As a bride, paying for your bridal party isn’t something that’s mandatory. In fact, it’s more common for the bridesmaids to pay for themselves. Bridesmaids are expected to buy their own dress and probably cover the costs for the bridal shower and maybe even bachelorette. That sounds like a lot of $$$$, right?
Here’s a list of what '“expected” of a bridesmaid:
Buy dress/shoes
Pay for makeup and hair on wedding day
Plan the bridal shower
Plan the bachelorette
Be a slave to the bride… lol jk… but you might as well be labelled as a slave since you’re at the bride’s every beck and call
If bridesmaids are expected to do that much aka spend that much, who would really want to become a bridesmaid? That’s the reason why only close friends/family can truly accept this hard and expensive job because why? THEY LOVE THE BRIDE.
So as a bride with a bunch of close girls (and/or close boys - known as bridesmen) that love her, she tends to love back by picking up some of the costs or compensate them with gifts.
For example:
the bride can give gifts to her bridesmaids like jewelry/hair accessories to be worn on wedding day or customized totes or robes, etc. We just love everything customized…
and/or she can buy their dresses for them
and/or she can even pay for their makeup and hair
Every bridal party is different and every bride is different. Every level of generosity is different and this may be defined by the amount of love there is within a group and how much willingness people have to spend and do things for others.
MORE LOVE = MORE WILLINGNESS
MORE WILLINGNESS = MORE MONEY
MORE LOVE = MORE MONEY(?) …haha! I joke.
But really, love can get expensive sometimes. Just look at the costs to get married and throw a wedding party…
If you’re a bride and you do want to treat your bridesmaids to makeup and hair but the artist that you want is out of your budget when booking as a group… this is what you need to do: First, go ahead and book the artist you want for yourself. You cannot be cheap with your own makeup and hair on your own wedding day. Second, ask that artist if she/he has a cheaper option for the bridal party. Most times, she/he will have someone that charges cheaper in her team (maybe an assistant) or she can refer you to a cheaper artist.
As an artist I must admit that BRIDE ONLY BOOKING(s) ‘ my favorite! As much as I love bonding with the whole bridal party, I love my one on one time with the bride even more! My main focus is just the bride on that day. There’s a sense of relaxation and absolutely no chaos or rush during our time together. It seriously brings me pure joy.
There’s also the option of having the bridesmaids do their own makeup/hair. This is great, if the bridesmaids are competent in makeup/hair or there’s someone in the bridal party that can help out. If this is the case, make sure to lay out rules so everyone looks at least cohesive and no one shows up with red lipstick or blue eyeshadow (unless that’s the theme and that’s what the bride wants).
So… should you treat our bridal party to makeup and hair? It depends, are you willing to? :)