Finding the perfect look for your big day can be stressful. Especially when you have zero makeup or hair skills, like me. But you obviously want to feel your best on your wedding day – despite your future husband/wife telling you that you’re beautiful just the way you are.
I faced a few challenges when it came to finding my wedding day look. I’ll share those below, as well as the steps I took to overcome those challenges to help me find the perfect professionals to help me look amazing on my special day!
Hair
When it comes to my hair, it is THICK. I’ve had people do my hair for weddings and other events before, and it never comes out the way I had hoped. For my best friend’s wedding, my hair started coming out the second the stylist walked out the door. It wasn’t her fault, she just underestimated how truly thick my hair was.
I’ve been going to the same hair stylist for years. I’ve followed her to many salons, and even one point when she was doing it out of her house. She just knows my hair, I fully trust her, and she knows what she’s doing. So it was a no brainer for me to ask her to do my hair for my wedding. And I’m thankful that I had someone like that, but I don’t know how I would have found anyone else that I could feel 100% confident to do my hair.
Even though she was familiar with my hair, we still did a trial. Always do the trial. Do more than one trial if you have to, especially if you’re working with someone who hasn’t done your hair before. I know trials cost money, but I think it’s worth it so you can feel confident that your hair will look amazing on the day of your wedding. The last thing you want is to start your day full of doubt and be stressed about whether or not it will come out right.
But my biggest piece of advice is, if you have a consistent hair stylist that you love and has been working on your hair for a while – ask them to do your hair for your wedding rather than finding someone new. I think there’s a few benefits;
⁃ They’re already familiar with your hair.
⁃ You likely already trust them and know their expertise.
⁃ They can help you prep your hair for the months leading up to the wedding. For me, we stopped adding layers 6 months before. She also stopped thinning it out (probably the hardest part for me haha).
⁃ They might give you a discount. My stylist ended up not even charging me on the day of my wedding. Of course, I gave her a rather generous tip to make up for it.
The other point to consider is how many other people will be getting their hair done. Different stylists have different comfort levels for the amount of people they can handle. I had four people, and two of them were only getting blowouts. So only two of us were actually getting our hair fully styled. So it was “simple” for her. We were done in two hours. Depending on the amount of people, it could take several hours and possibly more than one stylist.
Makeup
I’m not a makeup person. When I used to work in an office, my routine consisted of washing my face with soap and water, throwing on some eyeliner and maybe a little foundation. I work from home now, so I rarely wear makeup at all, except for the occasional social gathering that I might attend.
I also have pretty bad cystic acne. I’ve been on prescription medicine since forever for it, but it never seemed to completely help. So aside from my top worry of having my period on my wedding day, I was stressed that I would have a major flare up for the wedding. So I needed to feel confident that whoever did my makeup would know how to cover that mess up.
I found my MUA on The Knot. She had great reviews and was very responsive when I reached out to her. I reached out to two others, and they both took over a week to respond. So I set up a trial with her about 9 months out from the wedding. I know it was early, but I wanted to do a trial before I actually signed a contract with anyone.
She was very friendly and I could tell right away that she was experienced in what she did. After taking one look at my skin, she told me my skin was extremely dry (which I honestly didn’t know, because it didn’t feel dry). I didn’t have any breakouts at the time, but she asked if I had cystic acne and when I told her I did, she informed me that it likely had to do a lot with my dry skin and that I needed to find a good skincare routine. I thought she was just trying to get me to buy the product that she sells, so I kind of just agreed with her and let her go on to do her thing. I asked for a more natural look, and she gave me exactly what I asked for. I signed the contract once I got home.
I also got to thinking about what she said about a skincare routine. Mine consisted of soap and water, and then applying my prescription topical cream. I was afraid to try anything else. But then I started thinking about it and figured I had nothing to lose by trying something different. So I ordered a few products from her site, and never looked back. She was absolutely 100% correct: I needed a skincare routine, and it was a game changer. I didn’t have anymore flare ups after I started with a consistent routine.
I was so thankful that she gave me that tip, because it gave me time to prep my skin for my wedding and I was no longer stressed about having a flare up.
Just like with hair, we only had four people getting their makeup done, so my MUA was doing everyone’s makeup herself. Just like with hair, it only took her about two hours to complete everyone. And we all looked amazing.
So when it comes to makeup and skincare, find someone you trust and feel comfortable with. Ask them for tips on skincare maintenance. Start with a skincare routine ASAP, so that your skin looks its very best on your wedding day. My MUA also recommended getting a facial, which as it got closer to the wedding I just completely forgot to do, but I’ve heard of many others doing this a few weeks leading up to the wedding and it made a big difference for them.
General considerations
If you have a full wedding party plus others needing their makeup and/or hair done, your MUA or hair stylist may or may not prefer a second person to assist. Hopefully if that’s the case, they have someone they already work with that can help out. But the other thing to think about is if a MUA/ hair stylist tells you that they can handle a big group on their own. It’s important to recognize whether or not you feel comfortable with that. If you feel like they may be overly confident, it’s okay to speak up and request a second a second person. You want your day to go as smoothly as possible. Which also means being able to trust the professionals who are helping you get ready.
The other thing I’d like to point out is that your trials likely will not truly reflect the full effect of what your MUA/hair stylist will do for you actual wedding day. I know this is a hard one to get past, and to be honest neither my makeup or hair trial was exactly what I was hoping for, but they weren’t bad and I wasn’t unhappy with them. They both just seemed unfinished. Which, both my MUA and hair stylist pointed out the things that they would do on the actual day to pull my look together. And they absolutely delivered on that promise. Go with your gut on this one. I didn’t hate how my trials came out, and I trusted both my MUA and hair stylist when they said it would all come together the day of. But there are a lot of people who truly hate how their trials turn out, so much that it ends in tears. And I think that says a lot. In those cases, I think it’s totally worth it to try to find someone else who can help you achieve the look you’re going for.
There’s also always the question of who should pay for these services. Do you pay for your wedding party? Do they pay for you? Does everyone pay for themselves? And I don’t think there’s a right or wrong answer. I think this is a personal, and financial, preference. I’ve heard of it being done all different ways. The important thing is to make sure your expectations are clear up front. When asking everyone who plans to get hair/makeup done, be very specific about whether you expect them to pay for themselves or if you will pay for them. Don’t wait until last minute to give them that information, because it could end up putting someone in an uncomfortable position.
Here’s a breakdown of the cost for hair and makeup:
As I mentioned, my hair stylist has been doing my hair for years. Also my mom’s hair and my sister’s, so she did give us all a very steep discount and these prices don’t reflect actual prices you’ll typically find. But as I mentioned, it could be a potential benefit of having your usual stylist do your hair for your wedding.
⁃ Hair trial for myself: $25 (plus tip)
⁃ Day of hair for myself: Free (plus tip)
⁃ Day of hair for my sister: $50 (plus tip)
⁃ Day of hair for my mom and MIL: $25 each (plus tip)
Here’s a breakdown of the makeup costs. I found my MUA’s prices to be average compared to some of the others I had looked into.
⁃ Makeup trial for myself: $125 (plus tip)
⁃ Day of makeup for myself: $125 (plus tip)
⁃ Day of makeup for my sister, mom, and MIL: $90 each (plus tip)
Overall, you should feel your absolute best on your wedding day. For some people, that might mean skipping these services altogether. But if you choose to have your hair and/or makeup done by a professional, make sure you find someone that makes you feel 100% and 100% beautiful!