Planning your wedding beauty
What time should wedding hair and makeup start?
Count back from the time you need to be ready. Allow about 45 minutes per person for makeup, 45 to 60 minutes for hair, and two and a half to three hours for the bride. For a late-afternoon ceremony with a bride, one bridesmaid and the mother of the bride, hair and makeup would start at 9 am.
How do you work out the start time?
Start with your ready-by time: the moment agreed with your photographer or planner when hair and makeup must be finished. Then count backward using the number of people being styled, and the services each one wants. Add about 20 to 30 minutes at the start for set-up.
| Service | Time scheduled |
|---|---|
| Bride, hair and makeup | 2.5 to 3 hours |
| Bridesmaid makeup | 45 to 60 minutes |
| Bridesmaid hair | 60 minutes |
| Mother of the bride or groom, makeup | About 45 minutes |
| Mother of the bride or groom, hair | About 45 minutes |
| Final touch-ups for everyone | About 30 minutes before the ceremony |
| Set-up before the first service | 20 to 30 minutes |
What does a wedding morning schedule look like?
This is an example day for a late-afternoon ceremony, with three people being styled: the bride, one bridesmaid and the mother of the bride. It is built from the service times above, with the bride in the middle of the order.
| Time | What happens |
|---|---|
| Before 9:00 am | Artist arrives and sets up |
| 9:00 am | Bridesmaid makeup |
| 9:45 am | Bridesmaid hair |
| 10:45 am | Bride makeup and hair (to 1:30 pm) |
| 1:30 pm | Mother of the bride makeup |
| 2:15 pm | Mother of the bride hair |
| 3:00 pm | Services finished |
| 30 minutes before the ceremony | Touch-ups |
Three people take about six hours. Each additional bridesmaid adds about an hour and three quarters.
Should the bride go first or last?
Neither. In the schedule above the bride sits down mid-morning, after the bridesmaid is finished and before her mother. Her look is finished well before the ceremony and fresh for photographs, with touch-ups for everyone at the end.
What should everyone do before the artist arrives?
- Hair clean and completely dry, ideally washed the night before.
- Face clean and moisturised, with no makeup from the day before.
- A button-up shirt or robe, so nothing is pulled over a finished look.
- Breakfast eaten.
- Inspiration photos sent ahead for every person being styled, not only the bride.
- Everyone in the room at their scheduled time.
How is the timeline agreed?
Eleglam creates a detailed wedding-day timeline and shares it in advance. Reasonable adjustments are welcome as plans change. On the day, the schedule depends on each person being ready at their scheduled time.