Bridal Hair and Makeup: What to Book and When

The most common bridal mistake is not a styling choice. It is timing.

Here is a realistic timeline.

Six to nine months out

Book your stylist. Good bridal slots on Saturdays in spring and summer fill early, and if you have a specific date you want a specific person, this is when to lock it in.

If you are planning a significant color change, start now. Going substantially lighter takes multiple sessions, and you want the final color settled well before the day rather than three weeks before it.

Three to four months out

Any smoothing treatment should happen now if you want one. Keratin and progressive smoothing both look their best after a few weeks of settling, and you do not want to discover you dislike the result with a month to go.

Start your trial conversation. Collect photos of what you like, including what you dislike, which is often more useful.

Two months out

Do the trial. This is the appointment people skip and regret.

Bring your veil, your hair accessories and a top with a neckline similar to your dress. All three change how a style sits and how it reads in photos.

Photograph the trial from several angles in daylight. What looks right in the mirror is not always what the camera sees, and the camera is what you keep.

Two months leaves room to adjust or rethink entirely.

Six weeks out

Final color and cut. Close enough to look fresh, far enough that anything unexpected can be corrected.

If you are having extensions, this is when they go in.

Two weeks out

Nails and any facial treatment. Never book a first-time facial closer than this. Skin can react, and you want time for it to settle.

Book the manicure for the week of the wedding at our nail salon in Newark, NJ.

The week of

Nothing new. No experiments, no first-time treatments, no impulse color.

The day

Hair before makeup, generally. And build in more time than you think, because bridal parties always run long.

If you have a bridal party

Tell your salon the number early. Getting six people ready is a different appointment than getting one person ready, and it changes what the salon needs to schedule.

What we do

We do bridal hair, makeup, nails and skin at Lush Atelier, which means one location and one schedule rather than coordinating three.

Come in for a trial and bring your photos. Call (862) 466-2119.