The key to stress-free wedding day is organization. It can be a big job to coordinate so many moving pieces and people. We recommend putting together a wedding day (or weekend) timeline to keep things in line. We have a lot of questions about hair and makeup. How long should it take? What time should we start? We’ve created a general wedding hair and makeup timeline to keep you on track. Truth be told, your hair stylist and makeup vendor should create a timeline as well.
General order: The bride’s hair and makeup should be the last thing that gets done. This serves two purposes: 1) the bride’s hair and makeup remains fresh as long as possible and 2) When the photographer arrives, he can take some getting ready shots. Bridesmaids hair should be among the first.
Person | Length of time |
Bridesmaid’s hair | 30 minutes per person |
Bridesmaid’s makeup | 45 minutes per person |
Flower girl(s) hair | 30 minutes per person |
Mother-of-the-bride hair | 30 minutes per person |
Mother-of-the-groom hair | 30 minutes per person |
Mother-of-the-bride makeup | 45 ninutes |
Mother-of-the-groom makeup | 45 minutes |
Bride hair | one hour |
Bride makeup | 45 minutes |
Remember to leave some time at the end for touch-ups for everyone (lipstick re-applications, hairspray, veil placement, more hairspray, etc…).
Tip: Your hair (and makeup) stylist should ask how many are in your wedding party/how many people will need to get their hair and makeup done. This will allow them to determine if they need to bring an assistant, and if so, how many.
Another tip: If you are traveling to a salon to be styled, remember to reserve plenty of extra time (we recommend doubling travel time) for travel. Work this into your day-of timeline.
Enjoy,