Bridal hair and makeup: building the chair schedule

Every wedding morning that runs late was planned forward: start at eight, see how it goes. The ones that finish on time are planned backward, from the moment the photographer needs everyone dressed and ready.

TL;DR: Find the ready-by time (the first look, else the ceremony), count everyone in the chair and what each wants, decide how many artists, and work the schedule back from ready-by. Put your start time on the day's timeline so the photographer and planner know it, price by the face with the early start as its own line, and write down what you agreed at the trial.

Where does ready-by come from?

From the day's timeline, not from the couple's memory of it. If there is a first look, everyone the photographer needs must be ready before it. If not, the ceremony time less travel and photos. Ask the planner or photographer for the timeline rather than estimating; a change to the ceremony time is a change to your start time.

How do you count the chair?

Ask the couple, in writing, who is getting hair, makeup, or both: the bride, each bridesmaid, mothers, flower girls. A bridal party of eight with six doing both and two doing makeup only is a very different morning from eight doing both. Ask early, and ask again a week out, because the list always changes.

How many artists do you need?

Divide the minutes in the chair by the time you have. If the morning needs seven hours of chair time and you have three and a half hours before ready-by, you need two artists working from the start. Leave a buffer at the end for touch-ups and the inevitable late arrival; a schedule that ends exactly at ready-by has already run late.

Who goes first?

Usually the people with the least at stake: bridesmaids and mothers first, the bride last for makeup so it is freshest for photos, with her hair earlier if it is a long style. Flower girls go in the middle, when they are awake and not yet bored. Whatever order you choose, write it down with times so the bridal party knows when to be in the chair.

How should you price?

By the face, for each service, with the bride priced separately because her look includes the trial. The early start (any call before a set hour) is its own line, as is travel. Touch-up cover through the ceremony or reception is a separate service with its own hours. An invoice built from the chair schedule means the bill always matches the people you actually did.

Why keep trial notes?

Because the trial is where the look is decided and the wedding is months later. Products, shades, the pins that held, what the bride loved and what she did not. Notes written straight after the trial are the difference between recreating the look and remembering it.

What about allergies?

Ask everyone in the chair about skin conditions, allergies and sensitivities before the day, and keep the answers. Your agreement should say you are not responsible for a reaction to a product the person did not disclose.

How Booksui handles this

Booksui's hair and makeup pipeline runs from inquiry and proposal through booking, trial, chair schedule and the wedding morning. The chair schedule on each booking reads the ready-by time from the day's timeline, takes the people from the couple's bridal party answers, works back the start with the number of artists you set, puts the start on the timeline in one click, and drafts the invoice by head. A bridal hair and makeup agreement with bridal party terms, and trial notes and bridal party questionnaires, are there to start from. More on the page for bridal hair and makeup artists; plans and limits are on the pricing page.