Paying for hair as bridesmaids gift?

Shop like you would for their birthdays. Don't buy them props for your wedding. Make it unique for them.

What @Daniella said! Nothing for your wedding, and no matching gifts. Your bridesmaids are individual human beings with individual tastes and desires, not a generic horde.

Lol I honestly feel like I'm the worst gift giver of all time. I have no idea what to get any of them.

I'm paying for hair and makeup but it's not a gift. I purposely kept my BP small to make sure I could cover these costs.

I went to the mall with my maid of honor the other day and she fell in love with this dress but didn't want to spend the money on it. So I went back without her and bought the dress. That was obviously super easy but I feel like if I don't know for a fact that somebody would love something I don't know what to get. I just suck at this haha.

I don't agree with this. If you want their hair done professionally then you need to pay for it. Gifts are not something you want, its something they want/would love.

I wouldn't make that a gift for them. As PP said, shop like it's their birthday. I bought jewelry sets for all of my bridesmaids, not for the wedding, I picked things individual to their tastes, and I did personalized wine glasses. The gifts don't all have to be uniform.

Oh no, im not requiring it. It's an option that they all chose to pay for.

Apologies if this seems obvious; it does to me, but maybe it's not.

You know these people. Presumably you know them well, since you have identified them as your nearest and dearest friends by asking them to stand up with you in your wedding. Start with one of them. Think about who she is as an individual person. What things does she like? What do you do together? What does she talk about enjoying? Hypothetically, maybe the two of you go to movies together all the time. If she likes movies, she would almost certainly like a movie-related gift. Get her some vouchers for a local cinema, a couple of boxes of her favorite movie theater candy, and some sort of memorabilia related to a favorite film.

Now on to the next bridesmaid. Think about who she is as an individual person. What things does she like? What do you do together? What does she talk about enjoying? Hypothetically, maybe she is all about a certain designer. Shop that designer's collection for a wallet or sunglasses or a pair or earrings or whatever you think most closely matches this individual's style.

Keep repeating this process until you have chosen a suitable gift for each individual.

I think its just kinda hard because what everybody says here is so different than what people do where I'm from. Like I was talking about this with one of my bridesmaids the other night and she suggested I get everybody earrings to wear for the wedding. And last year we were in a wedding and the bride got us robes as part of our gift. We didn't think anything of it. I didn't know that both of those things were considered props and tacky until I came to this forum.

Thanks for the help everybody, I'm going to make a trip to the mall tomorrow and start there.

The problem with that sort of gift isn't that it's tacky. The problem is that it is either selfish or thoughtless.

Giving everyone matching robes or earrings to wear isn't really a gift for those people. You are issuing them a uniform so that they look how you want in your photos. The same is true for a "gift" of hair and makeup services. The item may be for them to keep, but the benefit is for you Hence it is a selfish gift.

Similarly, giving everyone the same generic robe or tumbler is thoughtless. You've heard "it's the thought that counts," right? Well this is the opposite of that. You plunk down money on a "gift" without giving the slightest thought to who the recipients are and whether they actually have any use or desire for those particular items.

I'm with everyone on the hair and make-up, but having been a bridesmaid a few times, I've enjoyed the jewelry. Jewelry I've received as a gift for a wedding is actually my nicer stuff and I continue to wear most of it. Personally, I would rather the bride buy me a nice piece of jewelry (not a cheap prop like piece) than some other random gift. I've been relieved that they have chosen jewelry for me to wear to their wedding, one less thing for me to think about.