Hair & Makeup Timing

Thank you for considering the hair and makeup timing for your wedding day. Getting this right can make a big difference. Here’s my general advice:

• The person getting married with the more involved getting ready should be finished at my arrival time, 30-minutes before my arrival, or 30-minutes after I arrive, depending on your preference. 

• I generally do details and candid photos for the first bit of getting ready (15-30-ish minutes), so having hair and makeup finishing up around when I arrive tends to work great. 

• If things are running late, the person getting married must jump the line. Wedding party members generally do not have to be ready to go at the same time as the person getting married, and this will get things back on track. This sounds like a no-brainer, but usually does not happen when it should.

Other thoughts for this time during your wedding:

• Hair and makeup understandably tend to use the best window to get the best light, which is usually in the best spot for photos during the getting ready. Finishing early such that H&MU can be out of that space will give us a great area to use for getting ready photos. If your getting ready space is picturesque and you want great getting ready shots, I’d say to have them finished 30 minutes before I arrive so we can use the space they’re usually in for photos.

• The getting ready photos I like to take (and think look best!) are when you are fully ready and are doing your own touch-ups. Having a clean, tidy space with great lighting will make these even better. 

• If you want a flat-lay of your details: please have all details collected and laid out and ready for me to shoot. Doing a large flat lay can take more than half an hour to get perfect, so please let me know if this is something you want so I can add that into the plan for timeline. I generally do detail shots in a less formal way, so if you want a classic style flatlay, we need to plan for it.

• A clean room photographs so much better than a messy one. Having a dedicated space for photos, a separate clean room, or having everyone help tidy makes a big difference.

• In 2022, across all my weddings, hair and makeup was late more often than it was on time or early. When it ran late it was 30-60 minutes behind schedule. When this happens, we always cut all of the pre-ceremony photo time short to get the timeline back on schedule. This means some things are rushed, some are skipped altogether, and worst of all, you get fewer photos than you would get otherwise. Planning appropriately can make a huge difference.

Please feel free to ask any questions about the above! I’m happy to clarify anything or help come up with a game plan if your wedding day is a bit different than the above advice pertains to. 

And I feel like I must throw this out there: this is in no way meant to be a slight or in any way disparaging to hair and makeup artists! I’m sharing my experience and hoping to figure out a way through diligent planning to stay on time so your photo times don’t get cut short.