I recently heard a story about a bridesmaid who traveled quite far to be part of a friend's wedding, only to have expensive hair and makeup appointments sprung on her and the rest of the bridal party at the last minute. Even worse—the hair stylist and makeup artist only accepted cash, which no one was prepared for! I was appalled.

Brides, being a bridesmaid is an expensive proposition. Your friends likely know that when they accept your invitation to participate in your wedding, but you can play your part in keeping their costs down.

The easiest way to help your bridal party manage costs is to make professional hair and makeup optional. Some women are very proficient at doing their own hair and makeup and will welcome the opportunity to save some money. Others will look forward to the chance to be pampered. By giving them the option, you respect their pocketbooks.

If you simply feel that professional hair and makeup are a must, then the gracious thing to do is to offer to pay for everyone's services, or at least a portion of the services. This is something to keep in mind when choosing how large you want your bridal party to be. You don't need to have 10 bridesmaids.

And at the absolute minimum, you MUST notify your bridal party in advance (well in advance, not the weekend of your wedding) if you're expecting them to shell out for professional hair and makeup, especially if payment must be made in cash.

Your bridesmaids want to be there for you on your big day. Don't create resentment by treating them poorly.

To help you gauge your potential costs, the team at Thumbtack, a website that connects consumers with professionals in many industries, put together a few stats on the cost of a makeup artist in Sacramento, CA.

Thumbtack leveraged data from a range of wedding makeup professionals to see what real-life average pricing is for their services. Wedding makeup can be solely for the bride, or services can expand to include bridesmaids, flower girls, and other family members. The two main categories of wedding makeup are traditional, which is applied with sponges and brushes, and airbrushed, which is applied with spraying tools. A variety of factors go into the pricing of wedding makeup, including the number of people, add-ons (like lash extensions and hair), travel, and reputation of the artist.

The graph below shows that the average cost in Sacramento ranges from $60-90 per person.  We are always happy to connect our clients with talented local makeup artists!

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