WHY BRIDAL MAKE-UP COSTS MORE 

As wedding season is upon us I thought I’d make a post explaining why wedding prices should be more expensive than party make-up.

Wedding venues, photographers and other wedding businesses can charge thousands of pounds so why is hair and make-up over looked so much? If you hate your hair or make-up on your wedding you’ll hate all your wedding photos so is it fair to not allow such an important service a larger budget? 

I’ll admit I massively under charged at the beginning of my career trying to be in line with other competition and to get a good wedding portfolio going. However I learnt very quickly unless you charge more a wedding you end up being out of pocket. I don’t think people realise how much goes into preparing a wedding party and I believe some people just think we wack on an extra few hundred pounds to be greedy which is really not the case. 

I’m going to highlight exactly why if you’re getting married you should be allowing a larger budget for your make-up (and hair as most of these points applies to hairdressers too) and state what you’re actually paying for; 

Here are all the factors that are involved and why we need to charge more for wedding make-up;

1. Early wake up. Do you know I’ve had to set my alarm for 3am many a times for a wedding? If a make up artist needs to arrive at your venue or house for 5am we need time to get ourselves ready and to set off in plenty of time to arrive early. Some weddings are later or have a smaller party but the majority of the times it is an early start. Your make-up artist is in a lot of your getting ready photos so we need to look professional and have our own time to get ready and look well presented. 

2. Following on from this if your make-up artist needs to wake up at a very early hour this means the night before there is a cut off when we stop taking bookings. No evening appointments can be taken in order for us to get an early night to be fresh for your wedding day. This means we lose money the night before when we stop our evening bookings. 

3. No bookings before or directly after a wedding. Again we have to block time out of our diary to make sure we arrive on time to your wedding. I will never do a booking before a wedding incase there’s any traffic driving from one booking to the venue and directly afterwards incase any tweaks need to be made. This ensures the bride doesn’t feel rushed and we can stay to the very end if needs be. 

4. Bridal make-up needs to be absolutely perfect and has to last all day. The make-up is going to be photographed which will show up anything potentially the naked eye cannot always see. The make-up needs to be pristine, symmetrical and long lasting which is gained through numerous years experience. The make-up needs to withstand tears, sweat and last from morning through to evening looking good not only in person but on camera too. 

5. No mistakes can be made. Make-up artists follow a tight timeline for a wedding which doesn’t allow for any mistakes. There is an immense amount of pressure to get the make-up perfect. 

6. Heavy lifting. A make-up artist kit is extremely heavy and when we travel to venues a lot of the time we have to lug our kit up lots of stairs. 

7. No breaks. While some brides do kindly offer us food and drinks we don’t have time to have a break. We’re following a tight time schedule and we do not have the time to sit down or eat. We’re on our feet for hours and we cannot rest until we have finished the wedding party. 

8. We use more products. To ensure the make-up lasts all day not only for the bride but also the wedding party we will use more products. From extra setting spray to doing last minute touch ups we’re using more make-up products out of our kit which are expensive to replace. 

9. Time to clean our make-up kit and brushes after the wedding. On average most weddings have at least 5 members of the bridal party, do you know that’s more than 50 brushes to wash when we get home? Washing our brushes and cleaning our kit after a wedding can take up around two hours of our time. 

10. Back pain, shoulder pain and tiredness. For a wedding our arm is raised up applying make-up for up to 7 hours depending if on the wedding size. If the chair provided is too low our back is hunched for a long period of time. We can be in a lot pain after a wedding so much so it’s not always possible to work later on in the day. We are SHATTERED after a wedding it’s an immense amount of pressure on the physical body, for the mind it can be over stimulating with so much noise and chaos to deal with, lots of talking and remaining upbeat even when you’re exhausted from getting up early. This means the payment we take for your wedding has to cover our full days work. 

11. We block out dates in our diary years in advance. We turn down other work commitments and personal plans. 

Weddings are a wonderful day to be a part of and as a make-up artist I am always extremely grateful to be chosen to be there on your special day. As your make-up artist we are there from the very start of your wedding day up until moments before your walk down the aisle. We calm your nerves, make you feel your most beautiful self and witness all the laughter, tears and excitement on your special day. I remember every wedding I’ve had the opportunity to do and I’m so thankful for all the brides that truly understand and accept the pricing that is quoted for a wedding. 

Any 2026 brides wanting their make-up done by me please contact me though my website www.lucyjaubreymakeup.com and I’ll send over a bespoke quote!