Hello! I'm in a bit of a dilemma about the best way to get my bridal party prepped.
The wedding venue is about 45-min to an hour's drive from where we live. It doesn't have a dedicated bridal suite that's equipped for full hair & makeup, so our venue coordinators (and the photographer in her experience) have said that brides tend to rent a room in either a hotel or an AirBnB to get ready. Two of my bridesmaids are from out of town, so they definitely need a place to stay already. I also wanted to have a small party in a nearby Airbnb after the wedding was over, so we can all rest and chill out with each other before going home. A couple whose wedding we went do did this, and we thought it was really fun! I also don't want to drive back home so far at night.
So here's my Airbnb options:
A) The simple option, rent out a large house for the whole bridal party to get ready in (~10-11 people). That means groom and bridal party will be getting ready in the same place, but the groomsmen said they'd do their best to keep me out of FH's line of sight ; ) It will also be easier for our photo-/videographers. The con would be the expense, and the awkwardness that not everyone has to stay over the night before, so it would be unfair to people who were only staying one night as opposed to two.
B) The cheaper option, rent a smaller place for the brides to get ready. The two from out of town can stay there the night before and the others can meet up with them in the morning. The HMUA can also travel there to work. We will rent the large place for the next night. Something to consider is the check-in times - the wedding is not until 5pm (so we'd finish at 2-3pm or so?), but most check-out times are at 12pm, so we might have to pay 2 nights for the smaller place for late check-out anyways. We are also only allowed to be at the venue not more than 2 hours before the starting time anyways. Same goes for checking into the large place - if check-ins are at 3pm it would be a hassle to send someone there while we're supposed to be prepping.
So that's that about the Airbnbs!
Onto my issues choosing between HMUAs! At this point, among my four bridesmaids, only one wants both HMU, two would rather do it all themselves, and one is willing to get hair done but prefers doing her own makeup. My own mother will also do her own HMU, and I haven't asked FMIL or my jr bridesmaid what they'd like to do yet.
HMUA 1 is based near where I live and charges only $160 for brides/$100 for bridesmaids, so she has the better prices. My mom also really likes her and had hired her 10 years ago to do my makeup for prom! So we have some experience with her. She doesn't travel however, unless booked with four total services (bride + 3 others, hair & makeup for all) + $100 travel fee. That's about $560 total to get her to come to us. I have already had my trial with her and I am not disappointed.
She's suggested that me and bridesmaid just travel to her place to get it done, and join everyone else later. I really wanted to get ready with everyone though, esp since I don't see two of my bridesmaids very often, and I also thought having getting ready photos would be fun. Have not yet asked photographers how they handle this or how many pictures they take. My mom is really pushing for me to hire HMUA1.
HMUA 2 is a little more expensive, but has not given me a minimum services required for travel, just a per mile fee. One of my bridesmaids actually knows her from college. She's a little more expensive per person ($275 for bride, $160 for others), but I'm wondering if it's worth it so I can get to spend time with my girls!
I also do not really feel like getting my hair & makeup then and then having to haul myself an hour to the wedding venue...
Oh, the payment is also decided to be "anyone who wants pays their own." I'm not requiring anyone get their hair & makeup done.
