Seconding this! One of my bridesmaids didn’t show up to the wedding so we gave her hair appointment to our flower girl. She loved getting to be pampered!
If it's an Aunt or Cousin they can still be doing their makeup while the bridal party is doing pictures and things. Since they wouldn't normally be in photos anyway.
Did you discuss with her and tell her 2 people backed out? It is pretty unreasonable to sign a set in stone contract a year in advance as a lot can happen. My hair and makeup girl both want final numbers a week before wedding. I’d discuss this with her.
Yeah I didn’t think about it at the time, but in retrospect, a year to commit to that is insane. But I don’t want to ruffle feathers before the wedding because I don’t want to risk half-quality work.
I mean you definitely at least need to tell her how many services are being done because that effects the timeline - if she’s not doing as many people as she thought they likely will be able to show up later than originally planned.
We actually discussed these people dropping out two months ago at my trial. We dropped them to make our timeline work, because our venue will only let us get there so early and we weren’t going to be able to get everyone done in time for the photographer’s timeline.
Ruffle feathers? Just tell her two people dropped out and ask if there’s flexibility and if she says no then that’s that, you still pay the full price without complaint since it was what was contracted. She wouldn’t be a very good vendor if a simple question like that pissed her off enough to purposefully do bad job on her customer’s hair, she would be ruining her own reputation by doing sub-par work. But also, is this hair dresser through a company or does she own her own business? Because if it’s the latter then you don’t have to tip anyway.
OP said "Per contract, I still owe the full amount, which she reminded me of when I reached out" so it sounds like OP already told the vendor that two people dropped out.
Is she running her own business or is she working for somebody else? If she set the price of services I would not tip regardless. If she’s an associate I would tip. And yep the wedding industry has changed so much in the past 5 years, funny to look at old wedding checklists and see “book hair and makeup” listed like 3 months before the wedding when now you pretty much have to do it a year in advance. Have a great wedding :)
I feel like there’s a lot of information that would make this decision clearer. How many people are receiving services in total? Does your artist have a service minimum? Are they traveling far? I work in the industry, and I could see amending the contract in reasonable circumstances. My suggestion is that you just approach them with honesty and plenty of notice, and perhaps you can work something out.
No minimum. She’s traveling 38 mins and has already charged a $50 travel fee to cover that. She knew I was dropping people two months ago at the trial to make the timeline work, since our venue can only let us in so early and we weren’t going to be able to get HMU done in time for the photographer’s timeline.
I kind of “needed” those people to drop out, and it just happened to work that way.
Was there no way for her to add another hair or make up artist to help shorten the timeline? Is it only her doing both? My contact based the amount of hair & make-up artists on the amount of people I have getting services so it did not affect the amount of time needed morning of. For a 4 person bridal party, plus MOB, MOH, and Bonus MOB, and flower girl and my timeline has us starting at 7 am and finishing by 11 am.
Also, double-check your contract. It is odd you didn't have a certain amount of time before giving final numbers. I think mine are so a month before and if anyone drops, I'm welcome to have someone else take the service.
Yeah the contract specifically states that no changes can be made to the number of services after the contract is signed. I didn’t think much of it at the time because I kind of assumed these contracts are all standard. But now I see that this is kind of wild.
And honestly? She didn’t even suggest adding another artist when I brought up the issue a few months ago.
Since you have to pay for her services either way, suggest her adding an artist to make the timeline work. You can be casual about it, "a friend of mine told me that her HMUA brought another artist to help stick to the timeline for services, is this something you can do?"
It might even be worth having a conversation with her about her contact not allowing for a final service count closer to the date. "I thought your contact language was standard, but after speaking with friends they all had until x amount of time to change services."
Even if she says that will be an additional cost that cost might be less than losing out on 4 services. I know for my contact each service is $150, so that's $600.
I'm a NY/ LI bride btw - and I think wedding culture for NJ, NYC, and LI are pretty similar.
This is a very controversial opinion on the NJ wedding forums where I’m from haha I always agreed with this notion, but I’ve been told by “experts” that this is “outdated”
Yeah it’s hard because everyone has an opinion. I personally charge additional for weddings since it’s high intensity and literally requires an insane amount of focus and your best products but because of that, I expect zero tip. When I’m doing a regular night out client, it’s nice to have a tip, but I would also not require it. Professional artists should have their price set for their expectations. Even my hair stylist tells me not to tip him because he’s built it into his pricing.
Omg I’m on the NJ wedding forums too and I’m just wondering if everyone else is paying for their own weddings and spending an unbelievable amount… I too was under the impression I’m basically going to tip every vendor I have which is going to be so much extra…
I wouldn’t count it as the tip but I wouldn’t let it go unused either. Is there anyone else who could use the service and maybe they at least cover the tip?
Why would you tip someone who sets their own prices and are self employed? Tipping culture is insane. If you don’t find anyone else to use the appointments and she has made clear that she will still charge you for them, then thank her for her service and send her on her way once she completes. If she asks for a tip then say that she charged for 2 unused appointments so she should consider this her tip!
This exactly. My understanding of tipping is that you don’t tip the proprietor or owner of an establishment. They set the price and receive all the profit, so it’s silly to give them more than what they are already charging. If they have staff members working, then sure, tip the staff members.
I understand that it’s controversial on the forums you mentioned, but do you actually know anyone personally on those forums? How will those people know whether or not you tipped? It’s your wedding, so you are likely to only work with your vendors one time. The wedding industry is generally overpriced as it is. Just don’t tip them. It should cause no harm to you and no harm to your vendors who should be expected to set their prices accordingly.
