Looking Your Best at Your Philadelphia Wedding
Hiring a professional makeup artist in Philadelphia for your big day is one of several options you’ll, er, face. In general, hiring a professional Philadelphia makeup artist is a terrific idea if you’re one of those brides who knows you’re either going to be too busy or too nervous to think about it on your wedding day, or wants to splurge and hire help for the bridal party. If some of your girls aren’t particularly “CoverGirl clever,” you might want to indulge.
Luckily, Philadelphia belongs in the category of every major cosmopolitan city, in that makeup artists are in bountiful supply. If you live in the area, and know a good artist already, use her. This isn’t the time to be experimenting with blush. If you don’t know of an artist, ask someone at your hair salon, other vendors, and, of course, friends and relatives.
Regardless of who you choose, take advantage a makeup trial with them first. Your makeup artist will need to know what style of dress you’ll be wearing, as well as the time of day you’ll be getting married and whether it’s an indoor or outdoor ceremony. Some makeup artists work directly with hairstylists; if that’s not the case, make sure she knows exactly how you plan to wear your hair. On your “dress rehearsal,” wear your hair in the identical fashion you’ll be wearing it on your wedding day.
If you’re hiring a Philadelphia makeup artist for all your girls, find out how many women you’ll need and make sure you meet all of them ahead of time. (The size of your party and extent of makeup will determine if more than one person is required.) Make sure the girls in your wedding know to be ready for makeup at a certain hour, which means they—and you—will have to be dressed. If you have a member of the wedding who has special makeup needs, let her do it herself. Make sure you speak to her about it in private, so she doesn’t feel uncomfortable or think she’s going to stick out.
Since you’re in the big city, expect to pay at least $150 for a Philadelphia makeup artist, and know that many charge for the trial session. You can spend anywhere from a $1,000 to $2,000 for the entire party.
Here’s a tip all brides should follow: As you’re prepping for your wedding, watch any awards show. Notice which stars’ faces look stunning, and which look overdone. Then aim for a style similar to the stunning star. (This applies to wardrobe and hair, as well as makeup). On your wedding day, you want to look like yourself, only better. It’s not the time to pile on jungle red lipstick when you’re a sheer girl. Make sure your makeup artist understands this. Like hair, if you’ve decided to do something dramatic for your wedding, do your homework: Go through old photo books ahead of time, and make sure the artist you choose can, and will, give you the face you want. Once you’ve put in the work, you can put your best face forward.
-David Toussaint