NAWILIWILI — With base make-up on, bride-to-be Bessie Kovoloff sat in the spa on one of the upper decks of NCL’s “Pride of Hawai‘i” as a professional stylist put the finishing touches on her hair. “How does it look?” she
NAWILIWILI — With base make-up on, bride-to-be Bessie Kovoloff sat in the spa on one of the upper decks of NCL’s “Pride of Hawai‘i” as a professional stylist put the finishing touches on her hair.
“How does it look?” she asked Style Network’s Finola Hughes.
“I think it looks great,” Hughes said as they discussed how everything would come together.
Kovoloff and her fiancé, Pablo Marvelis, were the lucky Los Angeles couple selected to have their makeovers and wedding filmed for the show “How Do I Look?” hosted by Hughes. All filming took place on the ship, which pulled into Nawiliwili Harbor yesterday.
“How Do I Look,” the Style Network’s highest-rated show, takes fashion-impaired folks and gives them a head-to-toe makeover from close friends and a professional stylist.
For this episode, two of Kovoloff and Marvelis’ closest friends and stylist Robbie Laughlin picked out a few three-piece collections for the couple, including her wedding dress and his suit. Kovoloff and Markelis chose the collection they liked the most and revealed their choices in front of their wedding guests for the show.
The special two-hour episode marks several firsts for the popular show — the first couple make-over, the first wedding special and the first filming done outside the studio.
The search for couples began early in the summer with a crew sifting through letters and e-mails, but casting director Jill Bandemer said she knew Kovoloff and Marvelis were the couple as soon as she saw them.
Casting a couple meant they needed two perfect fits instead of one.
“We got couples when sometimes the girl was the real energetic one and the fiancé is the quiet one and then there were times where it was the opposite,” Bandemer said. “But they just really stuck out. Their eyes perked up, they were great for TV and they really needed this makeover.”
Hughes said they were a shoe-in for the show.
“It seemed like they were exactly what we were looking for,” she said. “We have a great story here and it’s great stories like theirs that carry the show.”
Kovoloff, a pre-school teacher, started to have second thoughts about a big wedding a few years ago, following the death of her father. She considered eloping since her father wouldn’t be there walk her down the aisle. A traditional wedding also didn’t seem financially feasible.
Stark realities seemed to take a toll on Kovoloff.
“After a while I just kind of let go,” she said. “I never wear makeup, I just didn’t really put any effort into how I dressed. My friends were all saying to me that I just looked tired.”
Then came reality television.
Kovoloff said it felt like this was her father’s way of giving her the wedding she’d wanted.
All week, a camera crew followed the couple for fittings and various special treatments.
“It’s been an experience, for sure; sometimes a stressful one, but definitely an experience,” Kovoloff said. “I’m going to try working harder at keeping myself up.”
Markelis, a law student, said he didn’t know what to expect going in, but remembered what the most important part of this experience was.
“It’s exciting to know the cameras are all around,” he said. “Best of all, I get to marry Bessie.”
Following the wedding yesterday afternoon, the couple, family and friends planned to explore the island.
The wedding episode of “How Do I Look” is set to air on the Style Network on Dec. 9.
• Lanaly Cabalo, lifestyle writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 237) or lcabalo@kauaipubco.com.
