Wedding Hair and Makeup: What to Spend, What to Skip

The Beauty Math

Professional wedding hair and makeup for the bride costs $400-$800. Add a trial run ($150-$250) and you're at $550-$1,050. For a wedding party of four bridesmaids, add $200-$400 per person.

That's $1,350-$2,650 for hair and makeup. Whether that's worth it depends entirely on your priorities.

The Trial Run Is Non-Negotiable

If you hire a professional, do a trial run 4-6 weeks before the wedding. This is not optional. The trial run tells you whether the artist can achieve the look you want, whether you like how it feels, and whether it lasts through the day.

If you don't like the trial result, you have time to find someone else. If you skip the trial and don't like the result on your wedding day, you don't.

What to Skip

• Bridesmaids' professional hair and makeup: This is a significant cost that's often passed to the bridesmaids. Let them do their own unless they specifically want professional help.
• Lash extensions: Strip lashes cost $15 and look identical in photos.
• Airbrush makeup (usually): Unless you're being photographed in harsh lighting, traditional makeup applied well looks the same in photos.

The DIY Option

If you're skilled with makeup and hair, doing your own is completely legitimate. The key is practice — do a full trial run on yourself 4-6 weeks out, photograph it, and evaluate honestly.

The most important thing is that you feel like yourself. Not a version of yourself from a wedding magazine. Yourself.