Bridesmaids hair and make-up?

To me, it has always depended on how much control you want. If you want to make sure they look a certain way, it's fair that you pay for that to happen.

I'm doing my own makeup and don't mind how my bridesmaids have theirs, so I won't be paying for them. But I would like their hair to all match, so I'll pay for that. Same with dresses and shoes - I'll pay for dresses as I know how I want them to look, but I don't mind what shoes they wear, so I won't be buying them. They can either buy their own or wear something they already have.

In general though I would say yes it's fairly standard for the bride to pay.

I honestly think this is something that will always differ from wedding to wedding. Some will want to have ultimate say over how their bridesmaid look, so will pay for everything, some will have friends that are understanding and will want to look how you want them to look, so won't mind paying for some things themselves.

It also depends on your budget.

I am only having on BM/MOH (my sister) - I have told her that we will be putting £50 towards the dress (she did the same when I was a bridesmaid for her) - and with her being the only person who needs a dress, she'll have more chance of finding a dress she wouldn't mind putting money towards.

Unfortunately, I couldn't fit into my budget for her to get her make-up done, but I managed to fit in hair. I have told her she can choose whatever she wants.

I wont be buying things like shoes and accessories - she will have plenty of these things already that will suit the colours.

Ultimately, it boils down to your budget and the relationship between you and the BMs. I would never say that you have an obligation to pay for anything - they're not forced to be BMs.

I'm paying for my BMS to have their hair and makeup done as I just wanted them to feel special and spoilt and pampered on the day too! They really appreciate it and are very grateful and excited.

I think if you can afford to do it for them, it really is a nice thing to do.

I'm paying to get my BMs' hair and make up done, this is because I want them to all look a certain way (i.e the same) and my BMs are mostly my best mates who love false tan, false eyelashes and massive hair! One of them even complained that she couldn't have a curly blow on the day! So, I think if you have stipulations like me, then you pay for them, but every wedding I've known of, the bride paid for the BMs to get ready

I’m only paying for their dresses and hair as I want them to be the same, however for shoes, they are buying their own (mainly because the colour scheme is black and white and black shoes can be worn again).

I’m not paying to have their makeup done but have paid for some brand new make up for us all to use on the day. I just couldn’t afford to have the makeup done for all three but the girls are really good at make up so I don’t mind them doing their own, plus they both know how much they like to wear before they feel caked in it.

I paid for my BMs - hair, make-up, dress, jewellery, etc. Everything except shoes as they wore what they wanted.

I've not paid for anything for my bridesmaids because of the budget size, but as a compromise to this they've all be able to choose their own dress in their own style. I just said it had to match the colour scheme or at least be a similar shade. They've also chosen their own hair and make up.

I have, however, got them all gifts to say thank you.

If I'd had the money I'd have loved to have paid for them all to have their hair and make up done!

Thanks all!

Seems like its pretty common for the bride to pay.

I have a friend who has been bridesmaid about 20 times and she said the bride NEVER pays!

Its a squeeze with the budget at this point, the dresses are way too big - i ordered the sizes recommended by the shop, as i presumed they know what they are doing! now the alterations are going to cost almost as much as the dresses

Normally I would let them do what they want with hair and make-up, but one of the bridesmaids will turn up looking like lady gaga if im not quite strict!

Oh well!

This is exactly what I am doing! Paying for dress and hair, but leaving shoes and make up to them!