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The Preferred List: A Wedding Vendor Podcast
The Preferred List is a podcast that pulls back the curtain on the wedding industry, featuring honest conversations with the pros behind the scenes. From planners to photographers to DJs and florists, we dive into the real stories, lessons, and moments that make weddings unforgettable — and what it really takes to earn a spot on the list.
The Preferred List: A Wedding Vendor Podcast
Episode 10 Rethinking Wedding Makeup: Vero Leigh
The morning of a wedding can feel like chaos or calm—and the beauty team often decides which way it goes. James sits down with Veronica, founder of Verily, to trace how a bathroom meltdown sparked a thriving wedding beauty business built on service, intention, and rock-solid systems. From the first light and playlists to vendor timelines and touch-ups, we walk through the decisions that shape the entire day before the couple even sees each other.
Veronica shares how treating artistry like a business changed everything: client experience over speed, staying for support, and using styled shoots as real rehearsals for collaboration. She explains why “no makeup” looks can fall flat on camera, how bronzing and subtle contour bring back dimension under natural light, and the questions she asks at trials to align makeup with the venue, dress, color palette, and hair. We talk vendor teamwork—planners, photographers, videographers—and the magic that happens when people lead with service, communicate early, and build buffers that actually work.
We also get candid about trends. Hair is having a moment with soft shape and face-framing texture, but makeup feels stuck in beige. Veronica makes the case for color done right—olive lids, burgundy accents, depth without heavy layers—and shouts out the products that hold up to long days and dance floors. She reveals why her packages are built around staying, how she reads the room to set the right energy, and what couples can do to keep the morning on time: arrive prepped, clean, moisturized, and hands off the phone.
Big news: Verily is adding hair to become a full-service team and launching education focused on the backend and client experience for wedding beauty pros. If you care about smoother mornings, cohesive timelines, and looks that last in photos and real life, this conversation is for you. Subscribe, share with a friend in weddings, and leave a review telling us: clean glam or full glam—what wins for you?
https://www.veroleigh.com
https://www.instagram.com/veroleighco/
Welcome to the Preferred List, a podcast about the people behind the best wedding days. I'm James, a wedding filmmaker. I've spent years in the industry working alongside incredible vendors, and this show is all about real conversations with the ones who make it happen. Whether you're a vendor or a couple, you'll get honest insight, good stories, and maybe a little inspiration along the way. And probably some laughter today, for sure. Veronica? I would normally say let's be today's wedding vendor. I'm gonna say it anyways. But Veronica, how's it going?
SPEAKER_02:Oh, it's going great!
SPEAKER_00:We have literally spent the last like 20 minutes laughing like crazy, and I can already tell this episode's gonna be so fun. So thanks for being on.
SPEAKER_02:Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, Veronica runs a makeup studio. Some hair stuff going on. Verily. And so I'm so excited to dive into all things hair and makeup. We're gonna spill the tea a little bit. We're gonna get into all things Verily business life. It's gonna be so fun. And we got the Alani. So, Alani, if you want to sponsor this episode, uh had an extra one in the car. It's your favorite flavor. So we got it out.
SPEAKER_02:Already my favorite person.
SPEAKER_00:I love it. But before we jump in, we're here at Hazelwood. Hazelwood Weddings is a modern wedding venue in New Oxford, Pennsylvania, specializing in weddings, micro weddings, and equipment with easy access to Gettysburg, New York, Lancaster, and Baltimore. Built specifically for weddings, and you'll find an intentional variety of bright open spaces, bathed in natural light, and surrounded by stunning woodland views. Hazelwood is the perfect backdrop for your day, and it's an even better backdrop for your photos. And Kate. So nice. I love such a great person.
SPEAKER_02:I love her so much. I literally just visited her before I came in.
SPEAKER_00:I love that. I love that. That's my ritual when I come here. Yeah, it's so fun. Um, it's so fun to see a venue owner that is like one, so business-minded, like just so fun to talk to about business and and weddings and and the the industry, but also to see the intentionality that they put into the space. Absolutely. Yeah, it's it is made for weddings.
SPEAKER_02:I don't know how she does it because like sometimes trying to hold that line of like, okay, no, you can't do this. This is a venue, but yet make it so personable that you think she's part of the family when you book a wedding here. So yeah, I love that.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and I I appreciate I from the time that I started this podcast, I wanted it to be in person, at a venue, and be this like collective community kind of building. And so it's so fun to be at a new space. Um and Veronica.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Thanks for being on. Thanks for having me. I'm so glad you thought of me. Little Omi. Little old me. Told me to talk about that. Emphasis on old.
SPEAKER_00:No, I love it. Um, so you have Verily. Um, I I want you to like take me back to where it all started. I know nothing. Give me the inside scoop. And even just like how you got into the industry, like industry. Like, what is it that about it that you're like, ah, this is like my spot?
