November 5, 2019
Hey, guys! In this blog I am going to list a few common mistakes that I see brides commonly make when booking their hair and makeup services. As a San Antonio makeup and hair artist who has been serving San Antonio brides for five years now, I have seen these mistakes commonly made and the consequences that follow them. My advice on how to avoid these pain points will help your wedding day hair and makeup appointment go smoothly and successfully. Grab a pen and paper and take notes! Here is a list of mistakes that I see San Antonio bride commonly make:
I usually recommend allotting 45 minutes per makeup and 45 minutes per hair service. However, try to be realistic about the time allotted. If you have a bridesmaid with hip length hair, it’s going to take longer for her hair than your bridesmaid with chin length hair. If you plan on using hair extensions and want a large updo, that will take much longer than your mom who only wants her hair curled. Much of the time, the schedule is so tight due to the venue only allowing a certain amount of getting ready time in the bridal suite before the ceremony. If you only have four hours at the venue but have eight ladies that need service, you may want to consider beginning services at another location such as at your home or hotel. It is much better to choose a different location to get ready at then trying to squeeze eight services into four hours. It creates unnecessary stress on a day that you should be relaxing and preparing for your ceremony instead of frantically worrying that everyone will not get their hair and makeup done in a timely manner. This also causes it to be hard for us to give you the excellent service that you deserve. If we are rushing and cutting corners, the results will not be as good if we had been given enough time to perform the services. With all of this said, it usually never happens that we are not able to meet your finish time deadline. I always let my brides know well in advance if I don’t think enough time is being allotted for services.
If a schedule is not created for who goes when on the day of the wedding for the hair and makeup services, this can create problems because the entire bridal party is usually not all together at all times and they won’t know when to show up for their scheduled services. “A timeline is a great way to make sure you and your wedding party are in the right place at the right time. You don’t want to be hunting down a bridesmaid when it’s her turn in the makeup chair.” (1) “When you’re deciding who goes first, be smart about it. ‘We always tell our brides to schedule the most responsible bridesmaids earlier in the morning,’ says Amy Decker of Amy Decker Beauty. ‘That way your schedule isn’t held up because of the one bridesmaid who is always late to everything.’” (2) I also always suggest that the bride schedules herself in the middle of the timeline. That way, she has plenty of time to change into her dress without rushing at the very end. A lot of my brides will argue that they want to go last in order to look the “freshest”. This is a myth. Your hair and makeup will look just as fresh as everyone else if you go in the middle because we use all professional, high quality products that are made to last all day. “Be flexible with the schedule. Strict schedules just don’t work. Everyone’s hair and skin type is different, so the services will take a different amount of time for each person. If you tell people they have an appointment time, they’re more likely to be inflexible and start earlier or get nervous if their time has passed. Instead, remind everyone that the timing is fluid, and ask them to be available in a particular order without a strict time attached”.(2)
Changing the number of services within one month of the wedding date, can cause several problems. If you add services to the schedule, we may not be able to accommodate them due to having other events scheduled prior to or after yours. Adding services may cause me to need to bring additional artists to your event. It is hard to find available artists that close to the event date. Dropping services also causes problems for us. I try really hard to find artists who are flexible if services are added or dropped. However, I have had artists give me a hard time about services being dropped. They were scheduled for a certain number of services and expect to get paid for that certain amount of services previously agreed to. If the artist is not in agreement with the number of dropped services, this will cause me to have to find another artist for your event. Again, this is hard to do so close to the date. My contract states that the number of services needed needs to be set no later than one month prior to the event date.
I always recommend that services are paid for at least one week prior to the wedding date. I have seen so many times, bridesmaids and the bride scrambling at the end trying to find wallets to pay for services at the last minute. I have literally ran a bride’s credit card just moments before walking down the aisle. If you pay for your services in advance, you will not have this stress. I sometimes receive push back on this because the bride does not want to make a lump sum payment but wants everyone to pay their own individually. I am not saying that the bride assumes the responsibility of the payment. Simply collect from your ladies and I will send you an invoice for the full payment on one easy invoice. If you still plan on all paying individually on the day of, include the amount per service on the timeline and also mention that tip is not included in that amount. I have seen so many times when wedding party members are unaware of how much the service costs and then are embarrassed when they want to tip but can not because they did not come prepared to include a tip. You can even include the tip on the invoice that I send you. I try to make payment as easy as possible so you are not scrambling at the end.
