has been terrific. When we met her back in 2007, she was working out of part of a room in her home. Now Ashley has 22 employees, a line of lip glosses and two commercial locations! We are so proud to see how her business has grown and grown.
And as her business has grown, so has Ashley's incredible talent. Just ask Miss Maryland - Joanna Guy. After all, Joanna took Ashley along to the Miss America Contest earlier this month in Las Vegas to do her hair and make-up!
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| Ashley's most recent headshot by balance |
Fast forward about three months, and Ashley found herself checking into the Planet Hollywood resort in Vegas, Baby!
"It was such an honor to work with Joanna," Ashley told us over lunch recently. "The pageant was an incredible opportunity to do something outside of my usual weddings, events and photo shoots."
All the below images (framed in hot pink) were shot by Ashley in LasVegas on her iPhone during the pageaent earlier this month...
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Joanna shows off her signature lip gloss color, above; Backstage at Miss America, below
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The photo above shows the huge ballroom on Planet Hollywood's mezzaine converted into a beauty-prep area for the televised contest. Ashley said it was astounding to see rows and rows of tables, each labeled with a state name, and all the beautiful women - 53 total - primping at the same time. "It looked like it was there job to be beautiful," Ashley said.
The first night, Ashley did Joanna's hair and make-up for the lifestyle and fitness category, sponsored by Catalina swimwear. The second night was the talent segment.
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| Four shots of Joanna Guy and Ashley, hanging out backstage and around the Planet Hollywood Hotel in Las Vegas. |
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| Miss Maryland, Joanna Guy, onstage at Miss America in Las Vegas. |
Joanna Guy won the national talent competition at Miss America, wearing a stunning cream gown with a shimmering train and jewelry from Arabaseque. Joanna sang "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Miserables.
"Chris and I bought tickets to see the talent competition," Ashley said. "Joanna told me that knowing I was in the audience meant a lot to her. Her voice was so beautiful, it brought tears to my eyes when she sang."
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| A stunning hairstyle by Ashley, modeled perfectly by Miss Maryland! |
Ashley mixed Joanna's beauty looks a bit each evening. The first two nights, Ashley went with a soft updo, and romantic make-up. As the contest progressed, they decided to amp it up a little with upgraded lashes and airbrush make-up. Ashley's beauty bag contained products from Temptu, Nars, MAC, Tarte, Ardell Lashes and of course, Up Do's for I Do's brand lip glosses.
"I didn't know what to expect from a national-level pageant going into it. How much time we'd have, the workspace, lighting - all of it was unknown until I got there. But I had worked on Joanna's hair before and I knew she had beautiful skin. Honestly, she could have walked onstage with no hair or make-up and been stunning," Ashley said. "In the end, I didn't do a traditional pageant look. We kept it elegant, soft and pretty. "
While Miss Maryland didn't take home the national crown - that went to New York - she is a big winner in our book! She won several thousand in scholarship money to continue her education at Cornell. Joanna also got a national audience for her work on her platform, Jo's Jars, which is connected to the Children's Miracle Network and helps children recover from diseases by providing them with exceptional medical care.
We predict that many lucky brides will ask Ashley & the Up Do's team to replicate Miss Maryland's glamorous Vegas look this spring and summer!
Congrats to both Ashley and Joanna on a job well done! You make Maryland proud, ladies!
~ Rissa
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1 comment:
So awesome! I must confess I did a double take in the photos of the two of them together because they are both so pretty I couldn't tell which was Ashley ;) Stunning success!
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