SPEAKER_02:Well, it took forever for it to feel like this was my spot. But um, beginning, how did we even get here? I was actually going to school for psychology, mindored in business. I was on that path. And then all of a sudden, my mom got sick and I came home and I was like, uh, so what do we do now? But through college and everything, I was working in makeup stores, doing, you know, we all have. Every makeup artist has done that. Um, and when I came home, I just was like, uh, maybe, maybe this is another pathway. I don't know. So, you know, you go through your schooling, and then I still worked at the store. I was like, oh, I guess I'll just work in retail my whole life until I got wrongfully uh fired. And then there I was in my bathroom having a meltdown. And then Virally started. Right around. So Virally started from a mental breakdown. Um, so yeah, and then I had one wedding, then we had five, then we had 20. But I was like, oh, I think this is a thing.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:So that's how we're here.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, that it's so crazy to me. Like in a low spot, like, how did it come out of that moment where you're like, let me go like actually give this a shot?
SPEAKER_02:I think because it was the only thing that was left in my toolbox. I was like, okay, so if this is what I was doing for fun, why don't we try it as a business? You know, like, and I don't know, you have the pressures because I come from an Italian, Puerto Rican, you know, mother, and she's like, no, you have to finish college, like you have to go this route. And then I was like, but like art, any type of art would be fun. My mom's like, that doesn't pay.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I got that too. I went to school for music.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, so I'm also musically, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. And I remember when I first started talking to my mom about like doing it, she was like, Yeah, that's not gonna go.
SPEAKER_02:That doesn't pay. Yeah, so my mom was definitely on that side with her coming from corporate. She was like, nah, this ain't it. My daughter will not, until I had no other option. And so I was like, Well, maybe I could do art the rest of my life and like wake up like broke but happy. Yeah, I'd be okay with that. So I did it, but I'm stressed but not broke.
SPEAKER_00:Be very clear. Doing okay. Um doing okay. But uh your business background, did that kind of play into from school? You had that business minor. How much of that played into the idea of getting very off the ground and more than just like a concept or like a business plan?
SPEAKER_02:Well, I think first I already knew we couldn't treat this like it was a hobby, which a lot I see a lot of like makeup artists do that. And it's like, oh, I'm really great at makeup and I just want to beautify the whole world. And I'm like, okay, but you're running a business. So how are we gonna create longevity with that? So I got that concept first, at least. Yeah, because of my business background. But that is where I think my business grew because I treated it like a business, not just because I was waving a little magic wand, making everyone beautiful, which I was.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, let's just like let's unpack that just a little bit for the listener who is maybe in that category or that time of life where it's like, well, it is kind of a hobby, but what would I do to make it go from hobby to full-blown business?
SPEAKER_02:Well, it's very different now. You could get on social media, become a content creator, and bam, you're doing it. Uh, when I started 11 years ago, um, only YouTube was out, and that's it. Like Instagram, you just posted pictures and your food pictures. That's it. Yeah. So you really did have to treat it like a business. So going out, networking, like meeting other vendors, like that's how I met Taryn. And like I was like, oh wow, that's great. And like that was the best networking relationship to have. And I was like, oh, this is how you do it. So, yes, did I learn a little bit along the way, made my mistakes, but networking is not dead yet. And that comes from a business mindset, not uh, oh, this is just a hobby and I'm gonna swing my makeup brush around. So that's kind of like where we gotta go. We have to like get away from well, we we still need social media. It's very powerful, but we do need the also person-to-person connection with networking and stuff like that.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I think it goes overlooked pretty easily, or it's like this barrier to entry of like, well, if I'm not feeling qualified enough to be that person for the planner that does whatever job it might be vendor category-wise. Um, is there like a advice? I know we're kind of like we're down a little bit of a rabbit hole, but uh, is there advice for those vendors that are just starting out that want to make the connection, they just don't really know where to start?
SPEAKER_02:Um, for me, like styled shoots were really great. Like that's where I was doing so many styled shoots, but I had stayed for them. That's where I think a lot of beauty teams come in, they do the beauty, and then they're bouncing out. And I'm like, no, I was staying for the whole thing, doing my little iPhone little content, and then connecting with people, doing more, going above and beyond. So they truly saw what the quality of work I bring to a wedding day. I was treating styled shoots like it was a wedding day. And so is everyone else, if you think about it, like the photographers, photographing as such, the videographer, the everyone is so like, why not me? So when I started to see how photographers and videographers were all showing up to places, I was like, maybe I should mirror my business like that. And so I because I want it to be different than what every other beauty professional was doing. So doing it that way is a great way to connect because y'all are in the trenches on a styled shoot. You're like, oh, I love that. Oh, I love that. Oh, yes, I also do that. You know, I don't know. You start talking. Yeah, yeah. And you build this friendship, and then you go, Oh, well, I did work with a makeup artist that was so great. Book them, blah, blah, blah, blah. And that's how that goes.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, you get yourself in that spot where you can have the sort of natural conversation, whether it's a styled shoot, or even if I'm even just like thinking, once you're done in the wedding morning and all that kind of craziness is is kind of subsided for the makeup team. It's like if you stuck around for just another 15, 20 minutes, you might run into the venue owner, you might run into a planner again and have a chance to say, like, hey, I'm Veronica, it's nice to meet you. Just like put a face to the name as opposed to just like getting up and bouncing. Sometimes you have to, I'm sure.
