diy Hair and Makeup?

I completely understand your concern. Personally, I am not great at doing my make up, so there was no question I had to hire someone to do mine. Plus, makeup has to be done flawlessly and a little heavier than usual in order to look good in photographs. Could you work it into your timeline so that you could travel to a salon to have your hair and make up done? It is usually cheaper to have services done in the salon, and there aren’t usually minimum services that must be done.

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Oh I totally didn't think about that! Our reception starts at 5pm and we aren't having a ceremony (just doing private ordained vows the day before), so I will definitely look into this! Thank you for the suggestion

Could you instead travel to the MUA so you won't have to worry about a travel fee or minimum?

Ask your bridesmaids or any family members if they would like to get their hair and/or makeup professionally done at their own cost. This would give you the minimum amount of people you need without it coming out of your pocket. I asked mine, expecting most of them to say no, but all of them said yes!

If you are still short on people I would either go somewhere close by, or look up youtube videos and practice.

Im doing my own make-up that is for sure. I have done my research and am more comfortable with my abilities in doing my own make-up. I dont wear a lot of make-up to begin with or very often so I am more comfortable doing a more natural make-up.

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I agree with this. I think a good portion of women would like to get their hair and makeup professionally done for a wedding and wouldn't mind paying. I know I wouldn't, if budget was an issue for the bride, and the convenience of having the person come to where we were getting ready would be a huge plus as well. Travelling to a salon/H&MUA would be my second suggestion!

If you really don't think having HMU come to you is worth shuffling the budget, Allie Glines on Youtube has great 6 video set of wedding specific makeup tutorials and why she picked each product for her skin type and tone. She also has one of them that's only drugstore products!!

For hair I was going to use one of Kayley Melissa's videos for wedding hair. It's two sisters with two different hair lengths and thicknesses so they show how you can do each thing for each hair length. Their hair is naturally pretty smooth and straight, so if you've got a different hair type I'm sure there are other really great tutorials!

I was in the same boat, but found someone in my price range after searching for weeks. For me, I really just wanted to feel relaxed and "pampered" on my wedding day. I think you could definitely do your own hair/makeup and have it come out beautiful! I saw a TikTok of a MUA using products from TJ MAXX/Marshalls for hers and it came out great. On the other hand, I've been a bridesmaid in multiple weddings before.. some of the brides paid for hair/makeup and some did not. Personally, myself and the other bridesmaids didn't mind paying for our hair or makeup. Since your wedding is in 2023, your bridesmaids would definitely have some time to set aside some extra money for that (as long as they are willing)! Good luck!