Wedding Day Makeup

A cosmetologist can give you a new look and can make you feel confident you'll look your absolute best.  While a department store cosmetologist can certainly help you pick a look you'll like, many brides use a professional cosmetologist for their wedding day makeup.

The downside, of course, is cost.  Having a cosmetologist travel to your home or wedding location is certainly more expensive than applying your own makeup, but at the same time you'll probably enjoy the process and you can be confident you'll look great - if you do a test run first.  Have your cosmetologist make you up ahead of time and give feedback.  (We've had brides ask us to photograph them after their "test" makeup was applied so they could see how they photograph.)  Once you settle on the look you like, don't be afraid to take a quick photo you can use to remind the makeup artist how you want to look.

Many brides include their bridesmaids in the makeup process.  Some go as a group to the makeup salon, and others have a cosmetologist come to the wedding site to make up the whole group.  Since you probably won't do test runs with your bridesmaids, keep in mind some of your ladies may not like the way they're made up and may ask for it to be changed, potentially delaying the start of your wedding.  Set up a schedule for who is made up at what time (typically leaving yourself for last, unless you'd like us to take extensive pre-ceremony portraits of you) and put someone in charge of making sure your cosmetologist sticks to that schedule.  Let your bridesmaids know how much time they're allotted so they won't be tempted to experiment with different looks.  Hair stylists and makeup artists, in our experience, cause the greatest number of pre-ceremony delays, so make sure your cosmetologist is aware of your schedule and agrees to stick to it.

Many brides also ask their makeup artist to touch them up before the post-ceremony bridal party photo session.  It's a great idea, but make sure your schedule allows enough time.  If you've allowed thirty minutes for photos and your makeup artist takes up twenty of them, you'll be late to your reception.