SPEAKER_02:But yeah, I actually built my packages off of staying. So all of my packages are all built around the experience that we give and the support that my couples would need, and which makes me stay and literally be the little angel behind you guys. I'm like, yeah, oh, and we're doing this and we're doing that. So it m it literally forced me to have more connections, even on wedding days. And so where I don't know, we're in an industry where a lot of people are like, I only do this makeup look, I only do this hairstyle. And I'm like, okay, I didn't want that again. I was always like, I'm a rebel. I don't, everyone else is doing this. I don't want to do it. So I was like, okay, well then I we're gonna niche down, I'm gonna niche down to an experience because that brings longevity instead of like a trend. Yeah. Pinky blush. Okay, eventually people are gonna be done with pink blush. I hope so. But like, and I'm wearing pink blush today, so don't clock me.
SPEAKER_00:But like you you set yourself up for that one because I didn't know.
SPEAKER_02:Well, of course I knew you wouldn't know, but the you, you will know.
SPEAKER_00:Um I said don't look at the camera.
SPEAKER_02:Sorry. No, I'm just I love breaking the fourth wall.
SPEAKER_00:No, um, so yeah, there are cameras here. I hey.
SPEAKER_02:You think they need no? Yeah. No, but it's because I built the packages around the experience of it all, not the makeup look itself or the hairstyle or anything. I have been able to literally work alongside of amazing photographers, planners. There's so many times me and like Taryn are all like emailing back and forth, figuring out the timeline of the morning of, and that's how in depth we are in it. So that more connections happen all the time.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. I mean, it sounds like you're you're taking a lot of intention, intentionality to like the morning as opposed to just like showing up, doing the makeup, hitting the road, go do the next one, hit the road. I mean, it feels like that.
SPEAKER_02:But I just I didn't, I never visualized a business for myself where it would feel like you went to Sheets or Wawa, wherever you're watching. Um, and you went up, you did your order, like, okay, I need five makeups, and then you like, oh, and then it comes to you, and then you leave. And there was absolutely no relationship, no connection, no nothing. I never envisioned a business like that. We are the first people you see on a wedding morning. We can make or break your whole day. The domino effect, if beauty teams don't get it right and get in line and get locked in, can mess up the rest of the wedding day. Yeah. Or it can, if our vibe is off, we feel like we feel like vendors and not like a part of the crew, it just feels like stale. You can almost feel that in the air a little bit. So you want the morning to be high energy. Well, sometimes it doesn't always have to be high energy. We can read a room and read it correctly because that's a difference. You can read a room, but if you don't read it correctly, you know, but we've you want to set that off correctly.
SPEAKER_00:So yeah, yeah. No, I I think it's it is very true that you make up hair, who whoever the team is, if it's all you or if it's it's a kind of a mixture, yeah. It really sets the day off. And I mean, that could be set off like timeline wise, it could be set off like vibes-wise, like you said, reading the room. Maybe you start a little calmer if the room's kind of calm and then like the energy builds. Um, but I'm curious if we can take like another step back. Um, it seems like we threw the makeup stuff out there like it was just a thing that you did. But where did that like come from? Or were you just like interested in it, like at a younger age, or it was like I always did art.
SPEAKER_02:Like I was an abstract artist, we did oil painting. Like that was my escapism, if if I could say, yeah, that probably was escapism for me. Um, I grew up in a single family home. It was just me and my mother, it still is me and my mother, and I would have a room. Single parent. Yep.
SPEAKER_00:You said single family.
SPEAKER_02:Did I?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. I have no family. I'm just kidding. Single. I'm like that. Most people have to be a family.
SPEAKER_02:I just have a single mom. It's just a single mom who works too. Yeah, yeah. I love Reba. Never mind. Okay. So, yes. So single mom and living in New York, it's just like she was always working because to make ends meet. And so art was what I was left with, you know. So that's where I would express myself, escape and everything. So I think it was when I picked up, I was visiting my cousin, and they had a book because back then there was no YouTube. You had to buy makeup books to learn how to do makeup. Um, I know. Wow, I'm really dating myself.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it just totally dated itself. Maybe they'll make a comeback and it'll look like you're ahead of the trend. No, I don't think that's happening. Okay, I was trying to help you out. I don't think that's possible. I was trying to help you out.
SPEAKER_02:Oh man. Okay. So I read this book, right? And it was by Kevin O'Quan. Every makeup artist hearing this right now, they'll go, oh my God, icon. Yes, he was literally an icon in our entire makeup community. Turned, I opened up the book and it was Les, like wait, Lisa Presley, who is the most grunge eyeliner, like dark makeup. Okay. This makeup artist, literally with just highlights and contours, so that's very art-driven, changed her into Marilyn Monroe, which we know is cat eye and very like soft and airy, right? And I was like, that's the same person. Oh my gosh. And I was like, wait, this is exactly the same things I do on my canvas when I bring in lighter colors and darker colors. And I was like, Oh, okay. So that's like me at 10 years old. I'm like, okay, whatever. But then I would be playing with it, but then also playing with my mom's makeup. Like, yeah, I was that girl that did that. But then I became like really masculine in it when I went to school because I was the only girl. There were two girls in my class. So I was like, I gotta beef up to survive. So I thought never did I think makeup was gonna be the thing. But when I learned, when I saw the the connection from my art to my makeup, I was like, oh, I think this is it. That's so cool. So we eventually stick the landing and we got it.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, but I I mean I I can see how the art side of you in the exploration of like, you know, you happen to have that makeup book. Um, and it's like just opened the door to a different avenue of art that you weren't maybe thinking of before.
