Am I mad to do my own hair and make up?

I'd be worried that I'd be too stressed/my hair wouldn't go right/I'd get makeup everywhere; I am always LATE everywhere and I would be arriving at the church after dark if I had to do it all myself, haha!

Maybe try it yourself a couple of times and see how it goes before making any final decision?

If you do it, and you like it, I say go for it. You'll not get let down by a supplier, and you know it'll be just how you want it. Spend the pennies on something else

In my experience, stuff that looks easy online rarely is! My advice would be to give it a try and if you can manage it easily, go for it x

I was planning on doing this but just had a change of heart as started panicking that it might look rubbish and I would regret it. Like you said there is also the risk you could get stressed on the morning of the wedding.

I did my own.

I hate having my hair and face messed with, so getting someone to do it for me, was never an option.

I'll be getting MUA & hair stylist in the morning but only because I really think i'd make myself look like coco the clown and i'm rubbish with hair haha.
If you're good with make up and think you can do a great job then go for it, practise a few times and see if you love it Means you can completely get ready yourself in the morning and don't have to wait on others arriving to do it etc and cutting a lot of costs down. I think if you're confident then yes go for it

If you think you can do it yourself go for it. A couple of my friends did their own make up and one did their own hair and they all looked lovely! I considered doing it myself but I'm clueless with make up and useless at doing my hair nicely so thought it was money well spent! If I could do it myself I would.

Thanks for your thoughts everyone!

WELL! I just spent the last hour having a play and trying to do one of the youtube vids I found. I'm not convinced! It looked so easy on the video but I got fed up about 10 minutes into tonging my hair, my arms were aching and I was hot and bothered! It looked... Ok. But that's not really what you want for your wedding day is it?! I'm not sure I'd even go out for a night on the town with it the way it looked :o$

I suppose I could give it a few tries and it would probably get better with time but I don't know if I can be bothered. I'd really like a lovely chilled out morning and I'd be so upset if I started getting stressed with my hair and it all went wrong.

I think I'll at least go with a hairdresser! And like OH said tonight, I don't HAVE to have them come to the hotel. I'll only be a 2 minute drive to the local town and there's a couple of hairdressers there. It might be quite nice all of us heading to the hairdressers in the morning. I'd just been looking into Aberdeen artists coming out and that was looking like it'd be a fortune.

Makeup's another thing but I'd definitely be more confident with that I think.

Maybe that's a good compromise to settle on!

Thanks Hitchers! :o)

From experience, if you are going to do anything yourself, do your make up and get your hair done by someone.

I'll be doing my own, my two BM's and my mum's make up on the day, definately getting a hairdresser in to do our hair- I can do my own ok but want it to stay for 14 odd hours is a different story!!

When I was last bridesmaid the bride and other BM had a make up artist in, I did my own. I then fixed theirs once the MUA was gone!!! If you can do your own, definately go for it! I do think though that where it differs from everyday is it really needs to last!

It depends on not just whether you can do the hair style and makeup, but whether you can do it proficiently again and again. The reason I say is whenever I'm in a rush I always *** my makeup up. A call out charge, particularly that much doesn't seem right to me. Maybe tell us what area you are marrying in and we can help look for you.

I'm doing my own makeup, one of my BMs wants to do it, but I'm weary.

My MOH is doing my hair though ❤️

I've organised a hairdresser however I am doing my own make-up. I toyed with the idea of getting someone to do it but any time I've had my make-up done I've never liked it. I did all the make-up for a friend's wedding a few years ago and was going to do the make-up for my junior girls anyway but have told my mum and chief bridesmaid that I will get someone for them if they want.

Well i'm very lucky in that my sister in law to be is a hairdresser so she is doing my hair and also my bridesmaids. I'm useless at hair so I would always rather pay someone to do it as I do get stressed when it doesn't go the way I want it to.

I was contemplating getting a MUA but i'm now going to do my own. It was working out around £200-£250 for myself and my bridesmaids and I just think that money can be better used elsewhere. Saying that I am fairly good at make up so I think after a few trials i'll be happy with the result.

One other thing I did think of doing was going to say a MAC or Bobbi Brown counter and getting them to do a makeover and show me how to do it and i'd buy the products they used and just recreate it. If you want to do your own then i'd recommend watching Nic & Sam on Pixiwoo on You Tube. Their make up tutorials are really good.

