Make-up

I haven't done this myself but I've been told that you can pay like £20-30 to have your makeup done at the counter, then they give you a voucher to redeem against their products. This way they make a sale or get compensated for their time and resources, as you can probably imagine free makeovers with no sales wouldn't be a viable business option.

I believe it's also been said that you probably shouldn't mention that it's bridal makeup (apparently they charge more or something?), you can always just say you are attending a wedding and want some hard-wearing makeup to last the day (technically not a lie). I'm planning on having a trial at a counter to test and buy some quality makeup and then apply it myself on the day.

Beauty colleges or a friend that can do makeup are also good options

I know illamasqua definitely do it however it's £75 redeemable against their products. You are best of just going on and asking, illamasqua don't change their price for weddings, that's a standard price.

Hi,

I ended up having my make up done at the Mac counter for my wedding day and it was great! I'd had numerous problems getting my make up sorted, first MUA was my best friend who ruined my hen do so got uninvited, then had someone out to do a trial and she made me look like a corpse, so after lots of stress my lovely husband literally dragged me to the mac counter and told the whole sorry tale to the lovely girls there! They were amazing and even rearranged appointments for me to ensure I got the time I needed on the day! He paid £30 for the 1 hour trial and the same again for the morning of the wedding! Both were refundable against products so I got nice new make up for the honeymoon and it covered the cost of lashes on the day! (there was a 10% off offer on the day of the wedding so I may have spent slightly more than the £30!! Worth it though as Mac make up is fab and rude not to with 10% off!)

The trial was great, she really listened to me and I showed her photos of what I wanted so she did my make up and then made notes ready for the day. On the morning of the wedding I took the notes back and requested a couple of minor changes and she was done in less than an hour as everything had been decided at the trial!

They do have a wedding package I believe which I think is 90 minutes but when we booked it they suggested it would be too long and it would have been so they said 60 minutes was better, they never tried to push any extra time or products. They just wrote it all down so I could go back at any time to pick bits up.

My make up lasted all day (subject to reapplying a bit of lippy and powder in the evening after hours of dancing left me a bit shiny!) and I was really happy with it.

All the girls were really lovely and one got a bit emotional when she asked what name I was booked for and then said "that'll be the last time you use that name!" Bless her!

Would definitely recommend them!

Anna x

Thank you Anna, please can you tell me how long in advance you booked your appointment and then had the trial.

Yes this is definitely something you can do (beauty blogger here!). I'm going to do my own makeup for my wedding but will be making a couple of visits to counters for some ideas.

I believe MAC bridal makeup is around £60 - I'd recommend you did a trial first. Avoid Charlotte Tilbury and definitely go for MAC or Bobbi Brown - MAC is definitely a makeup artists brand and they stock all the bits you need to help it last for your big day. As others have said, the money is redeemable against the products so when you go I highly recommend that you get the lipstick, liner, concealer and blush they use to top yourself up during the day.

You could always book appointments now and learn how to do it yourself with plenty of practice? It could save you time on the day if you don't want a trip to town!

x

RomanticPurpleCars - I'd be interested why you suggested to avoid Charlotte Tilbury? I had been looking at their foundation to get for the wedding.