Say hello to the Makeup Artist of the Year!
Winning an award and being recognised for doing what you love as a living is no longer a dream for me as an award-winning MUA.
Last year, I applied for The Wedding Industry Awards (TWIA) due to one of my kind photographer friends, Kristida Photography nominating! With much encouragement and support, I decided I was finally ready to apply for something as big as TWIA.
A time-worthy process
The application process for TWIA was extensive and took a lot of time to complete. My advice here is to take your time and make sure you answer the questions properly. Once the application was complete a link to vote for me was sent. Immediately I emailed all of my previous brides from that year, and I gratefully had the majority of them took the time to vote for me.
Waiting for the email to find out whether I had become a regional finalist was the most nerve-wracking experience. The announcement was supposed to be near the end of October, but due to technical issues this was delayed. I was not aware of this and so when no congratulations email came through I presumed I didn’t make it through, which made me very sad.
Not all was lost
Fast forward 48 hours and the most incredible surprise occurred! I was thrilled to receive an email from TWIA explaining what had happened and, more important that I had made it!
A hobby to an award-winning business
In November, I made my way to Farnham Castle, the most beautiful venue and host to TWIA. It was a very grand affair filled with amazing local wedding suppliers.
After an evening of glitz and glamour, the awards started. I can not begin to put into words how I felt when it was announced I had won but the night left me feeling inspired and uplifted.
The big night
Fast forward a couple of months to January, I was with my husband at Cafe De Paris in London and very nervous. I met with other wedding suppliers in mine and different categories. All the regional winners where then up against each other for the hotly contested UK’s best. I was up against seven other national finalists – all of which were amazing at what they do. Halfway through the ceremony, Damian (The organiser) announced the makeup artist category. All eight of our names appeared on the screen, and I was so proud to see my name. Then the nerve kicked in. It was when Damian started reading the winners announcement which included an anonymous review. I turned and said to my husband Mark, “This is one of my brides!”.
Before I could process the moment, he announced that the National Winner is: Birute Thomas Makeup Artist! I was absolutely ecstatic. I couldn’t believe I was officially the ‘Makeup Artist of the Year’ The recognition is incredible. We celebrated all night, and I just couldn’t stop smiling.
What happened next?…
After the awards, we get to read the votes from our brides, and that was one of the most amazing feelings to read such kind words! It’s wonderful to know that my brides appreciate my work and the judging panel chose me as their 2019 winner.
Six months on, I have never been busier, and I feel like I have to work so much harder. I still feel very proud when people recognise me from the wedding industry – I have achieved so much in such a short time period. These awards are the most prestigious, and I am certainly entering again this year, it opened a couple of weeks ago, and I am going for it! Stay tuned. You can watch my winners interview here.
