Bridesmaids make up

I let them decide what they wanted their gift to be (i was going to pay one or the other) makeup or hair. and they all said hair, so they are all doing their own makeup. I honestly dont have a preference on their makeup cause at the end of the day the photographer is taking pics of me and FH so im not too concerned with them. (as bad as that sounds) Atleast hair will all match so thats what i care most for anyway.

I let my bridesmaids decide. None of them wanted to get their make up done. I'm fine with that. I think you can set some guidelines if you want (ie subtle) but I think the most important thing is to have bridesmaids who are comfortable with how they look that day!

Half of my girls are having theirs done, for the same reason. We are covering half the cost for hair and make-up. I'm thinking about buying them a lipstick so that their looks are sort of uniform. You could do this also?

I let mine decide as I didn't want to push it on them. I offered to pay for a portion of their dresses so I asked them if they wanted to do their own or have it professionally done. If they wanted their's professionally done I would offer to pay for that or a portion of their dresses, I couldn't do both as I can't afford it. Both asked me to cover a portion of their dress. I did go over budget with them as they would be paying for it themselves and I didn't want to book something and realize it was way over their budget.

Thank you everyone for the advise, I think I'm just going to let them decide. Give them a picture of what I'm doing and then leave it up to them to complement.

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I think this advice sounds very practical!

I will be paying for my bridesmaids makeup in order to ensure someone doesn’t get too “creative”. Maybe pay for the girls where the budget is too tight as their gift?!?

I left it up to my bridesmaids if they wanted their makeup done professionally but I did request for them to get their hair done. Since I requesting it, I am paying for the hair. Maybe if you split the costs with them since you want them to have it done?

I suck at makeup so it was definitely a choice for me to get it professionally done. I gave her info to my bridesmaids and mother and mother-in-law and they all chose to go with her. If any of them wanted to do their own makeup, I was totally ok with that too. Standing in a wedding can get crazy expensive and I felt bad asking them to all pay for both hair and make-up, so I let everyone decide for themselves what they wanted to do.

I think it's best if you just let them do their own make up and just give them an idea of how you would want it to look.

My girls decided to do their own and I'm not picky so what ever they would normally wear their make up is good for me. Hair wise, I offer that i can curl their hairs.

Rule of thumb:

If you are requiring them all to wear professional make up, I would pay for it.

If you are NOT requiring it, but have provided them the information of getting it done, its up to them to pay for it.

I am getting my hair and make up professional done. As my thank you gift to the girls, I am paying for their hair to be done.

But it's up to them to get the make up done. They can use my girl, I gave them all the price and it was up to them. Three girls are doing it, one is not, and that's okay!

If I decide on professional makeup then I'll be paying to get it done for all of us. If I decide against I may just buy them all the eye colour and lip colour that I want them to wear. That way we can all do it together, help each other out and not have to wait to get it done one by one like our hair.

I offered the option for hair and makeup to my bridesmaids, knowing it was also about budget for them so it was 100$ p/p and I offered half as part if their gifts.
My niece and daughter are doing their own hair so I paid for my nieces makeup and my daughter is doing her own as well.

Some hard choices for sure sometimes.
Hope it all works out.

I've heard of some brides paying for the bridesmaid's make up so they all got it professionally done, but if you don't want to add that expense for you, and they really don't want to pay, you could get a good setting spray for them if you are concerned about longevity.

Some people are pretty skilled at doing their own makeup so I wouldn’t force someone to if they felt that strongly about it but I am paying for my bridal parties makeup. It’s $50 with lashes and I think most of my girls will appreciate it since most of them need help in the makeup area lol we’re not as skilled as some ladies are. Depending how expensive it is I can understand why they wouldn’t want to as I’ve been in a few weddings myself but personally I think it’s worth it!

For my cousins wedding, I did everyone's make-up (I was one of the bridesmaids), minus the bride. It kept application, colours, and amount of make-up consistent, and it didn't cost her a dime.

Usually there is someone, friend or family, who is talented in the make-up department, perhaps they can help/gift it to you/or charge a very small amount that you could cover?

Overall, unless you were up front from the beginning about what you expected from them, I don't think you should expect the girls to pay for professional make-up. It's not part of the norm, and those that include it, it's usually a gift from the bride. If you haven't gotten them gifts yet, perhaps think about doing that if it's important to you.

You could totally pay for them or just let them do their own thing. I was thinking about this as well but decided just to let it go. Some people are very particular about how makeup is applied to their faces and some don't like to wear much at all. Let them do their own makeup if it's not really their thing.

Exactly what Becky said! I’ve been thinking about this too a lot because it’s a big expense to expect from your bridesmaids and in this day and age, I feel like it’s more common to let bridesmaids opt out of professionally doing their hair, makeup, and nails.

Did you give them a price range of what it would cost? Are you doing gifts for them to say thank you? You could always pay for it this way you get what you want as well. Also, how much have there dresses, shoes, and any other requirements been? I made it clear when I asked everyone that these would be all things mandatory and I would let them now prices. This way they new it was expected of them.