When you get married, you will likely have professional hair and makeup services for at least yourself, and possibly for others. Here are the things you need to know when scheduling wedding hair and makeup.

First, decide how many people will be having hair and makeup services. Generally, it’s the bride, her female attendants (maid of honor and bridesmaids), the mother of the bride, the mother of the groom, any step-mothers, and potentially close family members who aren’t part of the wedding party.

The number one rule of wedding hair and makeup is that if you, as the bride, are requiring someone to have professional hair and makeup services, you should pay for those services. It’s rude to demand that a bridesmaid spend $100-300 on hair and makeup. 

If you don’t want to pay for everyone’s hair and makeup, then make those services optional. That way the ones who want to and can afford it will have professional services, and the ones who don’t or can’t will do their own hair and makeup. And no one will call you a Bridezilla.

Some wedding beauty professionals provide both hair and makeup services and some do one or the other. Once you know how many people need services, you can determine how many stylists you need.

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On average, it will take an hour for each of the bride’s services—that is, an hour for hair and another hour for makeup—and 45 minutes per service per person for anyone else.

If you have 8 people having hair and makeup (bride, MOB, MOG, MOH, 4 bridesmaids), that’s a total of 14 hours of services. You need a team of beauty professionals to pull that off! 

Even if you hire one hairstylist and one makeup artist, that still going to require 7 hours of your day for hair and makeup. Two hairstylists and two makeup artists can provide hair and makeup services for 8 people in under four hours, which is far more manageable.

In a case where there are two brides, I recommend hiring two separate teams of beauty professionals so each bride can have her own space with her own team. This is especially true if each bride has several female attendants.

If only the brides are having professional hair and makeup, then they could share a hairstylist and makeup artist. One bride would have hair while the other was in makeup, and then the professionals would switch brides.

Things to keep in mind:

• Each stylist will need about 15 minutes to unpack and set up her equipment, so if they arrive at 10 am, the first appointment will be at 10:15

• Many beauty professionals only accept cash (or maybe Venmo) on the wedding day, so make sure you know what the total will be and bring enough cash

• If the beauty professionals work for a company, salon, or agency, plan to tip 15-20% of the total. For beauty pros who own their own business and set their own rates, tipping is optional.

• Ask any questions you have during the booking process: do they use vegan or cruelty-free products? Do they airbrush makeup or use hair extensions? Will they place your veil or other hair décor?

• If you have a floral hairpiece, make sure it’s delivered by your florist before the hairstylist departs so she can place it and make sure it’s secure. If you’re not getting ready at the same venue where the wedding is being held, you may need to pay extra for your florist to make a second delivery.

• Have water and snacks on hand during the getting ready session, and offer them to your hairstylist and makeup artist. They’ll probably bring their own, but it’s still nice to offer.

• Schedule a trial-run with both the hairstylist and the makeup artist BEFORE you pay your deposit and book with them. You want to make sure you like their work. Bring inspiration photos so they have some idea of the look you want.

Last tip: choose your venue wisely. If your wedding venue has a “bridal suite” or other getting ready space, make sure you look at it during your tour. Does it have lots of windows and natural light? What about mirrors? What’s the seating situation? Stools, armless chairs, or salon chairs are ideal. Both your stylists and your photographer will love you if there’s a lot of good, natural light in the room.

Follow these tips, and your wedding hair and makeup will be a success!

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