DIY wedding make up or professional?

I wouldn't do it myself. I went to the mall and spent $50 at the MAC counter and got my face done for free for my sister wedding. For mine I will have my nephew who graduated from cosmetology school in NYC do it for me and the bridesmaids. He just graduated so he is only charging $25 a person. So if any schools are in your area check them out. Hope this helps! Congratulations!

I'm doing my own! It all depends on whether or not you are comfortable with it. I use all of my normal brands, sephora, nars, anastasia, etc. I also got some new brushes. It cost me around 250, but that was cheaper than hiring someone in my area who would do a good job and I get to keep all of the product. I'm very comfortable doing my own makeup since I do a lot of theatre. I'm also very persnickity with how I like things to look. I want to look like myself for my wedding.

Get a pro. Don't use a student, don't plan on going to the mall on your wedding day. You want to look great, in person an on film, for 12 hours.

It'll be somewhere around 100-150 bucks give or take a few, and it is totally worth it.

@suzanne I love your use of persnickity!

@bailey, my aunt is doing mine. She does it professionally and it's always her wedding gift whenever a family member gets married. I have someone else though to do my BMs.

I always recommend hiring a professional MUA, its less stress on you to have someone else worry about it. I'm and MUA and im still hiring someone else to do it for me, I don't want to worry about it.

Get a pro. Most amateurs don't understand what flashback is or what cosmetics to look for to avoid it, and most don't realize there's a HUGE difference between taking photos at home or on vacation with a flash versus the much stronger flash your photographer will be using.

Flashback WILL wash you out, and it happens when some minerals in makeup reflect the flash of the photographer. It looks terrible, and most pro MUA know how to avoid this. Makeup for being photographed is also much different and heavier than daily wear or even event makeup, because you want it to look amazing and flawless in photos all night long. A good MUA will be able to make you look great both in person and on film.

Do not do a beauty counter. Most have minimal experience and training and are certainly not licensed. You will almost certainly pay double buying appropriate makeup than you will pay for a MUA.

ETA: Quick tip: if your makeup has any type of SPF, consider it automatically unsuitable for your wedding day makeup.

Hair for sure should be pro. I had honestly never heard of using a pro makeup artist until I came to WW. I looked into it and the closest one to me is 2 hours away. It's really cost prohibitive. One of my bridesmaids is a Clinique consultant and attends their classes for application techniques, so she is doing mine. Friendors are generally frowned upon here, but I am paying her and buying the products from her so she gets a commission.

Definitely pro. It's one of the non-negotiables for our budget. You want to look your best on your wedding day!

I'm hiring a pro for both hair and makeup.. I don't want the added stress of doing it myself and not knowing what to use to look good in pics and all that. I'm not a hair dresser or make up artist so I'm getting someone that is

I would get it done professionally .. do a trial run first tho. If you do t so dramatic makeup it won't show up much in pictures...

I'm doing my own. I'm a pro and why would I pay $150 to use the same products that are in my own kit. My Moh is also a pro Mua so she will help me if I decide I'm too overwhelmed or stressed that day. We are doing a trial run also.

I'm doing my own hair, but I don't want anything fancy. I'm either doing a basic simple half up-half down with a barrette or doing a pony tail. More than likely the later right now. I have to play around with both and the veil and dress in the next couple of weeks. Probably when my daughter does my make-up trial.

My daughter is doing my make-up to help boost her portfolio. Before she was even 18, she had job offers because she's extremely talented. I don't mind helping her out. I have an inspiration picture, and her matches were spot on. I am getting my face done by the Lacome girl at Ulta though, because she matched my product and I loved how light and natural it looked. My daughter tends to do her face a lot heavier than I would. Then she's doing my eyes, I'm doing my lip because I'm picky and either of us can do the cheek. All in all it works for me

*HOWEVER, I will WARN YOU, if you decide to go the DIY route on your make-up and don't want to cheap out on product- i.e. Lancome, Urban Decay, Anastasia, etc... EXPECT to pay $$$. I stupidly thought I could away with $100... uh, NOPE! But that's probably because I don't wear a lot of make-up and other than my Smashbox palette, everything I have is pretty basic. For what I paid I could have paid an MUA and then some.... but I rationalize I'm helping my daughter's portfolio, she's getting to keep some of it as payment for her make-up services, and the rest I'll have on hand for special occasions. Just a heads up though....

I'm hiring a pro, even though I worked in the industry years ago and could pull off doing my own. I'm having my hairdresser do my hair.

You can go to Mac and spend the $50 you would otherwise spend on makeup and leave with a beautiful face of makeup. They do a great job. You can also look on the ww for hair and Makeup people and love some of them and the prices. I had my makeup and hair done for my friends weddings and was able to spend time with her in the suite while she was getting ready along with some other closer friends and I'm sure she loved it cause she was so stressed about the day already. Leave it to the pros!!

I'm doing it myself. I've been spending lots of time at Sephora sampling and asking questions and watching lots of tutorials online.

EDIT- DIY-ing my make-up, not my hair, but trial and day of my hair stylist cost will only be $75.

I'm getting mine professionally done because I didn't want to have to worry about buying better quality products or the added stress. My makeup artist is $160 and comes with a trial. My hairstylist is $120 and also comes with a trial. I am going to try to do both my trials for the day of my boudoir photoshoot which would be great. Expensive but this was important to me.

Get it done professional.

You can see someone up thread already dropped 250 big ones on supplies.

most MUA's on average are 100$- even for high priced states like NJ.

Just pay to have it done.

I did my own- and I paid to have a professional do it- mine was good (I'm extremely adapt at it) but she did a fantastical job. Was worth every penny.

I wouldn't do it myself unless I was really good at it. I know a few MUA's who did their own makeup but they are professionals. The mua will know the best way to do your makeup so that it shows up on pictures. My day of makeup is going to cost $200, hair is around $120 (im not doing updo, just curls and half up)

Professional hair and makeup is really worth the cost in my opinion. As others have said, a pro MUA will understand how to make your look last all day, through (hopefully happy!) tears and will make you look your best in photos.

I say don't do it yourself!! Your wedding day will have enough things going on you don't want that pressure on yourself! Get someone to do it for you and sit back and relax