Pictured: The Salon at Bonnett Island Estate
Hey Ladies - let's talk for a minute about the location where we will be doing your hair and make up services on your wedding day. We've been everywhere from the fanciest venues with full salon set ups, to the tiniest bed and breakfast rooms with only a few feet of room to spare to sitting people on the side of grandma's bed to have a service done. I've even stood in a bathtub doing hair. We only need a bit of room and a few outlets. Some natural light is nice as well but we do bring our own for those early morning calls and dark hotel rooms. Read on for some tips when choosing your beauty space.
Venue - This is so important. You fell in love with the beautiful salon set up at your gorgeous venue and you can't wait to get ready and take photos there. The problem is, you can't get into the suite until 9 am. In order to be ready on time, we need to start at 7:30. What to do? You need to find out this information at the time of your booking. If there is no way you can get in at the time you need to, we should get ready somewhere else, like a neighboring hotel. Then you can take your dresses over to the venue and get dressed, fix your lips all in the beautiful suite. If the bridal suite is a major reason why you are booking your venue and you can't use it, you may want to look into other options. Unfortunately, most brides don't consider this early enough in the planning process and then we are stuck in the dilemma of finding another place, or having to pay extra to get in early, or for more artists than necessary to help deal with the time crunch.
Hotel - Hotels are easily our most popular getting ready spot since the ladies are usually there from the night before and the night of the wedding. When booking your reservation, be sure to find out when you can get into the bridal suite if you are not already staying in it from the night before. Bridal suites are usually subject to similar check in times as other rooms or they could be occupied by another bride the night or day before. If you can't or don't want to get ready in the bridal suite and you want to just have a fresh room for you and your hubby that night, book a different room to get ready in. Have someone switch your stuff over to the suite later on. Most of the time, everyone leaves a mess behind and you don't want to come back to that later on. If we are getting ready in the suite, be sure to alert housekeeping that you want the room taken care of and set up for later.
Conference Room - if your room or suite won't be ready to enter at the time we want to start, ask about an alternate space like a conference or meeting room. Most hotels have them and most are not being used on a weekend morning. If they try to charge you, be sure to point out that you have booked many rooms there for your event and that they are not using the space anyway so you shouldn't have to pay. It will also cut down on the guests asking to check in early all morning if they have a space to park at until their rooms are ready. It will also mean that the cleaning crew doesn't have to go to two separate rooms either. Some will charge a fee to use the space and may even provide an attendant to bring in beverages or snacks and keep the space clean and refilled as we work. See what options are available at your hotel. These types of spaces usually come equipped with tables, chairs and plenty of outlets.
House - Your house, mom's house whoever wants to host the morning of the wedding. Consider the space available for getting ready as well as hosting the ladies in your party. Think about showers, bathroom space and room to hold everyone's bags, dresses and more that they will be arriving with. Also, a space to put out food and drinks is helpful. It's hard to have us in the kitchen with all of our stuff, our chairs and spraying hairspray all over the place with your trays of food laid out right next to us. A separate space with a few outlets will do. We may request a snack table or a couple folding chairs as well.
Planning ahead for beauty services for the morning of your wedding is usually an afterthought but it should be a thought early on. We are always here to help with this process. We can create schedules to help the day run smoothly and we always run on time. It's your job to provide us the space we will need to get it all done. Also, keep in mind that once we set up all of our stuff and get in the flow of your hair and make up - it's near impossible for us to stop and switch. If your plan includes a change of space sometime in the middle of beauty services, we need to find another option. The one thing we wont have is extra time the morning of the wedding, and a switch takes way too much time and messes with the flow. When we set up we lay our out make up supplies and our irons stay hot the whole time we are working. Switching from one area to another is not a good option. Be sure to ask all these questions and think about these things when choosing your spaces for the big day. We do this about 40 times a year, we've been nearly everywhere and in every kind of situation. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you need any help! Happy planning!
Peace. Love and Beauty - Allison