If you are not on time for your wedding hair and makeup appointment, this causes problems for you and us. We may have another appointment that we have to be at after yours. Being late cuts into the time that we allotted for your appointment and we may not have time to complete the services by your appointed finish time. I have seen before when the bridal party is late and they realize that we are running out of time, that a wedding party member has become disgruntled and said “Oh, I’ll just do it myself!” This creates an uncomfortable situation for all parties. We can only do so much in the time allotted and if you are late, we may not have time to finish everyone. I charge $30 for every 30 minutes that the bridal party is late. I have never had to act upon that mandate, but, just knowing that that fee is there, causes the bridal party to be on time because they do not want to pay that fee. For appointments at the studio, I will wait there for you for twenty minutes, but if you are later than twenty minutes to your appointment, it is cancelled because I do have other appointments after yours.
I can’t cover up hair and a lot of times brides come in with some crazy brows. Please also take care of unwanted facial hair before your trial. “Some brides focus exclusively on the eyes forgetting about their face framing brows. If you don’t regularly have your brows shaped, find an aesthnetician at least three months before your wedding so you can take several test runs with enough time for regrowth. Then schedule an appointment a week before your walk down the aisle to allow for post waxing or threading redness to subside. (3)
“Too many brides forget to feed themselves and the bridal party on the wedding day. It’s important to prearrange more than just nibbles for your entire crew. especially if you aren’t primping at home. You’ll want enough substance so you are not feeling light headed during the ceremony” (3)This goes for your wedding vendors as well. Most brides do not even allow time enough for me to pee let alone to grab a quick bite to eat. I usually bring my own snacks and do not expect the bride to feed me. A quick bite to eat would give me more energy to really do my best for you while working. “The last thing you want on your wedding day is a low energy DJ or exhausted photographer. Work their meals into your budget and consider if part of their fee”. (3)
It wastes a lot of time scrolling through Pinterest pictures trying to find a hair or makeup style that you like. It also does not allow enough time to really think about what you want. So often, bridal party members are frantically scrolling through Pinterest while this is eating into their 45 minute allotted time.
Blow drying the hair adds about 15 minutes to your hair process and eats into your allotted 45 minutes.Having to scrub off makeup also eats into your time. I always remind the bride in my confirmation email which I send one week prior to the wedding date to ensure that everyone has clean and dry hair and a clean face. ”It’s tempting to load up on lotions, serums, and sprays, but greasy hair isn’t exactly an ideal look under your veil. Limit smoothing and antifrizz products to a few drops, and go easy on your roots. On the night before your wedding, skip the intensive hair masks and instead shampoo your hair and condition only the ends. (3)
“If you opt to spray tan, practice a couple of times beginning a few months before your wedding. This will allow you to find the right formula, adjust it, and gauge how long it will last. Also make sure your makeup artist is aware to ensure your foundation is consistent with the spray tanned rest of your.” (3)
I go in depth on this and highly recommend you read to read my blog entitled, “Get Ready, Get Set, Get Glam”. In this blog I explain the consequences of not doing a trial run through before your big day.(4)
If you are uncomfortable with makeup or rarely wear makeup, you will be shocked when you look in the mirror and see the bright red lips that you requested. I have had it happen when the bride requests a look such as a dark smoky eye that she normally does not wear and does not like it after all when she looks in the mirror. “Skip the red carpet looks, says Jody Formica, resident makeup artist at Laura Mercier. Opt for something that is you but better. For example, “Consider a neutral color for your lips that has a fresh kiss of berry, peach, rose, enough to distinguish your lips from the rest of you.” (3) This can all be determined at your trial. You don’t want to decide thirty minutes from when you walk down the aisle that you hate your super defined brows or glowing highlight that you requested.
I hope this blog helps you to avoid the common mistakes that I see my San Antonio brides make! These common mistakes can all be avoided with careful planning ahead of time. You do not want your wedding hair and makeup appointment to be jeopardized with these mistakes on the day of your San Antonio wedding.
References:
1. Jaime Mackey. “Every Detail to Include in Your Wedding Party’s Day of Timeline”. Www.brides.com/story/details-to-include-on-bridal-party-timelines.
2. Jamie Mackey. “How to Ensure that your Hair and Makeup Schedules Stay on Time and Stress Free”. Www.brides.com/story/wedding-day-hair-and-makeup-schedule.
3. Lucy Maher. “50 Mistakes Brides Always Make”. Www.brides.com.
4. Ronee Aguilar. “Get Ready, Get Set, Get Glam”. Www.braindhairpins.com/blog.
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