I’m not one for big birthday celebrations – a good meal and decent conversation always make me happy. Last year though, an amazing birthday opportunity came up and I couldn’t say no!

Cherry Dollface had announced her UK tour earlier in the year and luck would have it that she was in Bristol the day before my birthday. Let’s just say I didn’t need much persuading to book a session and, of course, Flo hopped along too.

I’ve always had a love of vintage clothing and non-mainstream fashion. When I started blogging and getting into shooting with my better half, I watched lots of Cherry’s videos on posing, modelling and wardrobe. Since then I’ve found my own way of doing things but as a starting point, I found her videos incredibly useful.

The day arrived. With a ton of outfits in hand, Flo, @darktechsupport and I set off on a road trip to Bristol. My session was first – I was ready to be glamorised!

First of all, I had my hair set into curls. While it cooled, I had my make-up done. I really enjoy the process of being painted, the transformation process fascinates me. I didn’t need to bring anything with me – Cherry had colours that matched my skin tone perfectly.

Once my make-up was finished, it was time to finish up the hair. I’d looked at so many hairstyles before my session but I finally settled on a forties half-poodle as I’d always been a little fearful of trying out a poodle myself. After the hair and make-up had been completed, I felt like a goddess!

Flo then had her time with Cherry while I had some photos taken. The atmosphere was really relaxed and we could just hang out and chit-chat throughout our sessions – I even had time to munch a pastry.

Meeting someone you’ve been a fan of online in real life is a little odd. I felt like a nervous fangirl and I didn’t really know what to do with myself for the first five minutes. After that however, I calmed down and actually got to enjoy the experience. Cherry is very down-to-earth and incredibly easy to talk to, which made this experience all the better!

From my previous experience with photographers, it takes a while to warm up and relax in front of a camera with a new person behind it. Having my better half and Flo with me definitely helped. When Flo and I got our images to choose from afterwards, there were lots of portraits so I requested a wider choice of images, including full-length outfits and greater detail on the hair.

These were the results by Holly Matthews Photography:

I really loved meeting Cherry and I’ve been able to recreate this hair since my shoot so I learned something new as well!

After our shoot, we were in desperate need of food. We had the most delicious quesadillas ever! Full up, we headed home. Once we got out of the car, @darktechsupport managed to get some snaps of us in natural light.

What do you think? I had lots of fun and I was glad to finally meet one of my pin-up idols!

Flo will be sharing her views and photos of her Cherry Dollface experience in an upcoming blog post.