Planning Wedding Hair and Makeup

When you're starting to plan your wedding day, one of the first things you should sit down and figure out is your 'beauty schedule' for the day. If you don't know where to start, here's some of our thoughts on making sure hair and makeup enhance your timeline instead of make it more hectic!

1. Plan for all hair/makeup to be complete 2-3 hours prior to the ceremony start time.
If you're having makeup done off-site, plan 3 hours. If you're having the makeup artist on location, plan for everyone to be finished 2 hours before.

2. Plan 1.5 hours per person.
Some might need more, some might need less, but this is good average to start with. 1 hour is NOT enough time and will end up putting you behind schedule. Start counting backwards from the time you need everyone to be ready and go from there. Yes, you might have to start on hair/makeup early in the day. See the next tip for a solution!

3. Choose a salon/beauty professional who works with a team.
This is especially important if you have a large group of ladies who need their hair and makeup done. Choosing to work with an entire salon or a group of beauty artists helps things move faster as they can work on multiple ladies at one time.

4. Bride's finishing touches are last.
When an on-location makeup artist is at the wedding, we like to have the bride's finishing touches photographed to include in the wedding album. Having the bride ready to go, except perhaps eyelash application and lipstick, lets us get those photos we love!

5. Consider keeping a beauty artist around until after the ceremony.
It's becoming more common to have a hairstyle or makeup switch done during cocktail hour, along with any necessary touchups.

Bonus Tip:
Not related to making appointments, but super important! Plan time for makeup touchups during the day. Pack a small kit with powder, concealer, and lipstick and pass it to your most responsible bridesmaid. For a 6:30 ceremony start time, your makeup will probably have been completed at 4:30. If you stay at your reception until 10:30, that means your makeup will have been on for 6 hours. A few touchups will keep you looking just as beautiful as ever!