SPEAKER_02:And I think it still gives me that same feeling as like me as a little girl in my room painting one of my paintings. I get that same sense of peace because I also am definitely unmedicated, ADHD. So that would keep my focus the longest. And so I was like, I get that same feeling today when I'm doing someone's makeup. So when I saw, I was like, oh wait, it's the same. Yeah. Oh, I love this.
SPEAKER_00:So you said it took you a while to feel like this is the thing that you were meant to be doing, at least for this season of life, not saying you need to do makeup until the end, but no, no, but I but there was a there was a time where it was you were still maybe figuring it out. Was what was the moment? Was there a moment that you're like, oh man, this is it?
SPEAKER_02:Um, I was working at a makeup store in Philadelphia, and someone who walked in, I think this is my most pivotal moment where I realized I was going to college of obviously for psychology, and I realized that both things can be the same, and I can bring both of those things into one. Um, she walked in, I think it I don't even know what round of chemo she was going through, had no lashes, no brows, wanted, walked a beelined straight to me. I'm on the fragrance wall, nowhere near makeup. And she was like, I want you to teach me how to apply my like how to apply eyebrows and lashes because I just want to feel normal again. And like, good God, did that just like gut me? And I'm like, okay, yes. And it was in that moment where I'm like, I had to know how what to say, how to approach this, support her, make her feel beautiful, make her feel seen again. And I went, Oh, is there a way that I can do this like all the time? Because I like this. I don't like the fact I had to keep pushing a thousand dollars an hour. I didn't care about that. But when she left and she felt normal again in a sense, that's when I knew, okay, somehow we need to find this journey. Did it take me a little while to get there? But yes, at that point, that was locked in in the back of my mind.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, that's such a cool, I mean, it's such a clear visual of like all of your kind of things melding into one specific kind of like career path. Yeah, even if you didn't maybe know it at the time. I don't did you feel like you knew it at the time?
SPEAKER_02:I knew that whatever I did, if I was gonna do makeup, there had to be some purpose behind it. Like there needed, I don't know how to describe it, but there needed to, I needed to feel whatever I felt that day again, again, again, again, again. Because then I know I used my gifts to like help somebody else along their journey. It had to be that because that's technically why I went to do psychology. It's because I was gonna help somebody. Yeah. So I knew it had to be that, and whatever I chose, it needed to be different every single day. Like it's not a nine to five. I don't care if I'm helping somebody from a nine to five, it cannot be the same every single day, not one bit.
SPEAKER_00:Which I'd imagine in the makeup world, you're probably doing different looks all the time. All the time. All the time. Um, do you remember your first wedding?
SPEAKER_02:Yes. Tell me about it. It was like honestly, I still talk to her to this day. Um, and she showed me her wedding photo, and I went, I barely put any makeup on her. I was so scared to like mess it all up. But if I wasn't as hard as I am on myself, that's still a good makeup look. I mean, contour wasn't a thing back then, so it was the most blank face ever. But yeah, I still talk to her to this day. She cherishes every single moment. And I'm like, oh my God, my experience is like way better now. Like, imagine if you got married now. She's like, I don't care.
SPEAKER_00:She loved it. She loved it. Yeah, break it down though. Like, what has changed for you over the years? I mean, I it sounds like some of the techniques have changed. Oh, most definitely. And you can talk maybe a little bit about that stuff too, but even just like the way that you approach um the way that you do your your makeup.
SPEAKER_02:Well, I don't just come in and leave. That's not a thing anymore. I arrive early. Sometimes I'm leaving at the end of ceremony. It's not me anymore, it's me and a team, which that's so crazy to say because that is probably the most recent. We've had that for about two or three years now. And that's crazy. I'm not doing it by myself anymore. Where I was doing it by myself for a long time. Um, we take our time with each application, where I used to be banging makeup out in 30 minutes and thinking that was like a badge of honor. And I was like, Because you could do it fast. It was like time is money, and I'm like beep, beep, beep, beep. No. Um, now it's like we're paying attention to details. We're the small things that make a greater impact, we're paying attention to. So I would say that those are all the things that are different now. And I'm older.
SPEAKER_00:You're the one that keeps dating yourself. I just want to make it.
SPEAKER_02:I just need everybody know I got wisdom. Oh, I'm just kidding.
SPEAKER_00:That's what it is. That's what it is. It's wisdom. Okay.
SPEAKER_02:Is it? I don't know.
SPEAKER_00:Um, if you had to describe, and I know it would be way easier if y'all just went to our Instagram and looked at it, but if you had to describe like your makeup style, like your approach, is there like a specific approach to the way that you do things?
SPEAKER_02:I would say if I was to niche myself down and be like, this is our makeup style, it's not to a style. I mean, our my makeup is very like femme presenting. It's very femme, like no natural makeup here.
SPEAKER_00:Okay.
