Why are bridal hair and makeup services so expensive?
Let's dive into why weddings cost more than other events
Take it from a bridal artist-
(Laguna Beach artist Brie Leach weighs in on the subject)
"First, let's dispel the rumor that industry professionals get dollar sign eyes when the word "wedding" is spoken. There are legitimate reasons vendors have to charge more for a wedding than other types of events. And it all starts in the planning process.
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Brides begin planning their weddings sometimes upwards of a year in advance. They like to secure their vendors early and get their favorites locked in. That means us artists must hold a specific date in our books longer than any other plan we've ever made. As life happens, a lot can come up in that amount of time, and keeping a promise that far in advance is asking a lot. Vacations, family time, personal health issues, or other obligations have to take a back seat. We are expected to show up on time whether we're physically ill, injured, sleep deprived or during a crisis of any sort. Since no one can fill in for us, we can't just call in sick like most people can. Giving up our weekends was a choice we made when we got into this business but it is still a constant sacrifice in our own lives and missing out never gets easier.
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Also due to the long-game nature of the planning process, a lot can happen; with ultimate flexibility on the brides end, and none on our end-- ideas change, headcounts change, the getting ready location. We've even had instances where the venue had to change the wedding date. With large parties, several artists are hired and it must be sorted out amongst all of us with every change of detail. This creates a mountain of back-and-forth correspondence that takes a lot of time and painstaking attention to organization that we aren't compensated for until the wedding day. There's more..
...The BrideZilla Tax
Totally kidding. But it's no stretch that weddings are indeed a highly emotionally-charged event, and there's no way to prevent those emotions from spilling over into business dealings with vendors. We get it all the time, and we understand, most of us are married and have had weddings of our own. So not only are you paying for our delicacy with these matters, the day-of is where us artists really have to shine no matter what.
How the bride and her party look on the most planned and important day of her life is often the top priority, so the utmost pressure is put on the artist to perform. The stakes are the highest of any job you could take. The day-of is a highly time-sensitive, distracting, champagne-soaked and overstimulating work environment to boot. Therefore, quality, highly-experienced bridal artists are basically the Olympic level athletes of the beauty industry. When a stranger asks what we do for a living, the most common response is wide eyes and some ideation of 'Good on you!' And we're proud of it, we wear it like a merit badge.
Let me be clear, these are not complaints. Most of the weddings we've done, the emotional tone is so wonderful and infectious that it brings my team and I pure joy. And we dearly love our clients. Often times we end up becoming close to our brides, their families and the camaraderie of planing and executing such a big event makes for lasting friendships. But still. It's taxing - mentally and physically. Even when things go perfectly. Therefore I say this with love to all who are reading this, us bridal vendors would not do weddings if we were paid the same as other events as much as we wish this wasn't the case."