How much?

My opinion is that a bride should look like the best version of her authentic self on her wedding day. If the bride is usually a low fuss, no makeup gal, then I think a full face of glam makeup - even if it looks stunning - is inappropriate because it doesn't really reflect who she is and how her partner, family, and friends know her. If a bride usually wears a lot of makeup or regularly mixes up a fresh face with full face make up for special events or just because she feels like it, then wearing a lot of makeup might be a way to go all out for her wedding if that is what she wants to do.

Obviously it is up to the bride and the most important thing is that she is comfortable, so if a bride who owns nothing but Chapstick wants to hire an MUA to turn her into a red carpet starlet or glam diva, so be it. I just personally find it jarring when someone who rarely wears makeup or usually just wears a little concealer and mascara suddenly has layers of foundation, a full face contour and highlighter, smokey eyes, false lashes, and drawn on lips. I also find that for women who rarely wear makeup, a full face of makeup often feels heavy and uncomfortable.

I personally don't wear makeup often but got some basic products and watched a ton of YouTube tutorials and feel pretty comfortable doing a natural makeup look on my own now. I often get compliments on how good my makeup looks when I do do it. I was planning to have an MUA do my makeup for our wedding but we got forced into a Covid elopement and I ended up doing my own on my wedding day. I think it came out fine and feel like I look like me in my wedding photos (which I'm really happy about) but I don't know if it would have lasted all day for a longer event. It was just fine for a couple of hours though!

Oh I used a concealer, foundation, blush, highlighter, a tiny bit of bronzer/contour, eyeshadow, mascara, and lipstick, but did everything with a pretty light hand. I ended up trying out Ipsy for a period of time and ended up with a bunch of sample products to play around with so had a lot of options. Everything in subtle colors (pinkish-nudes mostly).

Generally though, I like using a BB cream (instead of foundation), just a smidge of concealer under the eyes to brighten them, brown mascara, and a multi-use cream or stick that can double as highlighter and eye glimmer or eyeshadow/blush/lipstick for a made up put together everyday look (but like once every few weeks when I feel like it, most days I don't wear anything).

I also stick to brown mascara and use eyeshadow in place of eyeliner because I'm fair skinned and light colored (blond hair, gray eyes) and black mascara and obvious eyeliner usually look pretty harsh.

Also big tip - curl your dang lashes! It's like one of the easiest, quickest, and most sustainable things you can do that have a big impact. Even if you don't put product on them, curling your lashes will make you look a bit more fresh and awake. The tips of my lashes are blond and they're naturally curly, so the effect on me isn't as much as it would be on a girl with long, dark, straight lashes, but I still notice a difference.

If you are looking for inexpensive products to play with I recommend trying out stuff from the brand ELF, which is available in Target and most drugstores. Some individual products are better than others, but when you are just learning I feel like I can justify spending a couple dollars on a product more than getting some of the high end stuff.

Good luck!

I only wear moisturizer during the work week (Mon-Fri). When hanging out with the girls or something casual, I do tinted moisturizer with mascara and a little blush. If it's all out, I do foundation, blush, eye makeup, eye liner, bronzer, highlighter, mascara.

For my wedding day, the MUA I'm wanting to choose does airbrush foundation. I'm wanting a natural but polished look. No full glam or over the top!

I don't wear makeup on a day to day basis. I wear makeup for special occasions or when just I when I feel like it. For special occasions I usually do a full face. I haven't yet selected exactly what my look is going to be yet. I will wear more makeup that I'm used to, but I do want to look myself, and not be unrecognizable.