SPEAKER_02:Well, what a viewer may think is natural makeup. Because like we can do something that looks natural and feels natural, but there's makeup on you. Yeah. And I think that is another thing that we're just in general, the beauty community is just like really fighting fighting against right now. Okay. Yeah, unpack that for me. Yeah. Okay. So I think, and this is my theory, we're theorizing. I think that in 2016, makeup was so intense, like, not blended, it's blotchy, it's crazy. Just Google 2016 makeup and you will know what I'm talking about. And so I think we are so scared of that now that we've entered into this like no makeup, clean girl aesthetic. And now we're trying to bring it into weddings where you're getting photographed, videoed, and I'm like, we need a little bit more makeup for that. Like you're about to put a thousand-something dollar dress on and you want a seven dollar makeup, and but then you want your hair done all up, dude, and something just doesn't look cohesive. Okay, so 2016 was a terrible time, okay? It was an intense time. People were going to the grocery store with smoky eyes, and that was a for me, that was a great time. For other people, they were like, oh my God, I'm so scared. That's so much. So I think now we are here in an era where we love clean makeup because we were just so scarred by 2016. And so now it has entered into the realm of weddings where we get people sitting in our chairs and they're like, Um, I only wear eyebrows and mascara. And I'm like, okay, great. I'm gonna put more makeup on you because you're gonna be in photos and you're gonna look so washed out. Oh, but I'm so scared I'm not gonna look like myself. I am not a plastic surgeon. I'm not gonna change your face. You'll still look like yourself. Yeah. And it's this is the battle we're having.
SPEAKER_00:So um, I think this is the first time it's maybe made some sense to me. So sorry, y'all. But the washed out look that to me makes sense. Yeah. Cause is it like, is it the contours, the shaping? Like, what is it about the like because someone's listening and they're probably thinking, like, yes, Veronica, I don't want to wear a lot of makeup, or I want to very wear very little makeup. Or they're like that girl that sat down and was like, just lashes and an eye. Like, what what can they like?
SPEAKER_02:You have to okay, so it's it's so deep because you have to do your research, find the artist that you vibe with, right? Say it's me. Say it's me. I take my time in our trial run and I am asking you all the questions. I want to know what you're wearing, I want to know what venue were at. I want to know what colors were, what are the colors, what is I want to know everything that's around you. What's the hairstyle? Everything. And then from that, I will create a look that will complement and go with everything. Sure, I already know you don't wear makeup. I don't wear makeup every single day. I have so much makeup on right now compared to what I normally wear, which is nothing. But for video and for photography, that is that is going to wash you out because you do need layers, light layers. And I'm not about to cake you up. We're not, that's not what we do. But you do need the contour, the bronzing, really what it is is bronzing. You need the bronzing, but because our faces are three-dimensional. You just slap on foundation, you have just made it one-dimensional, right? We need to bring back in the natural shading that happens in the face. That is where things get lost, and that's where you get that blank look. So that's what I'm saying.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I mean, it makes sense because I I think I I think I've always just kind of like taken it at face value of like it's a thing that happens, it's the morning, I'm a dude. So just take all of that for what it's worth. Yeah. But it does make a lot of sense when you talk about the shaping, and uh if there's a lack of that shaping, it's gonna look really flat on the photos and videos. Um, so I can see how even if someone is maybe not as keen for like a lot of makeup, there's still plenty of room for them to look natural, have that natural look, but but have like the shaping look really nice on their face.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, there's even artists out there that do only specialize in this very natural clean girl aesthetic. Even in that, we still have to shade, bring shading to the face, light highlights so that your eyes are more brighter in photos.
SPEAKER_00:Like all of those things still happen, even if you go find someone who is more natural and you've said to bring it back too, you've said before in this episode that you're not really like characterize yourself by a style, but by an experience, which I I love. But I'm curious, like if you could break down like when a a bride is sitting down in the chair for that makeup and you're focusing in on that experience, what does that look like? Like, what are what is your mindset? Like, like how are you cultivating a fun morning? Uh, maybe in moments it's gonna be a little bit calmer, in moments it's gonna be a little bit more exciting. But like, what's that what's that process look like? They sit down and and you have them for maybe an hour.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, I don't know. It looks different for every single person because I do very much feel your vibe, right? So sometimes I've we just let the music play and and we rock out, and um, we haven't said a word to each other. And that's because they just don't want to talk. I'm okay not talking. I know. Shocking right now. I know you're so shocked.
SPEAKER_00:I was not gonna say it, but you said I know you're so shocked right now.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, no, I I love it. Let me let's let's just hear the music, let me blend out to it. Oh, lovely. Um, I think now, being 11 years in the game, a lot of people sit in my chair and they're like, do whatever I trust you. And I'm like, oh God, thank God they actually mean it now. But in the beginning, it wasn't like that. So it was a lot of like, I'm trying to pull out of you. What do you do on a daily basis? When you get up in the morning, what are you wearing? Oh, just mascara and and or just blush. I'm like, okay, so I have my my baseline. Yeah. How far can I push the envelope before they're like, no, yeah, yeah. So I do keep that in the back of my mind. Yeah. But I also try to think of like, okay, but you're also gonna get photographed. We don't have to go too crazy, wanna find that middle ground.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_02:And normally that calms them down. But sometimes, I don't know, the energy is like we have rap music on and we're twerking, but then we go back to blending. I don't know. The energy is all over the place sometimes.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Is that crazy? No. I mean, I feel like it makes sense. You're like, yeah, it's a little crazy. No. Actually, that's really crazy. I feel like it makes sense though, in the idea of cultivating an experience that is personal. So if there is a bride or a group of girls that's listening and they're like, well, we're not the twerking rap music type. You don't have to be. Right. But it sounds like for what you're saying, is like you would much rather cultivate an experience that's authentic to the people in the room, as opposed to being like busting the door down every time, like, what's up? I'm Veronica. How's it going? And then just like just doing it.
