Make up trial before booking?

I didn't have a hair trial before booking my hair stylist. Most (if not all) require a deposit to book the date and doing a hair trial further out than a month or two wouldn't have the style fresh in her memory for the day of. I just chose someone based on photos of their past work

Thanks Amber!

I just booked it. None of the ones i talked to allowed for a trial prior to booking.
I booked my MUA 1 year out and I struggled to find someone at that point- i ended up with my 5th choice. They do book quick!

My makeup will be $110!

I just booked my hair and makeup last week. My makeup, if I choose to do it, is $65, which includes false lashes. My hair is $110. This is for styling the day of the wedding and a trial, which most likely I'll schedule for the day of my shower so that it doesn't go to waste. I absolutely wanted to do a trial so that my stylist could get an idea of what I want and this way if I end up not liking the style I choose we can make changes so that the day of she'll know exactly what to do. I'm still up in the air on makeup. I do plan on having them do my makeup once before the wedding, maybe the same day as my hair trial, so that I can see their work and make my final decision.

I had a trial for mine. I don't wear much makeup nor do anything with my hair other than a bun most of the time and we also had to figure out what hair style would work with my head piece so I wanted to play around with different looks and hair styles to see what I liked better.

I did do a hair and makeup trial before the big day, where they nailed my makeup on the first try and hair had a few minor adjustments before it was perfect....I think the "to trial or not to trial" comes down to how complex/glam the look is that you're going for, confidence in your HMU team, and how important HMU is to you (if a hair out of place will ruin every photo and the whole day for you or you want a VERY specific look...have the trial!)

When making decisions, I first gathered a list of HMU companies based on: general googles of who is in the area, references from other vendors, recommendations from friends/those I follow on social media/etc.) - I checked out each company website to get a feel for the look...THEN I also checked their Instagram for pics they post and those they're tagged in, which I thought was even more telling of if their services lined up with my vision. Next, I reached out to my top 4 to get pricing info and availability. Then the final decision was made!!

Off the top of my head I want to say that we paid around $1200 total for services? This included: Bride Hair and Makeup + Lashes, Bride Hair and Makeup Trial + Lashes, 5 Bridesmaid Hair and Makeup + Lashes, 1 MOG Hair and Makeup + Lashes, 2 MOB (mom and dad's girlfriend) Makeup + Lashes

I'm in Denver. I did two trials before booking, and I'm glad I did. I thought I'd really like the first one but her makeup wasn't impressive at all. That trial cost $100 for hair and makeup. I did another ($80) and booked her. Wedding day makeup and hair was $240.

I didn't do a trial because it wasn't in our budget. I would've totally done it otherwise! I found my hair and make-up artist on Wedding Wire and booked her based on her online portfolio and reviews. She is a professional make-up artist who also does hair on the side. She traveled to my location the morning of my wedding day and did both hair and make-up for $250. When I booked her, she only needed my date and an approximate number of people getting their hair and make-up done. She was very professional and I was very happy with how my hair and make-up turned out.

I haven't had my trial yet, but I already booked my MUA. She only required a $30 down payment which will go towards my trial fee. In the contract, it says if I'm not happy after the trial, that I'm not obligated to pay the final deposit and that I can cancel my contract. I've seen her work though, she posts frequently on Instagram and I like what I see. I'm paying $970 for bridal hair & makeup plus hair and makeup for 6 bridesmaids and my mom.

Different salons do it differently.

One salon I looked at basically just charged you for the service and you could do a trial ahead of time and then just book them for your wedding a different date. Essentially it was just two separate hair + makeup appointments and the cost was the same for both.

The salon I am currently booked at requires a retainer deposit to hold the wedding date and that fee includes the bride's hair trial done ahead of time. You can add a makeup trial on to that for an additional cost. For me the deposit was the same regardless of whether it was just me or I added on additional people (bridesmaids, MOB) onto my wedding appointment. I'm not sure what happens if I hate the trial and decide to go somewhere else. I probably just lose my deposit (the deposit fee was more than the cost of just one hair styling appointment but less than two).