This is actually the thing that is making me the most nervous. I'm a hair and make up kind of girl and I've had trial's with both my hairdresser and make up artist and thought I could probably do a better job myself, not because they are awful at doing it but because I know what suits me and what I like. I'm going to have a few more trials before the day and just let them know exactly how I want it and have a mirror in front of me at all times, I sound like a nightmare don't I!!!

Hi everyone

Thanks for all the advice!

I'm getting married in Banchory, Aberdeenshire. Its about a half hr drive outside of Aberdeen. There were some local artists that were on our venues supplier list. I tried those first but I seem to remember they were really pricey and I think one of them was already booked up. I've contacted so many now I'm losing track! I'll have to go back through my emails!

I then started contacting Aberdeen ones as there's hundreds to chose from there but I suppose the high call out charges are because my venue is outside of the city.

The one that's quoted me £140 just for the call out can do hair and makeup and they said it's a £70 fee per artist and I would need 2. Then it's the hair and makeup charges on top of that.

It's so confusing because they all charge differently. Some do packages, some are individual prices per person and per trial and then some just charge a call out fee and then charge by the hour, regardless of how many people they do.

The thing is Aberdeen is pricey! OH is from there so I knew I'd be looking at slightly higher prices from Aberdeen suppliers. Some of them are also an absolute nightmare for even getting back to you! We don't live up there so I'm having to make a lot of initial enquiries via email but some of them never even get back. I'm having a nightmare finding a florist at the moment. I've contacted loads and I've chased some and never had a response. Or they reply, we have a couple of emails back and forth and then they never get back with a quote! Fiancé says there's so much money up there and so much work for them they can afford to be like that, but still, not the best customer service!

Anyway, I'm going off on a tangent! After my attempt last night with my hair, I think a hairdresser is a must! All the salons in Banchory looked like real 'blue rinse' sort of places but I've now found one that looks quite young and modern so I've contacted them. That would be so close to the venue it might be better for us all to go there the morning of the wedding rather than pay a call out. I'll see what they say.

I agree with what some of you have said about make up! It always comes out the best when I'm just bumming round the house and then I always balls it up for a big event! I'll have a think about that one!

Thanks everyone :o)

I have a lot to learn about wedding planning.... I thought I still had plenty of time to consider hair and makeup suppliers but if some are getting booked up a year in advance I better get cracking... I've only got 9 months to go!

I was thinking about getting my hair done by a professional (I've never in my whole life been able to get an up do I was happy with) and maybe doing my own makeup- as I don't like the idea of someone really caking it on and then being stuck with it all day. I'm pretty clueless with makeup though to be honest so I was thinking about investing in a make up tutorial or maybe booking in a Bobbi Brown appointment as I know they have complimentary tutorials if you buy their products. I'd rather pay an independent person who isn't associated with a particular brand though.

I did this!!

Thou to the OP can see why your begrudged to spend that much i was shocked by the prices too! but my venue has a spa on site so I'm using them for £255! that hair & makeup including trails! I think some thinking outside the box is in order. Google search only fetches up award winning and expensive suppliers. ask around the area like most hairdressers (some do makeup and/or wedding packages)

I had a little look for you, I'm sure you've contacted or seen these websites anyway but here's a few anyway without callout charge where I can see, depends on your taste though with some.

This one is £20 trial and £50 on the day.

http://www.makeupartistaberdeen.co.uk/

This girl looks great although doesn't advertise her prices.

http://www.chloemarie.co.uk/about-me.html

£35 trial and £45 on the day, doesn't have many bridal photos though so maybe worth seeing if she has a facebook page or will send you more photos to look at.

http://www.michellethornton.co.uk/wedding.html

This lady looks great and is only £75 trial and day!

http://www.lisaaitkenhead.co.uk/Portfolio.html

This lady does hair and makeup.

http://www.mizohairandmakeup.co.uk/Hair-Gallery.html

This lady's work looks good too.

http://www.weddinghairaberdeen.co.uk/services.html

It looks like the problem with hair and makeup artists in Aberdeen is that a lot don't advertise their prices and that most of the bridal hair stylists are in salons so that's why they do a call out charge. The one's I have listed for you aren't based in a salon.

Thanks so much for that! That's really sweet of you!

Yeah, a couple of those I've already enquired at, one of them just yesterday actually. But there's at least one on there I hadn't stumbled across so I've just emailed her.