SPEAKER_02:That's so weird.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:That makes me cringe. Ooh.
SPEAKER_00:Veronica.
SPEAKER_02:I'm normally walking in with a bunch of stuff very quiet, going, uh, where my where's the best light? Okay.
SPEAKER_00:Moving stuff around.
SPEAKER_02:You know, you're just like setting up an entire makeup and hair store. Um, and then I'm like, hi, I'm gonna do your makeup in the morning. I'm very quiet. Yeah, you gotta get me at least past the first person. Then I start opening up a little bit. Yeah, yeah. I'll start talking afterwards.
SPEAKER_00:What's that what's that day of process look like for you?
SPEAKER_02:Walk in. You mean from like the minute I wake up? You want my ritual?
SPEAKER_00:We can maybe be at the wedding already. I don't know.
SPEAKER_02:You don't want my me on my Instagram in my Moo Moo talking to people.
SPEAKER_01:Oh I get here.
SPEAKER_02:I have to look for natural light, which that has also been a thing. But we have to look for natural light. Sometimes I'm bringing in a table. We're setting up the entire makeup store. At this moment, sometimes people are not even there yet. We take about 30 minutes to set up, right? Then they start trailing in. It's everyone's like getting all their stuff everywhere. I'm congratulating is this what you want? Like that? Like that type of process?
SPEAKER_00:No, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:You said no first.
SPEAKER_00:Because I wanted you to second guess yourself.
SPEAKER_02:And it worked. I was like, wait, what? Yeah, no. Step by step. And then we just start banging out makeup. I don't know.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Is there is there something that the girls as a collective, like what could they do in the morning or the day before, or two days before, or a week before? That would be like, hey, Veronica says do these things, and then like when you're getting your makeup done, it's gonna be easy peasy. Like, we're not gonna have anything to worry about. You're not gonna have to like go like send them to wash their face or or do something. That's number one. Wash your face, please.
SPEAKER_02:Do not come to my chair with last night's makeup because you had a banger, okay. Oh yeah. I mean, we still we still do skin prep, we still do skin prep. So yes, I'll take your last night's mascara eyeliner off, but come with a clean, moisturized face. You'd be shocked at how that does not happen. But yes, but then when you're in our chair, if you could, no phone. That is like our biggest thing. People are on their phone, I don't know, sometimes pretending like they're Kim Kardashian, Instagram storying while they're in our chair. The phone is like, I'm trying to blend, and the phone is and I just want to like clink in your brush.
SPEAKER_01:Just like first, hilarious.
SPEAKER_00:It's gonna get you one of these times. And I'm gonna see like a news headline like makeup artist slaps.
SPEAKER_02:And you'll know it's me. Veronica? You're like, oh god, do I have to bail her out?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, please do. Please honestly, she was on the podcast one time.
SPEAKER_02:She's really no, this will be you. Let's get our story straight.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, let's get our story straight. We do not slap phones. No. No, but but no phone, the phones.
SPEAKER_02:The phones will be just so helpful. I know sometimes it cannot be helped.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:You know, but if you hired a wedding planner, it can be helped.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. That's accurate. Yeah, it might be a hot take, but it's accurate.
unknown:Oh, it's probably hot.
SPEAKER_00:And it's a take.
SPEAKER_02:So caliente.
SPEAKER_00:Um, so no phones. Is there anything else the girls can do that can be helpful like in that morning process? And I and I ask this in some part because there's a lot of times, and we said this before we like started started the podcast recording. You guys are like the timekeeper in the morning photographer. I don't really ask too many times, but the photographers are gonna be coming up and being like, Hey Veronica, um, are you done? Almost done. And they mean, are you done or when are you gonna be done?
SPEAKER_02:Here's okay, we're doing it. Let's un let's unpack that.
SPEAKER_00:So before we unpack that, is there anything else the girls can do to help you?
SPEAKER_02:Um, arrive when you're supposed to arrive, get all your belongings where they need to go immediately. If you are the first person supposed to be in the chair, let's delegate, let someone else put your stuff away. Because too many times we are late because someone is like, wait, I need to go steam my dress. Do that later. Please sit in my chair right now. You are the first one. And sometimes it's because they're trying to be rebellious and they don't want to be the first one. Yeah. And like, sis, I'll be here all day. I'll touch you up before I leave. Like, sit down.
SPEAKER_00:So that's the girl side of it. Um, and we'll just unpack a little bit of like the photographer, videographer, vendor-to-vendor relationship kind of stuff. Um, and maybe this could be planner related too. If there's a planner that's in there that might not know you super well. Um, I know you work a lot with Taryn um from Blake Events, but like if there is a situation where there might be some tension, like, how can we all get that morning to just flow easier? Everyone's doing what they need to do, getting done when they need to get done.
