Bridesmaids

Usually the bridesmaids pay for their attire (within reason). If you insist on a certain hairstyle/make-up, you pay for it. Otherwise, they do their own.

I think it depends. If you’re insisting that they have their hair and makeup done and they have no say in the price of who you pick then you should 100% pay. If you’re letting them choose that’s up to you. I only had my MOH and one bridesmaid so I asked for them to buy their dress and shoes. I let them pick whatever they wanted as long as it was the color I wanted. I asked if they wanted to do hair/makeup with me and I paid for them and my MIL and mother to have their hair and makeup done as well

This is also region specific. In the USA it's standard for the bridesmaids to pay (within reason). If you want a specific high dollar dress, you need to pay or pay the difference in their budget. If you are requiring professional services, you need to pay for them. I am in the same boat with shoes. If you need them to buy a specific pair of shoes that they would never buy for themselves, you should pay.

In other parts of the world, UK for example, the couple typically will take on all costs of the bridal party. Ask around in your social circle to see what is "standard" in your area

The dress and shoes are typically paid for by the bridesmaids unless you are requiring a very specific shoe or asking them to buy a dress outside of their budget. I would suggest asking each bridesmaid individually what their budget is for a dress that way when you look for dresses to know what price point to stay under. As for hair and makeup it can either be the bridesmaids responsibility or the bride. If you are requiring a certain look/style or for them to have it professionally done then you should pay for it. If you are letting them decide what they do or don't want or if they can do it themselves then they can cover the cost. You'd just need to let them know ahead of time the cost. When I was speaking with our hair and makeup artist I reached out to my girls and told them I was speaking with so and so and they charge x for hair and x for makeup is that something you'd be instead in. This gave them the opportunity to let me know what they thought and to plan accordingly.

The bridesmaids unless offered by the bride. I’ve never not paid for my own as a bridesmaid

Unless the bride makes it clear at the time that she is asking bridesmaids to participate that she will cover expenses, then it is the responsibility of the bridesmaids to cover hair/makeup/attire/shoes/accessories.

I think this might be a regional, or even a social circle type of thing. I live in the US, and ALL of my friends and family pay for the bridesmaid’s hair and makeup. I had honestly never heard of a bride requesting the bridesmaids pay for these things. I’ve seen a mixture when it comes to the dress though. Most people I know pay for the wedding party’s attire as well, but I have known of a few that didn’t. We will be covering all of these costs for our wedding party.

Out of the 9 weddings I've been in, I've paid for my own dress but the bride paid for my hair and makeup each time.

All my bridesmaids paid for there own hair and makeup done!

They paid for their dresses, and I paid for hair. I gave them the option to get their makeup done, but they paid for that. I let them wear the earring and shoes they wanted.

All that said, I paid my own way for the bachelorette.

I've never paid for hair or makeup for a wedding i've been a BM in and i think it's tacky AF to ask someone to pay for that.

It really depends. Bridesmaids almost always pay for their own shoes/dress, unless the bride has a very specific (and expensive) vision that she expects to be out of most people's budgets. For hair and makeup, if you have a specific hairstyle or makeup look you should pay for hair and makeup. I don't really care what my bridal party does, so if they want to opt into HMU I'm asking them to pay for their own. If they don't want to pay and just do it themselves/do each other? Great! I think for HMU it really just comes down to you shouldn't FORCE your bridesmaids to pay for it. Also offering to cover part of the cost if you think it'd be cost-prohibitive. It really just depends on the group, but if they're your best friends then they should be aware of your financial situation/budget and empathize with that, just the same as you empathize with theirs if they choose not to pay for HMU.

If you're requiring professional hair, makeup and nails, that cost is on you. If you've said it's optional and they want to, then they should pay. The dress is the responsibility of each BM. Unless you're requiring a really specific shoe, like chucks or pink stilettos, then the BM will like have some they can wear.

I’ve noticed this can vary depending on region in the US even, but down in the South here, bridesmaids pay for everything unless the bride explicitly says she will cover something. Since I didn’t have the money to cover every single expense, but wanted to help out some and reduce their financial stress, this is what I did:



Dress: I picked out with a reasonable budget and then further arranged a bulk discount with the store. Bridesmaids paid.
Shoes: I gave them a color and had them buy/use what they were comfortable with.
Makeup: I covered.
Hair: I just told them half-up-half-down and they could either choose to pay for our stylist that was coming, or do on their own. I know many on here say that if you ask for a specific style, you should pay, but just to note, I was totally cool with it if they just wanted to DIY by taking the front hairs, comb back, tie with a ponytail, boom, done (as one does with a casual half-up-half-down). I didn’t have a requirement of straight or curly on top of that request. If they wanted either of those textures, that was their prerogative.
Jewelry: I covered.
In all, I never heard any complaints. I also told them at the beginning that they could always approach me about any financial issues.