A secret about wedding day is the hair and makeup schedule impacts more than you may think! The larger your wedding party, the more logistics you will need to plan for. Keep reading to make sure you’ve thought about all the different moving pieces to create your realistic wedding day timeline.
Start with the numbers
- Make a list of each person who is getting a service done by your hair and makeup team.
- Next, by each person’s name, write if they are getting hair, makeup, or both. Don’t forget to include anyone who may not be in your wedding party but is still getting a service like moms or aunts.
- Ask your beauty team typically how long they take to do each person’s hair and makeup. Specifically ask about time per service so you know how much time to account for if anyone is only getting one service. Most artists will tell you it will typically take longer to do hair and makeup for the bride.
- Last, ask how many artists will be working your wedding day. The more artists you have, the later your bridesmaids can start getting ready.
Order matters here
Once you know how long each service will take, start creating hair and makeup slots for each person. We always recommend scheduling family members and wedding party who you know will be on time first! If the people in the first slot are running late, this will shift your whole schedule and cause you to run behind. For everyone else, consider inviting them to show up earlier than their slot time to account for anyone running late.
If you have some stylists that only do hair, or only do makeup, remember you can stagger your bridesmaids so there are multiple people being worked on in a 45 minute slot, for example.
Buffers are your friend
Aside from inviting people to arrive early, if your timeline allows, consider adding some extra time to your wedding day timeline. The most common causes of delay we’ve seen are:
- Late arrivals
- Anxiety or emotions right before first look or ceremony
- Forgetting to put on veil
- Someone asking for a redo or more than a touchup
- Any unforeseen delays such as traffic, unable to get into bridal suite, etc.
Sample Timeline
Consider this sample timeline with buffers where each service for everyone except the bride takes 45 minutes to complete with 2 bridesmaids and 3 artists.
9:00 – 11:30 AM: BRIDE hair and makeup with Artist 3
9:00 – 9:45 AM: BRIDESMAID A HAIR with Artist 1
9 :00- 9:45 AM: BRIDESMAID B HAIR with Artist 2
10:00 – 10:45 AM: BRIDESMAID A MAKEUP with Artist 2
10:00 – 10:45 AM: BRIDESMAID B MAKEUP with Artist 1
10:45 – 11:15 AM: BRIDESMAID A & BRIDESMAID B to get dressed
11:00 AM: Photographer arrives for detail shots and hair and makeup final shots
11:15 AM – 11:45 AM: Bridesmaids get any touchups if needed
11:30 AM – 12:00 PM: BRIDE to get dressed
12:15 PM Head to ceremony site or begin first look or bridal party photos
Looking to have one of our Salud planners virtually help you create your timeline? Click here to have your timeline reviewed or built!