Thanks! Will see how I get on!

I did my make up and my mum did my hair.

I had trials for both, and hated it every time. Hair never looked right and make up made me look weird.

I didn’t have an updo, just wanted my hair curly so it was easier. We put the rollers in about 6am and I sat under a blow up dryer for about 3/4 hours to make sure it was bone dry. It came out perfectly. I loved it so much I didn’t bother wearing my veil. Then I nipped off to have my eyelashes done at the local place. We then travelled to the venue and I allowed a good hour to do my make up. My bridesmaid helped me finish off my eyes but everything else I managed just fine on my own. Didn’t even need mascara with the lashes.

No problem glad to be of service and hope you sort it :-)

I was going to do my own as I don't like being preened over, I can't even stand it when I go to the hairdressers and they spend too much time fluffing my hair around my face! But my friends talked me around pointing out that they know how flustered I get when I'm nervous and I don't want to balls it up on the day and look like a mess. I've now contacted a lovely hair and makeup artist who's going to do me, mum and BM for a good price. One less thing for me to stress about on the morning and I won't look like a clown.

How about booking a 1-1 make-up lesson with a make-up artist?

The make-up artist will have a look at the make-up that you already use and your brushes and advise which products works well and which don't also will advise you which make-up products would good to purchase. They'll show you how to apply make-up step-by-step. They'll tell you which foundation would be best for your skin type. They'll show you how to create a perfect base and how to make it last all day and night, how to contour properly for your face shape, how to apply eyeshadow correctly and explain which colours would suit your skintone and eye colour the best. They'll also show you which brushes would be good to invest in.

Make-up lessons are usually about £60 for 1-1 but some offers discounts if there's a group of you.

Hope this helps. x

It's a tricky one... I ended up doing both myself on the day. I found I just didn't look quite like me when someone did my make up but did invest in some quality stuff that I was happy would last. With my hair, I wanted something a little messy and informal too so had a bit of a practice and whacked it in in 10 minutes on the day. It wasn't a work of art but I didn't want it to be. Enough hair spray ensured it stayed put too. I'm no hair expert either... I tried to recreate a 40s do at the weekend and it took me a couple of hours, a dead left arm and a lot of help from the other half!

I'd go with your gut instinct. If you try it yourself and don't like it/can't get it how you want it, get someone else to do it

I did my own make up but paid £15 to have weekend lashes done the day before, bought some decent make and had them show me how to put it on. I practised whenever I was going out and looked much better at every social occasion running up to it for that. My bridesmaid did my hair after some practice with some youtube videos. My photos so far are in my wedding report (and photobucket, which you can link to from my wedding report).

I'm mixed race and have my hair in a weave usually ... so I'll probably very the weave done the day before and I just want it down and curly with a vintage comb one side ... Make Up wise I was thinking to do it myself but to go to a make up counter for a trial and to buy lasting products ... my little sister is a beauty therapist so she will do it if vi want but I am really really fussy about my make up! I

I think if it's an up do it might be stress to do it yourself ... so your new plan sounds sensible! I love playing with make up and hair!!

I think I would like to go down this route- so I can actually learn about what suits me best and then make my own decision on what to wear on the day... where are you based Charlotte? Would you work in London or can you recommend anyone who does?

I think it is completely up to you and if you think it is possible for you to achieve the look you want. For me personally it would be way too stressful especially as l am not amazing at doing hair or make up.

Hi I'm based in Stockport- London would be a little too far for me

Sorry I don't know any make-up artists based in London. I would google make-up artsits who offer lessons- I'm sure there will be plenty. x

Thanks for all the advice everyone! :o)

I've now booked a hairdresser for all of us which is only a 5 minute drive from the hotel so we're going to go there the morning of the wedding. She only charges £35 for an updo and £18 for blow dry/ down styling. Same prices for trials aswell and she didn't ask for a deposit which was another bonus! Feel a lot happier now I've at least got that sorted and it's not going to cost an arm and a leg!

Still thinking about the makeup but now the hair is going to be massively cheaper I can justify spending on the makeup if I decide to have a mua.

Good tips re. one on one lessons though. I might look into that!

Thanks :o)

I do a lot of makeup lessons on brides who want to learn how to do their own makeup or brides getting married abroad.

You can read reviews of my lessons on the 'makeup lessons' page of my website.

Juliet x