Should I DIY My Own Bridal Makeup & Hair or Hire a Bridal Makeup Artist & Hairstylist?

Aug 29

5 min read

Every bride reaches this question at some point in the planning process: do you save money and do your own makeup, or hire a professional?

Hire a Bridal Makeup Artist & Hairstylist?: It's not a silly question

Plenty of brides are talented with makeup in their everyday life. But a wedding day isn't an everyday makeup day and there are a few things worth thinking through before you decide whether or not to hire a bridal makeup artist & hairstylist.

Bride in a white lace gown sits on a rustic bar in a wood-paneled lounge, under warm chandelier lights and bottle shelves.

What's Different About Wedding Day Makeup & Hair

Wedding makeup has to do things your regular routine doesn't. It has to hold up under hot lights, tears (happy ones, but still), hugging, dancing, and hours of photos and video — often 8-10 hours from first look to last dance. It also has to translate well on camera, which behaves differently than a mirror. Flash photography, outdoor light, and high-resolution video can all pick up on things that look fine in person but read differently through a lens.

None of this means DIY is impossible. It means the margin for error is smaller, and the stakes — you, in every photo, for the rest of your life — are higher than a normal Tuesday.

Furthermore, updos and other styles are popular for wedding hair, not simply just wearing your hair down. Some brides choose to wear their hair down, certainly, but there is a certain technique invovled with wearing your hair down for a wedding.

The Case for Doing Your Own Makeup & Hair

There are good reasons some brides choose this route:

Comfort. You know your own face and products better than anyone.
Budget. Skipping a makeup artist frees up money for other parts of the wedding.
Control. You're not depending on anyone else's schedule or interpretation of "your style."
Vision. You know how you like your hair and see yourself with a certain style

If you're confident in your skills, have practiced your exact wedding-day look more than once, and have a realistic plan for touch-ups throughout the day, DIY can work.

The Case for Hiring a Professional

I am not married and have zero idea about the pressure of being a bride, BUT I have been a bride before. Let me explain. I went to a bridal shoot down in Austin, it took me about 2 hours plus to get there with traffic from Waco. It was a styled shoot at a gorgeous venue in Austin and it was in the summer and super hot. By the time I got there the set was set up, but the coordinator informed me that the bride and the groom got their days mixed up and they weren't coming. I realized that I had come all that way for absolutely nothing.

The coordinator, with a little twinkle in her eye and a trick up her sleeve said that I looked like the same size as the model they hired and the dress would most likely fit me. She asked if I wanted to model. I felt like Kerry Strug at the moment the entire Olympic gold medal was on her shoulders; I didn't want to let anyone down, so I said that I would do it. I was woefully unprepared, not having the right bra, no hair extensions to match my hair or any idea that in a few hours I would be putting on a bridal gown and stepping in front of the camera. I did, however, have expertise and know how to do my own hair and makeup.

As a professional on the other side of it, I immediately got to work getting myself ready. First of all, I was fresh out of ideas about what I wanted to look like as a bride. All I could think of was the camera and if I would look good on camera. Not the same as marriage, but I am a pro and was still freaking out. I couldn't imagine the thoughts of getting ready to spend the rest of my life with someone AND having to worry about whether or not my concealer would crease and my curls holding. At that moment I completely understood why my job was not a luxury, but an absolute necessity.

Smiling bride in a white gown and veil holds a bright pink bouquet, standing before blurred pink flowers and greenery.

Some Practical Things Worth Noting

Have you considered the following:

Longevity products and techniques made for long days, tears, heat, and humidity — not the same products used for a night out. I have access to professional products not available at Sephora and Ulta and the know how to use them. Anything is figure-out-able, but do you want to spend all this time and extra cash for these pro products?
Camera-ready application that accounts for flash and video, not just how makeup looks in a bathroom mirror. Do you have know how about 4K and lighting and in person vs. on camera? Is this something you want to spend time thinking about when planning a wedding?
One less thing to think about on a morning that's already full of moving parts. Do you realistically think that you're going to want to stay in front of a mirror for who knows how long to apply your makeup and/or do your hair?
A second set of hands to reach behind your head. This sounds super dumb, but seriously the angle of things is just impossible to get with your own arms. A second set of hands is also needed for touch-ups between the ceremony and reception. Are you going to want to touch yourself up between photos or before you walk out to the altar? Is this something you're even going to be thinking about?

Blonde bride in white gown smiles holding a bright pink bouquet at a flower-filled outdoor wedding altar.

Still Deciding? Let's Talk It Through

I offer complementary makeup & hair consultations and give real advice to every bride that inquires. I answer all kinds of questions down to what products I use, to timeline questions and the practical nuts and bolts of the day.

I advise that you reach out to a potential makeup artist & hairstylist you'd like to hire. (I have a blog post on that as well) and ask them some questions to see if you're still on the fence or not. You are also more than welcome to reach out to me in my inquiry form so we can chat.

What I Decided After My Experience

My verdict after going through this shoot process, would be despite my talent and years of experience, I don't want to have to work on my wedding day. I don't want to spend one ounce of thought behind what I'm going to look like and want to let an expert just handle everything for me so that I'm not "working" or problem solving any of this and just enjoy being around my friends and family and truly get the time to soak up being the bride.

Now I'm not engaged, I am no where near planning a wedding, but the pressure that I felt on that day to be camera ready was so much that I could not wrap my head around how brides actually want to get themselves ready. I think the only way that I could see it happening for someone would be if you are an extreme control freak (said lovingly) and don't like someone touching your face and/or hate how other people apply makeup on you (this is from a professional, not just Sally Sue who is your friend, but someone who is an actual professional making their living off of doing makeup on other people for a living), then doing your own makeup for your wedding day is probably the right choice for you.