You have the venue, the beautiful dress, the amazing photographer but what about hair & makeup? 

Hair & makeup is just as important as the other key aspects of the wedding. All eyes will be on you that day. Don’t you want to look and feel your best? You will have these photos for the rest of your life. Don’t you want to look back years later and say “Wow! I looked incredible?”

I say this because hair & makeup is often over looked. Maybe you do a great job on your own makeup and think,” I can just do it that day.” It could be that you have a friend that did your hair & makeup for prom that is willing to do it for free.  You may just be searching on Instagram for an artist and like the way they did someone’s hair & makeup so you decide to give them a try.

This is the biggest day of your life.

There are so many different ways to find your vendors. With social media it is really hard to separate the professional from the amateur anymore.  The problem with this is there are a ton of “professionals” that do not have the experience to ensure everything runs smoothly from beginning to end. There is so much more that goes into wedding hair & makeup than just hair & makeup. 

Here is a list of the examples of what a professional wedding hair & makeup artist does: 

• Communication. They e-mail, text or call to discuss all your questions and concerns.
  
  
• Hair & Makeup trial. This is a separate appointment. Hair & makeup usually takes about two hours. There are some artists require the client to have a trial, some do not. We personally do not as a lot of our clients are destination brides and will not be in the area until the wedding. Most artists charge extra for this or include it in their bridal package.
  
  
• They have a contract. NEVER HIRE A VENDOR WITHOUT A CONTRACT!!! We get contacted weekly, sometimes daily from brides that their “artist” cancelled on them weeks or days before their wedding. Now they are scrambling trying to find an artist.  99% of the time, there was NO contract. The contract protects you and the artist.  Lots of times these people are friends offer to do their hair & makeup, or someone that offered a great deal. When the rate seems to good to be true, it probably is.
  
  
• They work with you on the timeline. The timeline is made up of the amount of services that are contracted. We ensure you are done by the time the photographer wants you ready by. I hear complaints all the time that the wedding started late because the hair & makeup ran late. With hiring a professional, they know how much time it takes and how much time to allow ensuring you are done on time.  Again. If hair & makeup runs late, everything runs late. This means less pictures, guests waiting, possible overage charges from your other vendors trying to make up time lost. It affects catering, the dj… everyone!
  
  
• Professional products!!! Every skin is different. A real artist needs to have the right professional products for every skin type and every color to not only ensure you love your look but that the look will last though a long day of pictures and dancing.  A kit is worth thousands of dollars in products from high end, to stuff you can find at Sephora and a few things you can get at Target.  A professional sanitizes to ensure no germs are passed. This means cleaning brushes, disposable lip wands, mascara wands etc. Professional hair supplies are also essential for achieving a lasting look. This starts with the tools, spray and other products to ensure the look you want and it lasting.

Now that you know the importance of a professional hair & makeup artist, how do you find the one that is right for you?

I cannot stress reading reviews enough! This goes for all your vendor choices. A professional will have reviews! Look at The Knot, WeddingWire, Yelp and Facebook. Cross reference!! 

Check with your venue for their preferred vendors, your coordinator for their references. With vendor to vendor referrals, they have worked with the vendor before, know how the artist works and that their clients were happy.  Even after their referrals, it is important to still check reviews!

When choosing your hair & makeup artist, look at their portfolios. A lot of companies don’t show the individual artists work. Every artist is different.  Find one that has numerous photos of clients and weddings they have done. Photos of the artist that did their own makeup doesn’t count!!! Also artists that use Instagram filters doesn’t really say much about their work either. 

Communication is key!!!! Have pictures of what you are looking for as far as your hair & makeup.

Share them with the artist. Talk about your concerns. If you are not 100% about something with your hair & makeup… tell the artist. A professional will not let you leave until you say it is perfect. Again, this is the biggest day of your life. You need to love how you look. But we cannot achieve that without communication. 

There is so much of the “You get what you pay for” in this industry. We get asked all the time “ Why does it cost so much?” Then I get told, “Wow! Your really affordable. That being said affordable is all relative. You can always find someone cheaper. But chances are they don’t have the experience, product and contract than one that has experienced all types of different hair, makeup and situations that one can face on the wedding day. There are some that are definitely expensive. They tend to provide a real luxury experience with all the bells and whistles.  Maybe they are a celebrity artist or have millions of followers. An artist rate is something that they have worked hard with training and experience to ask. for that rate. 

That all being said it all comes down to research and communication with that, you will LOVE the way you look!

-Tara Fontana, Owner & Hair and makeup artist for Fairytale Hair and Makeup