Hair and Makeup for the bridal party

I am having 3 hair/ makeup girls at the hotel with us. I let the girls know that if they want to have their hair or mu done, they will be there. I am letting them wear their hair however they want.

Hey Lauren, I paid for my bridal party to get their hair and make-up done. It was just something I really wanted to do and I wanted all of them to look really good on my wedding day and it was in my budget. Also I had 1 Mua and 1 hairstylist and they traveled to my location. There was plenty of time for all of us to get ready.

How many bridesmaids do you have? I would give them the option of what they'd like to do. If you can't afford to pay for all of them to get done up, let them know that if they want to get pampered with you, it will cost $___ and they can pay for it. If they don't want to spend the money, it's their choice and they can do their own. That's how I'm doing it. As for not having enough time, your hair/makup artist will bring a second person along if they think there won't be time.

I'm not paying because I didn't make it 'mandatory.' they can have it if they want it, but I don't care either way. :-)

Most hair and MUA are really good at working with a large group of gals - a professional should be able to tell you how much time it will take and if they can get x number of gals done up in y amount of time.

I encourage you to at least contact one and chat it out - having your bridesmaids done up not only looks beautiful, BUT, it's a great way to thank them/pamper them for their time standing for you in your wedding.

At my own wedding in 2009 I cheaped out. . .and I seriously regret that decision. The 'pro' we hired cancelled the day before the wedding and we had to DIY everybody. Now as a photographer, I've been at countless weddings and believe it or not, the ones that run smoother in the 'pre-ceremony' time frame are the ones with a professional hair and makeup artist. It was a nightmare at my own wedding trying to get everybody their DIY hair and makeup in time for the ceremony. I've been on both sides of this fence, and while I know it's a huge expense, it's worth it.

If you are getting it done in a salon, then they can have the same appointment time with another stylist. My MOH and I use the same stylist but she has agreed (with a heavy sigh) that I get our stylist for my hair and she will go to one of the others. I'm making it optional for all three, since I will just give them a guideline of how i want it to look (up or down, curly or straight) and they can do their own, or come to our salon, or go to their own.

My stylist is giving me a price break, so I'm paying for it for my 4 BMs. I told one over the weekend and she was so sweet, "Oh my gosh, really?! Are you sure?" Still not sure what we're doing about makeup... so we'll probably just do that ourselves.

I booked an appointment for my BP and both my mom and my FMIL to get our hair done. I have paid a deposit to go towards their services on each of the girls, and that is going to be part of my gift package to them. I did leave it up to them if they want their hair done at the salon with me or not, and they are all aware of the cost. For make-up, my sisters husbands sister... is a Mary Kay rep, and does an awesome job with makeup. So she set up a package for me and my girls. $35 for each person (if they want it). Which covers day of application and a lip stick/gloss of their choice (in which would be ordered in advance), and a trial for me before.

I had mine done and it was really important that my girls and moms felt pampered too. All my girls were coming from OOT so it was the least I could do. Plus, it was important that they had the right look for the dresses and theme. My MUA gave me a discount for their hair and make up ($95 for both) since I had 5 girls, 2 moms and me. The owner worked on me from 10:30-2:30, and the other 7 were rotated through within that same time frame with a MUA, Hair Prep curler girl and then a Hair styling girl... so 4 people total. We were done early, no stress and everyone looked amazing. IMHO it was totally worth it for the morning to run smoothly and for everyone to look fabulous.

PS my girls totally didn't expect to be pampered. I surprised them.

I have nine bridesmaids, and I let them know that hair and makeup services would be available to them at their own cost. I reiterated the fact that by no means was this necessary, that they were welcome to do their own hair and makeup if they wanted to and that I wished so badly that it was in our budget to gift both hair and makeup to them alllll, but it just wasn't. They were completely fine with it! We are having two hair stylists and one make up artist come. Out of my nine bridesmaids, seven opted to get their hair done, and five are getting their makeup done.

I have 8 girls and most don't live nearby. I only need to worry about me and 3 of my girls from out of state. And I have friends coming to the house to do it for us.

I have 3 bridesmaids (my 2 daughters and my SIL) and I am not paying for them to get hair done. It's just not in the budget. I am very good with updos so I will be doing mine and my 2 daughters' hair the morning of. I told my SIL that she is free to do her hair however she sees fit.

If I had it in the budget, I would love to splurge on getting the girls hair and makeup done for them. It would be a stress and time saver.

I provided a MUA and hairstylist. I told my girls they had the option do hair and makeup but were not required. IF you require this...YOU should pay for it.

I didn't want to pay for it...which is why I gave my girls the option.

My MOH was the only one of my 3 girls who had her hair and makeup done.

I can see a difference between her and the other girls...her face looks a lot more smooth and her eye makeup looks better. But I don't think it looks bad.

I hired a salon to come and provide hair and make-up service @ the hotel. I paid for each of my girls(5) make-up $25 and they will be paying for hair on their own which is $50 all of the girls agreed to this. We all want to look our best and my girls are mostly 'tom girls' so they thought it best we hire some professional! Their are 3 MUA/Stylists and they states that from 7-10:15 they can have all 6 of us ready. I have a hair/makeup trial at the end of this month on the same day as my final dress fitting so I can ensure I like the whole picture.

Only 1 of my girls had pro makeup and 2 had pro hair, and honestly when I look at the pics I cannot see the difference at all. They all looked beautiful.

I just sent them an email when I was working out the morning timeline and said that the MUA/hair stylist was available, totally up to them, and it would cost $xx if they were interested. I just asked them to let me know by a certain date so I could communicate with the pros and make sure of the timeline.

If you give them the choice then it wont be expected that you are paying. I gave the girls the choice cause I didn't want to pay and I didn't want to force them to pay

I'm giving my girls the choice since I don't know if I can afford to pay for them to get it done. I think only my MOH is going to get her hair done. I'm debating on paying for them all the get either their hair or makeup done (same price) and letting them pick which they want done and if they want to pay the extra $20 to get them both done. But I don't know if we will have the money yet.

I paid half for my girls to get their hair done. They paid the other half. We all went to the same salon, that way we could spend the morning together. I only asked that they have it up, they could choose whatever style they liked best.

They were on their own for makeup. They ended up all doing their own, and/or helping one another.

I don't think you need to pay for their hair though, if you aren't asking them to do something specific.

Hi Lauren,

I Wanted to reach out to you in regards to your post / questions regarding time and so forth. I've works with hundreds of ladies and can I can say it's truly 50/50. Some provide the services as gifts or have given them the option.  Myself ( and I'm sure other on location artists) will require a total headcount of services prior to the day, so that enough time can be allotted. If you're working with a professional - time frame is something I would let them work out.  Anywhere from 20-45 min ( depending on the look, airbrush, etc..) We have a niche for making everything happen in the allotted time- plus its super easy to tag team with the hair stylist that's there as well. Depending on budget - I would see what fits well for you and then decide if you wanted to pick up the services as a gift for your girls or just give them the option. Both are considered appropriate. Hope this helps - and feel free to contact me with any other questions or inquires.

Thank you,

Valarie Panei

I have 2 MOH, 7 maids, 1 junior, and 2 flower girls (I blame my FH for the high numbers! lol) I'm having my hair done, and will be doing my own makeup but seeing as I have SO many girls, I'm just giving them the option. I just can't afford to pay for all of them so if they'd like to have their hair done, it's their responsibility to pay for it. I was actually just in a wedding that the bride said she was paying for our hair to be done, and we all paid ourselves. She had enough to pay for throwing a wedding and all.