While wedding planning, I read too many articles that told me how important it was to have a hair and makeup trial. But as I looked at the pricing for everything, I hesitated on the trials as many of the different hair and makeup vendors charged an additional $100 to have the trial.
Let’s face it…weddings are expensive and that an additional $100 I needed to apply towards other parts of the wedding. I battled back and forth for a while with the decision and eventually, it turned into me not even having the time to actually go in for the trial.
Even on the day that I went for my pre-hair appointment to have my extensions put in, my stylist indicated how I should have had a makeup trial so that I wouldn’t be battling with the look on the day off. She told me how big of a risk it was. Because what would happen if I didn’t like the wedding hair and makeup? There was no time for a re-do and I would be stuck with this look forever. At that moment, she gave me an extreme amount of anxiety, but it was too late. It was now two days before my wedding – I didn’t have time for a trial.
On the day of the wedding, I woke up with more anxiety than I did before. What would happen if the wedding hair and makeup were too much? I like simplicity. What if she doesn’t have the right shades to match my complexion? I didn’t want my face to be two shades lighter than the rest of my body.
I even felt anxiety with my hair. The extensions were tight and I couldn’t see what she would be doing to get the hairstyle that I had sent her ahead of time.
But again, it was too late. It was time to see whether my big risk was a huge mistake or if everything would work out for the better.
As a bride, I was the last person to have everything done. So I watched as my mother and bridesmaids got their hair and makeup done. Everything was looking amazing. But I was still scared. Their wedding hair and makeup is a lot more simplistic because all eyes are going to be on me. So more would have to be done to my look.
My hairstylist was ready for me and I sat in the chair. I felt as she curled, pulled, pinned, and secured every piece of my hair. Then out came the veil to lay it in to make sure that it would stay in the bun. The stylist’s assistant came over and the veil into the front of my bun and with no mirror around or time to look, I hopped over into the MUA’s chair.
Again, with no mirror, I had no clue what was being done. I saw and felt as she applied each step of the makeup. It wasn’t until the eyelashes were applied that I knew it was time for the big reveal. What was I going to look like?
My photographer took pictures of me getting ready and the MUA’s assistant was taking pictures along with some of my bridesmaids. They knew what I looked like, but it was silence overall.
When the MUA was done, I was quickly hurried into the bedroom of our hotel room to get into my dress because we were already running extremely late [the ceremony was planned to start in about 15 minutes – no way we were making it].
My mom kept quiet, which I started to take as a bad sign, and got me into my dress with the help of my niece. I stepped out of the room and my bridesmaids immediately began helping to put on my shoes, tie the belt in the back, and bustle the dress for me to get to the ceremony location.
I had not seen myself yet, but to my left was that full-length mirror that I had been dying to look into for the past three hours.
Everything was done, and now it was time to look.
There in the mirror, I saw a bride that looked like me, but someone I didn’t fully recognize. She was stunning and looked like the bride that I had imagined.
Everything about my wedding hair and makeup was perfect and my risk paid off.
My Makeup Artist: Blended by Lenore
My Hair Stylist: Lisa Eady of LilyRose
Reflecting back on the experience, I’m not sure whether I would have changed my mind and actually had the trial.
With the money that I saved from the trial, I was able to afford other things such as our fabulous hotel room at the Royal Worthington in Malvern that I wouldn’t have been able to afford out-of-pocket, and I didn’t want to put things on credit.
The risk, though it gave me so much anxiety, ended up paying off and it took a lot of trust. I had sent my MUA and hair stylist these pictures in order to show them what I wanted and they hit the mark exactly.
My advice for brides:
If you are one that can deal with anxiety than you may want to take the risk. Just make sure to send pictures of what you want your look to be to both vendors and send pictures of your natural hair and skin complexion. I made sure to send my MUA a picture of me with makeup and without makeup. The goal was to allow her to see the complexion I typically go for when I put on my own makeup and to show her my natural complexion to match it.
If you are a bride that cannot deal with any more anxiety and will fall about thinking about uncertainty, then the trial is definitely worth it for you. I’ve heard some of the horror stories for certain brides and it can be detrimental.
Make sure to keep an eye out for the official wedding pictures and the full wedding reveal. I can’t wait to share them with you! Just a few more weeks to wait!
Also, make sure to look at my other wedding posts involving tips for planning your perfect wedding!
