Is professional makeup a must?

YES! 100% worth it. A professional MUA knows what they're doing and knows how different makeups will act with cameras/pictures. I paid $150 (she's normally $250) to get my makeup done and I would do it all over again. At the end of the night after an entire day of makeup on my face...I still looked like I had recently had my makeup done!

Pic 1 - beginning of the day after makeup was applied

Pic 2 - last picture of the day...makeup still looks AMAZING

I also didn't touch up my makeup at all during the day which was super nice...the only thing I did was lipstick and after about 5 kisses with DH I gave up reapplying.

I have seen brides who had their make-up done professionally and done by themselves. It is solely up to you. I personally, will have mine done professionally. That's just one less thing I have to do.

Yes! I agree with Cyndey! Here's mine. I paid $45 for mine.

Plus...when do you have the opportunity to get your makeup professionally done and be pampered like that? In my case...it's very rare.

Cydney and Audra, your makeup does look great and you are both gorgeous! I guess the search is on for a makeup artist near where I am getting married.

I'm doing it, only because as Cydney said- when else do you get to be pampered like that. If I figured there is one time in my life I can have everything professionally done- why not my wedding.

Worth very penny and more. I love makeup and do it daily. I also love to think I know a thing or two about it. But there's no way I could have done what my MUA did: I looked flawless the whole evening, and looked like the absolute best version of myself.

Not to mention that I would not have had patience to do it myself a few hours before the first look.

@Cydney your so pretty(:

I'm still debating if I want to get it done. I probobly will lol just depends on if I can find a good deal. I know I'm for sure getting my hair done

I would, if I could afford it. But I will be my own artist that day

I have been doing my own make-up since I could put on mascara and that was far too many tubes of mascara ago. For our wedding, I had a MO at the Estee Lauder counter just to get an idea about great colors. Half of my product is already EL? I hated it. No, pic of it is avail.

However, I used the colors & diff techniques I saw on videos and you see the first pic of my own MU.

It didn't translate well on our wedding day because the lighting was different. That is the second picture.

Cate is getting air brush & hair at the house. I know I will be a wreck, so I decided I would go for a trial. I love the hair but will have a part more to the left, more poof up top & will not be wearing THAT fascinator. The make-up, she used greens. I didn't care for it. I also thought the air brush made my pores look too big. It is Pic 3. So, I have another appt for reg MU with my usual pinks and purples at the end of July.

We paid a MUA to come onsite to our hotel to do hair and makeup. It was totally worth it. Hair and make up was $65 each, and we paid them mileage and tipped 20%.

It is affordable, you just have to shop around. I paid $25 for each of my bridesmaids and myself for airbrush makeup. The girls had just opened a new salon. There are tons of make up artists. I would highly recommend doing it. The pictures will be around for a long time.

I'm thinking about it, but haven't decided yet. I have some crazy allergies that impact my cosmetic choices, so I'll have to make sure that any MUA I use knows what they can/cannot use on my skin. Last thing I want is to breakout in hives all over my face on my wedding day, or have a rash on my honeymoon!

I would totally do it. When I did the promo with Colin Cowie, they did my makeup and the pix from the press shots looked better than I EVER looked in anyone else's wedding shots! Go for it!

I would love to work it into my budget, along with a full spa treatment, its just sooooo nice to be pampered. I do my own nails on a regular basis, but Im gonna have them done for the wedding, again just because it feels nice to let someone else take care of you.

The decision is yours, I am doing my own, but I used to be a Mary Kay Consultant and don't trust anyone else to do my make-up. It is all about how comfortable you feel having someone else do it. I still like to look somewhat natural and not made up, whereas everytime I have ever had my makeup done by someone else I didn't feel natural. If I was going to do a smoky look I would have someone else do it, because I am not great at that, but other than that I don't trust anyone else, lol.

I don't really wear makeup often aside from mascara, and I have good skin so I will just be visiting a mac counter w a bm who is good at makeup. The mac people will do it, maybe before my shower then my bm can recreate wedding day.

Im a graphic designer though so I can fix any pics I don't like and don't want to look too heavily made up in real life which I personally think is more important than the pics. A friend looked GREAT in her pics but I remember seeing her on her wedding day and thinking holy crap thats a lot of makeup

No, I'm not doing it. We're on a tight budget and spending a lot of money on pampering just isn't something I'm interested in. I'd rather it go towards our guests. It's your decision but you have A LONG time before your wedding to experiment with make up and shop around. If you feel comfortable doing your make up on the day of, do it! If you do a few trials and are unhappy or uncomfortable, look for a MUA

I have a friend doing mine for me as I'm pretty make up impaired...

Also, getting advice on my hair and will have my mom helping me with it day of. There simply isn't anyone I trust near where I am having my wedding to do these things and I really don't care about them much, either. (I imagine if I did, I would find someone...I really haven't looked much)

Also, not much budget here!

A pro will use makeup that photographs well, not all makeup does just FYI.