SPEAKER_02:I think if there is a planner, I've never bumped into that. Okay. The planner is the one who oversees the entire wedding. They have they have my timeline, they have the the shot list, and when the photographer's showing up, videographer, and they are checking. Is everyone going to right? Is it all gonna work out great? Absolutely. I trust every planner to do that. Has have I worked with the planners before that they did not check no one's timeline? Yeah. And then I'm looking at the photographer going, okay, look, I'm supposed to be done at this time, but like we're butting up. So who do you need first so we can make this work? So like you then you have to become that, right? But if there's a planner, that gets that that has never happened. When there isn't a planner because someone thinks they can plan it all themselves and also it be their wedding day, yeah, it always happens. But I don't know how to get I don't know how to say this without offending because I love you photographers, I love you videographers. Yeah. But it becomes, I think it's all boils down to the attitude. If we walk into this all knowing that we are serving our couple, then there's some flexibility, there's some bend. We know that your schedule has buffer time, my schedule has buffer time. Like that's a thing. If you're in the wedding industry, you always put buffer time into your schedules. So there is some give and take, but sometimes I have worked with photographers that there is no give, no take. It's like, uh, you are in my way, get out, be done. And then they roll their eyes, like, oh, makeup artists and hair are always late. And I'm like, and we sit there and we eat it because really it was Lucy over here, didn't sit in my chair for the next like 30 minutes, or when it's for hair, she came with wet hair, and now she has to dry it because that was strictly in our details to come with dry washed hair. Now, there's so many different variables that your beauty team is dealing with and trying to squash and solve and solve all before the rest of the team arrives. Yeah, and so yes, we always get the brunt.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I mean, I guess if you're a photographer, videographer listening, there's probably more to the story than just this team is late as they might always be for your weddings. Maybe it's a you problem. I don't know.
SPEAKER_02:I've seen photographers show up really late and I'm it's really early, and they wear it like a badge of honor. Like, I'm so early. And then they start. Are you done? Are you done? Are you done? And then they start then. I don't care if you're early. Good job on you, buddy. Go do details for the extra hour you just came early for. Go take some venue shots. I don't know. Yeah, but my timeline is still working and will be done when you were supposed to arrive.
SPEAKER_00:Or when they're supposed to start with the stuff. Right.
SPEAKER_02:Now I'm only speaking for myself. I have seen there are some beauty teams out there that yes, I've seen them just like carelessly take the time. I've seen it. So yes, two things can be true.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. You know? Yeah, no, I it's so tough because there has to be a give and a take. There has to be like a community aspect about it. Yes. Because if we're not, and and I think if you're there for the couple, that will just happen naturally. Because it'll be like, hey, I want them to have a good day, you want them to have a good day. What do we need to do? We're getting close to the time that that the bride needs to be done, she's not done yet. How can we get this to work? Right. Um communication is key. Yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Just express what you need, you can do the same. Yeah. We can all and I I do think too, to your point, getting in the room and being like, hey, how can I help? Where are we at? Instead of like, hey, when are you gonna be done? Like that might that might just be enough to like tip the scale to like, oh, okay. So they are concerned with me having time to do my job and do it really well, as opposed to like they only care when I'm done doing my job. And they'll tell me if it wasn't done well or something. Like, you know, it's like you might get like that that back and forth.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. I I think that would be really helpful, like knowing that there could possibly be something else that happened in the five hours prior that just rashed my whole timeline.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Yeah. And it could be that as as early as the start, that could like domino affect the rest of it.
SPEAKER_02:It's been nothing. Once you're in the middle of it, you're in a rhythm. It's always the start. Something all I'm like, oh no. And then we're in our heads panicking, trying to somehow make up time, but like hair, you could probably make up time. Makeup, but not as much. There's no shortcuts.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Are there trends that you're loving right now? No.
SPEAKER_02:I think the makeup community is boring right now.
SPEAKER_00:Okay.
SPEAKER_02:Hair, I'm loving what's happening with hair. I think it's soft. It's like face framing. I love it all. Um, makeup, it's boring. I I just oh, it's so boring. Like how so? Like we lost color. Okay. I think everyone in the world is so overstimulated that maybe it's translating into makeup. It's so like neutrals, neutrals, browns, beige. And I'm like, what happened to like color? Color. Remember that?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Color.
SPEAKER_00:As an artist, you're like, please.
SPEAKER_02:The artist in me is dying. So I love that like I do always like if I have a content day, I'll I'll throw color in there to be like, look, you can do olive. And because it has yellow in it, which is like gold, it's close.
SPEAKER_00:It's close, it works, it works. And so because you have like an alternate personality in your content to his. You can do this color. It works.
SPEAKER_02:What about this? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Um, I feel like you need to have like a series of it works. Oh, hmm. Hmm. Veronica, and it works. I'll credit you.
SPEAKER_02:Um, but yeah, no, I think because of that, I really luck out that I do get some weddings that are like, I would like a burgundy. And I'm like, ha ha, a color. Hello. Um, I would love like what two weeks ago, at two of my brides all did green, and I was like, Love it, eating it up. Yeah. Thank God.
