KEY TAKEAWAYS: Becoming a bridal makeup artist requires artistry, skill, professionalism, and a lot more. With the right approach, training, and commitment, you can help brides live out their dreams while building a successful business of your own.
There are few moments so meaningful and memorable as those experienced on a wedding day. From the first look and walking down the aisle to thousands of photos and late-night dancing, weddings are packed with what feel like transcendent memories.
If you want to not only participate in these beautiful moments but also contribute to them, becoming a bridal makeup artist can be an incredibly fulfilling career path for a beauty pro. While it comes with a high degree of pressure, you can thrive as you watch beautiful couples kick off their lives together, and it all starts with this bridal makeup artist guide below.
What You Should Know Before Becoming a Bridal Makeup Artist
As a bridal makeup artist, you will specialize in wedding makeup for the bride and anyone in her bridal party. This specialization allows you to hone your specific skills and create a niche for your beauty biz, but it comes with a hefty dose of responsibility.
If you love love and want to become a bridal makeup artist, you’ll need to understand the responsibilities, undergo training, network with other wedding professionals, and more. Read on for a deep dive into what it takes to become a successful bridal makeup artist.
Skills Bridal Makeup Artists Need to Excel
Pursuing a specialty within the beauty industry requires the development of specific skills. While there may be some overlap, the skill set of a traditional hairstylist and an esthetician will undoubtedly vary. The same is true for bridal makeup artists: they must refine certain skills to elite levels in order to excel.
Exceptional Makeup Application Skills
Before you become a bridal makeup artist, you need to have impressive makeup application skills. This means perfecting a wide range of techniques, knowing how to color correct, perfecting your contouring skills, and more.
Bridal-Specific Beauty
Bridal makeup might start with foundational makeup techniques, but there are several distinctions that make it unique.
For example, you need to be able to create a custom look that complements the wedding theme, bridal attire, and style of the couple. You also need to create lasting looks that can withstand long hours and high-stress environments while still looking great in photos.
Adaptability
Adjusting to changing environments, makeup emergencies, unpredictable timelines, and everything else that accompanies weddings is a must for a bridal makeup artist. You need to be prepared for and capable of applying makeup in a variety of conditions and in a number of styles and techniques.
Beauty Biz Acumen
Becoming successful in any type of business requires more than skill. You need to know how to attract and find clients, manage your finances, market your business, and more. While these things might come naturally to some people, it often takes time to build your bridal makeup artist business and find sustainable success.
Invest in the right booking tools, establish your digital presence, increase your marketing savvy, and protect yourself with beauty insurance. With intentionality and patience, you will carve out a successful niche for your beauty biz.
"This specialization allows you to hone your specific skills and create a niche for your beauty biz, but it comes with a hefty dose of responsibility."
How to Become a Bridal Makeup Artist
Before you can kick off your career as a bridal makeup artist, you need to build a solid foundation. This starts with formal makeup artist training from a qualified program where you can learn essential techniques and start to refine your skills.
From there, you will need to build your portfolio and improve your reputation. As you do so, you can begin to network with wedding professionals and create a digital presence that will act as your marketing platform in the future.
You should consider training under an experienced bridal makeup artist and taking lower-paying jobs within the industry to further increase your experience and your portfolio. You can even take courses specifically designed for aspiring bridal makeup artists to continue growing your skillset.
It may take some time, but as your skills progress and you take more jobs within the wedding industry, your reputation will grow and your network will expand. Soon, opportunities will start to pop up, and you can embrace your dream in a real, tangible way.
How Much Do Bridal Makeup Artists Make?
The earning potential for bridal makeup artists can vary wildly depending on experience, location, and more. For example, some bridal makeup artists who are salaried by salons might make $30,000 a year, while others may make in excess of $60,000.
If you choose to take the freelance makeup artist route, it is not uncommon to charge between $150 and $600 for your bridal makeup services. Some in-demand artists charge much more than this, too; it all depends on your experience, reputation, market, and services.
Whether you’re an aspiring beauty pro or already have a thriving beauty biz, you can take your career to the next level by subscribing to Elite Beauty Society and learning from the tips and tricks on our bio.
Meet Hanna Marcus, the Founder and Head Copy Gal behind Boundless Copy, a one-of-a-kind copywriting agency that specializes in big, bold brand voice and industry-disrupting copy that’s all about resonating with the right audience.
Hanna has proudly teamed up with Elite Beauty Society for several years as their go-to copywriter on all things beauty, small biz marketing, and brand voice development. She’s big on feeling-first writing–her personal soapbox is that the best copy starts with telling a story.
When she’s not writing cheeky, converting copy for clients, she’s mentoring other aspiring copywriters and creating digital copywriting resources designed for service pros and focused on taking the stress out of DIY copywriting.
