I am getting married destination, and my cousin who is a HMUA (does not practice but is licensed, she only cuts hair professionally but does not often do styling for events) has expressed that she would be honored to do our H&M for the wedding. We have not done a trial yet, but I want to go to the trial with an offer for her in case it goes really well. She does not have a price point at this time. I do not believe she has ever done H&M for a wedding other than her own, which looked lovely.
Where I'm from, hair and airbrushed makeup, not including the trial usually runs a bride around $160, about $20-$40 less for bridesmaids. I am paying for 5 bridesmaids hair & makeup, that is not airbrushed, no full glam looks. Very natural style. How much should I offer to compensate her? I want to make sure she's fairly paid and feels respected, but also taking into consideration that this is not her day-to-day work/top skillset.
I was thinking of offering to pay for a night of her stay at the resort (value of around $400) I could also get her a nice gift? Google says the average HMUA in my area makes $33 an hour, so for 6 hours of her time that would be $200, which seems very low. Obviously I would also tip if I went the cash route versus a compensated room, though.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