SPEAKER_00:Is there, you're like, finally. Is there a product or maybe a couple products that you like literally cannot live without?
SPEAKER_02:One size beauty setting spray. That right there, since that has hit. I mean, yeah, okay. Let me let me simplify it. Because I, oh, I just was like, no, but I didn't know this was because I don't want the makeup artist to clock me.
SPEAKER_00:The makeup artists listening are gonna be like, huh?
SPEAKER_02:They're like, nah, girl. Yeah. Okay, listen. Before one size beauty setting spray, there was the Crylin fixing spray. We I get that. Now that I've said that, one size setting spray has really changed the game for us. I makeup is lasting way longer. Everyone loves it. It's the one item that when people choose to do their own makeup and they're like perusing through our like, I was like, no, you need to sign up to get makeup done. Can I use your one size setting spray? No. That thing's 30 something dollars. No, but I can't say no because then I'd be rude.
SPEAKER_00:I was like waiting because you said that so I've never said no.
SPEAKER_02:You can have it, yeah. I've never said no because I haven't figured out how to say it in a really nice way.
SPEAKER_00:So the setting spray.
SPEAKER_02:The setting spray.
SPEAKER_00:Uh Veronica, it's been so cool picking your brain on like the experience that you have with like the makeup side of things. But before we started recording, you were like, oh yeah, we're like doing hair stuff now too. Yeah. So just tell me like, how did that start? Like, how did you decide to add it? And what's that process been look? Because you yourself, I'm assuming you're gonna be doing makeup morning of yep, I'll stay makeup, and you're gonna kind of like add in a hair team. So, like walk me through how all of that started.
SPEAKER_02:It kind of like I'm someone that does not move until like something clicks within me that I'm like, okay, this is the right moment right now, then I'll like full-fledged move into it. I love that. And so for a couple of years now, we've had two of my girls who do hair and makeup, and it just wasn't the right, like it just didn't feel right, didn't feel right. We have so many amazing relationships with hairstylists. I was like, I don't want them to feel like I'm severing the relationship. Like, these were all the things that are like rolling through my head, and I'm like, at this moment, the industry is kind of moving on the beauty side where a lot of people are just hiring for them. So it's coming out for one service. And I'm like, okay, but how do we make this like worthwhile? Okay, we need to actually add hair. So it was just the right time, and the girls were ready, we're training, we're doing a lot of education. So for 2026, we're rolling out that we will be a hair and makeup team, which is so crazy for that to come out of my mouth. I feel like it's happening. It's happening right now. Freaking out. Yeah, I love that. And then there's another aspect that I feel like I have to say it, put it out there so that I just finally follow through with it. But education will also, I'll be moving more into education for beauty professionals. That's so exciting. And not like everyone when when a beauty professional will say, like, we're doing education, like I don't care about your cat eyes. I could care less about your cat eye. So we're not moving into education of like how to do a better cat eye. No, it's how to have a better experience with your business because it would just make sense for me to do that. The way I give a better experience is all in my back end as well as when I show up. So, like, how does the back end of your business translate into the front end in your face?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and that's for wedding professionals. Wedding beauty professionals. All beauty then too and fit into that. That's so fun.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, that one I niche down. I'm like, nah, I'm gonna stay in my community. Thank you.
SPEAKER_00:Um, yeah, can we unpack how all of that's gonna work? No, I'm kidding. I'm kidding.
SPEAKER_02:No, no, no.
SPEAKER_00:We're speaking it into existence.
SPEAKER_02:Correct. It's about love.
SPEAKER_00:Love, it's there, done. Yeah, so knows when this is this is October, October 21st.
SPEAKER_02:I think it's crazy that I'm even saying all these projects.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:In the midst of October, where we're dying.
SPEAKER_00:I love that.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, no, no, no, no. It it'll happen, it'll happen.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah, it's gotta happen. Now you put on a podcast. Oh, Veronica, it's been such a fun conversation. Um, it's been so cool hearing about your journey, like where it started, painting, and how it morphed into this business, and how it's like even changing from here on out. Adding the education, we're gonna speak that into existence, I believe it. And adding hair as a service that just uh brings your business into kind of like a new realm, which is so fun. Where can people find and follow along with what you're doing?
SPEAKER_02:So it's virole co specific. Very specific. I don't know what you'll end up if you put L-E-E. Yeah. So Vero Lee Co. on all socials TikTok, Instagram, all of it. To inquire, you want to go to my website, which is www.verolee.com. No co.
SPEAKER_00:Blah blah. And all that will be linked down in the description. So if you're trying to reach out to Veronica and see if she's available for your date, um, that'll all be in the description. And I appreciate you guys tuning in this episode. Hope you guys enjoyed it. If you're watching on YouTube, make sure you like, subscribe, leave a comment, you know, maybe ask uh Veronica a question about makeup or hair or her education. I'll be looking for, yeah, it'll be it'll be cool. And if you're listening on wherever you listen to podcasts, I'd love for you to just like leave us a review. Let us know how you're liking the podcast. And uh thanks for tuning in. That's all for this episode of The Preferred List. Catch you next time.