Hair & Make Up timeline

I've heard that on average:

Bride hair: 45-90 minutes

Bride makeup: 45 minutes

Bridesmaid hair: 30-45 minutes

Bridesmaid makeup: 20-35 minutes

So if there's nine of you, it seems like your artist is likely on par with the time gauges! Also consider that they're likely accounting for cleanup, setup, unexpected disruptions [late bridesmaid, empty chair for 15 mins, heating up tools / cleaning tools]. For 9 people I would definitely have two artists, I'm shocked your current artist doesn't have a connection to bring!

Last wedding I was in, the bride + 3 bridesmaids got hair and makeup done with two people and I believe it took 3 hours!

It took our artists 5 and half hours to do makeup for 8 ladies and hair for 5 ladies. They gave us one for hair and one for makeup, but the owner of the business was one of them and knew how to do both, so she helped the other with makeup.


But yes I agree with Bailey. Surprised that she won’t have another for 9 people 😳 If there’s no getting a second artist, unfortunately I would say you need to have almost everyone there at the start and politely stress to your party to be on the look out for when someone finishes so that the chair doesn’t stay empty. Our artists actually told us that was their policy and that they did away with time slots because “people would be late to the facility for their slot and it would slow up the process.” For the most part my ladies were understanding of this and showed up at the beginning. We had food, coffee, and tea to keep them occupied.

I would ask if you could hire your own second artist; that's what I'm doing! And it was my original MUA who suggested it. She said it takes 45minutes to an hour for bridesmaids and minimum of an hour for brides.

I’d reach out and ask if there is a second MUA that can join the day of. Also, that seems like a really short amount of time for hair for 9 people. I think average is 30minutes each for bridal party, and 45+ minutes for bride hair. With 9 women, it seems like it would be really rushed in 3 hours. For makeup, it sounds about right, but again, it is a lot for one person. I’d ask about having a second MUA join. For reference, on my wedding day the hair stylist and MUA arrived at 9am. I had two bridesmaids, my mom and myself getting hair and makeup done. I want to say the hair stylist left around 1. The makeup artist finished my makeup around 2, and stayed until 2:30 to help me get ready and out the door. I had a small bridal party and that was the timeline. Also, it’s important to keep in mind that the MUA spends a few minutes between each person sanitizing items and getting out new brushes. Then there is the skin prep time before actually applying the makeup (at least that is how it was with us). I hope this is helpful! Best wishes to you on your special day. 💗💗💗. It goes by SO quickly; try to take it all in!

That sounds like a really short amount of time for hair. I had my trial yesterday, and it took about 45 minutes for my hair and about 30-45 minutes for makeup. Another thing to consider is that hair and makeup can be done simultaneously, so Bridesmaid 1 can be getting hair done, bridesmaid 2 can be getting makeup, they can then flip, and you have 2 girls done in about an hour.

If you want to get everything done in less time, I'd first review your contract/ ask the makeup vendor if they allow a second artist to be performing services. Sometimes vendors don't allow for additional artists outside of their company to be there, others set prices based on the number of services being performed, etc.