How to find your wedding hair and makeup artist
How to find your wedding hair and makeup artist
Looking for your wedding day hair and makeup artist can get overwhelming, especially as there are so many of us out there! It’s the biggest day of your life so you need to choose wisely.
I like to help you as much as possible, so here is my advice on how to decide who you want to choose.
Set your own budget and don’t compare to any one else’s wedding budget.
Hair and makeup artists prices can differ so much, due to experience, training, marketing and a lot of other factors. It’s best to focus on the ‘value’ you’re getting rather than just picking the cheapest artist in your area. That’s not always the best decision.
Have a look at their portfolio
The next thing to look it is the style of the artist’s work. Are you into heavier, glam looks and the artist skill set is more on the natural side? Then they’re not the one for you. You can have a look through my work on this page.
Get to know their personality
If you like the artist’s work and their price is in your budget, the next thing to do is see if you like them as a person! Read about them on their website, check any blogs they might do, follow them on social media and sign up to any newsletters they might have. It’s easy to get nervous on your wedding morning and you want someone who is working closely with you to be able to keep you calm and be able to trust what they’re doing.
Read their reviews
Have a look around for any reviews on the artist you want to choose. You can usually find them on their website, social media or Google listings. Do they sound like the sort of person you would like to do your wedding look? You can read my reviews here.
Speak up at your trial
I’ve had a lot of brides in the past be too polite at their trial and not speak up when something in their look needs tweaking. A hair and makeup artist can tell! When the reaction is 100% happy and you love it, we always know. That’s what we want to get to. Please be comfortable enough with your artist to amend things at the trial, because that’s what it’s for. I don’t want my clients to be worrying about how their hair and makeup is going to turn out on the run up to the wedding, that should be an exciting time for you. If you've had a trial and you’ve not been comfortable enough to tell your artist how you really feel, maybe they’re not the best artist for you.
Make sure you feel listened to
I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve had a client tell me they had a different artist picked, and they just went ahead and did their own thing rather than listen to what was actually asked for! It really frustrates me. One look definitely doesn’t fit all. I aim to spend time at the beginning of your trial getting to know your usual look, your style and personality and the style of your wedding. It all needs to complement each other and when it works, the look you get is spot on.
Ask about the process
You want the whole run up to your wedding to be smooth and easy, so feel free to ask questions on how the admin side of things is going to work. If you’re left feeling confused, try and get more clarification or maybe have a think and see if you want to carry on with booking.
You may have looked through my gallery to get a feel of my work and how your hair and makeup may look. I’ve evolved over the years and am definitely drawn to more textured, boho hair and natural skin, with a bit of a bold twist if you ask for it. Now I’m leaning towards playing with more colour!
Over lockdown, I have also focused on streamlining my processes and becoming more organised so you know exactly how I work and what is happening next. I know how stressful planning a wedding can be, so even if I’m not available for your date I try and help as best as I can in finding another artist for you. Vegan and cruelty free artists are hard to find, but I have managed to connect with quite a few now, so if that’s something you need, I can point you in the right direction.
Here are some of the other skills I have picked up on my journey:
▪ bonding with my clients
▪ customer service skills and listening to what you actually want
▪ adapting my technique to suit what you usually like (not everyone likes bold brows and heavy contour for example)...
▪ being able to match products to different skin tones and types
▪ colour matching (my fave!)
▪ keeping my clients happy, calm and relaxed. I may need to change a look halfway through if they don't seem too happy
▪ picking up on my clients emotions. A lot of people are too polite to say they don't like something, so make sure you speak up
There are so many other hair and makeup artists out there - make sure you find one that you are totally comfortable with and can trust 100% to create your perfect look.
I hope these tips have helped you! Leave a comment or contact me here if you have any questions.
Further reading to help you with choosing your wedding suppliers: