Photo: Sierra Dyer Co.
One thing to make sure you have a handle on for your wedding day is the time needed for hair and makeup for yourself and your bridal party. Having a plan in place and a set schedule for your group is the best way to set your morning up for success and to start the day off on the right foot.
When thinking about your hair and makeup schedule, you first have to decide where you will be getting ready. Location will help you determine if you will need to factor in extra time for travel in the afternoon, which could affect the time you need to start hair and makeup. When thinking about location, be sure to keep in mind space as well. You will need a location with enough space for your hair and makeup to set up and for your bridal party to hang out while they wait their turn.
Choosing to get ready at your hotel/Airbnb makes it easy for your bridal party to bounce back and forth between the hair and makeup room and their room for any needs. This also takes out the hassle of having to transport outfits, toiletries, etc to the venue. This does mean however that you will need to factor in time for travel to the venue later in the afternoon.
Pros of getting ready at your hotel/Airbnb are that everyone can leave their dresses, heels, and purses in their respective rooms while they get their hair and makeup done, and then change before leaving, giving them the opportunity to only bring what they need to the venue. As well, getting dressed ahead of time ensures all your wardrobe pieces are accounted for and that small accessories like your earrings or veil don’t get left behind.
If you opt to get ready at your venue, you will need to make sure that your venue rental includes enough time for you to get through hair and makeup for your entire group and that their bridal suite has everything you need (vanity space, outlets, wall hooks, seating, etc.). You and your bridal party will need to make sure you bring all of your outfit pieces with and have toiletries to freshen up if needed.
A pro to getting ready at your venue is that you can take time in between services to set up some of your decor, making sure things are going smoothly during setup and to your liking.
Once you have your location picked out and any travel is taken into consideration, you can now move on to phase two. You will need to know the number of bridal party members needing services and how many artists your salon will be sending for both hair and makeup.
If you have 10 people needing services and your salon is only sending you 1 hairstylist and 1 makeup artist, you’re going to need to carve out a good chunk of time to get everyone ready, which means starting early in the morning which makes for a long day…So be sure to communicate with your salon and let them know the timeframe you are trying to work within so they can send the proper amount of artists.
Once you know how many artists will be assigned to your event you can finally start your schedule! Depending on your group, you may want to ask if anyone has a preference of going first in the morning versus last. If you know one of your bridal party members tends to oversleep, maybe schedule them later and the early risers first.
For reference, on average it takes about 30 minutes per service with the bride needing anywhere from 30min-1hour per service depending on the intricacy of hair and makeup.
We recommend using excel to create your schedule! In wedding planning, excel is your best friend and is the perfect tool to create a schedule that you can send to your salon and bridal party to keep everyone on track. Assigning each member a time will help them plan out their mornings and figure out when they need to get up, shower, eat etc.
Below is an easy way to structure your hair and makeup schedule! First, start with 30 minute time increments and then add columns to match the number of artists you have. You can then start plugging in names and figuring out who should go first, second, third etc. Make sure you decide if you would like to go first versus last and add yourself in. Always make sure to buffer in time for touch-ups at the end that can also act as extra buffer time in case some services run over or someone is late. Knowing that you’ve got extra time built-in will make things less stressful when something doesn’t go according to plan. Remember, it is better to be ahead of schedule than behind!
The example below shows 6 bridesmaids + 1 bride getting hair and makeup done with 2 artists. The total time needed is 4 hours with an extra 30-minute buffer at the end for touchups if needed.
If this group had an extra artist assigned who specialized in both hair and makeup, they could cut the total time by an hour! This is why it’s so important to understand how many artists are being sent as it can really save you time.
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Once you have your timeline solidified, be sure to send it to your bridal party ahead of time so they can plan accordingly and you have time to make schedule adjustments if needed.