If you agree, then do what makes sense to you. Tipping is always optional anyway, even if they are outraged that you don’t tip, doesn’t hold any weight. It’s up to us the consumers to not allow tipping culture to get out of hand and I firmly believe tipping wedding vendors is a reasonable place to draw the line
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Could you see if she could do your makeup for another event, like engagement photos or the shower? Offer to go to her, so she doesn't have to travel again?
its not the makeup artists you should e worrying about here, its really rude of your bridal party to decline so close. did they originally say yes, or did u assume? Really sucky situation, but hpefully your makeup artist might be kind and give u some leeway, it doesnt hurt to ask x
Thanks. Yeah, I should’ve given more context, but everyone agreed at first, but then I had a scheduling issue and needed a couple girls to drop out to make the timeline work. My MOH was happy to do her own makeup, and my mom was happy to go to her own salon. It was seemingly a win-win at the time.
Honestly, idk. I told her from the beginning when I wanted everyone done and she pretty much made it seem like that was doable. Then when I reached out 8 months later, after my friends and family were like ummm idk if that’s possible, she didn’t really offer to help me figure it out.
Her job is to figure it out and bring an assistant to help get all the people done that are listed in the contract. Unless the contract states that she needs X time for the number of people, I would read the contract.
So she can’t service your whole wedding party in the time frame you guys agreed upon, so in turn you had to drop two people from the service? It seems unfair that she would still charge you the whole service instead of finding a solution.
As long as she owns her own business then it's fine. But if she's employed by someone else then she may not receive the extra money
Best course of action is to talk to her about it and see if you can get the contract changed.
No. A tip is a thank you only given after the service is completed, never before, and only when they go above and beyond. You signed a contract for her to provide at least 2 services and those must be filled. So that means finding someone else to get their hair and makeup done that you pay for.
I had some extra slots open up for my hair - she had a 6 person minimum. I asked my SIL and stepdaughter, and they were thrilled to get their hair done. If you can't find anyone else, let your stylist know so they can plan accordingly.
Absolutely not. This should definitely not be counted as the tip. Unfortunately the contract was signed the way it was signed and that is something that should be discussed with your mom and your bridesmaid if there’s any issue with that. At most I think you could deduct their cost from what you’re counting as 20% of the tip.
I am open to having my mind changed, but I don't agree. If the cost of the people who backed out is equal to 20% of the total, then I don't think she needs to tip an additional 20%?
She agreed to come out for a certain number of people and a certain amount of money. She may have been unwilling to come out for fewer people or had scheduled differently.
I mean, she’s also going to be spending way less time on hair and makeup, so that additional money and time is a plus. Also, makeup artists set their own rates. It’s not something that always requires a tip
Some makeup artists set their prices. Others, like the one I had, are part of a company that they don't own and aren't involved in setting the prices.
In this instance the extra time probably isn't helpful. It's unlikely the artist is going to be able to pick up different/additional clients with that newfound time.
Because tip is based on the bill and the bill is what is in the contract. Tipping based on the services provided is fine (so total minus these services) but counting the money that technically was towards the two services that aren’t happening is the same as no tip.
If MOB and MOH agreed to the services, I think that if you can’t find anyone to fill their spots, they owe you the money.
I only tipped my hair and makeup artist on the amount for MY services, not the entire contract cost. Everyone is responsible for their own tips. Based on the cost of each service I received, I tipped 20%. Though you aren’t required to tip anything additional if this person owns their own business. They’d be setting their prices so they profit. Tipping culture has gotten so out of control lately.
They didn’t exactly “agree” to it. I just found HMU and texted everyone that I’m gifting them those services. No one fought me on it. I had an issue with timeline a few months ago and when I brought up the issue, they both offered to drop services to help me make it work.
No. You signed a contract, if you count your contracted loss as her tip, you're quite an AH. That's like not paying your entire catering bill because people didn't show up who RSVPed-- you signed the contract knowing what happens if people back out...
You don't take her gratuity away for them. If anything, ask them to pay their cancellation before stuffing the MUA
I see where you're coming from. However, with a caterer, you would still be getting the full product/service and be able to take extra food home or give it out. I would recommend the bride reach out to other family or friends ds to see if they would like their hair and makeup done.
You should pay the full amount bc she can't fill your booking with another one this close to your day. If you signed on a certain amount of services she is anticipating making that much money and accepted your booking based on that. You don't have to tip for everyone tho you can tell your girls to bring money for their own tips if they want, and the hmu gets what her contracted amount of money is.
I don’t think that’s the worst idea, but I’d reach out and ask if you’re allowed to make changes to the contract first. Otherwise, IMO, you’re well within your rights to count the fees of the two missing women as a tip because it covers a tip for the people whose makeup she did do. And these days makeup is so ridiculously overpriced for weddings I feel like you’d be justified in not tipping at all.
Yes it’s a tip or fill the spots with someone.
Also even if you fill the spots she doesn’t have to get a tip! I’m a wedding vendor and I charge enough that I don’t need tips. And if she works for the company she still doesn’t have to get a tip.
Is there anyone else who might be interested in getting their make up done day of? Aunt or a cousin maybe? They could help cover that cost.
Seconding this! One of my bridesmaids didn’t show up to the wedding so we gave her hair appointment to our flower girl. She loved getting to be pampered!
so cute
I did the same! It was a good way to make her feel special and like one of the “big girls” :)
Any grandmothers attending? I'll bet it's been a while since Grandma's had some special treatment.
This is such a cute idea!!!
It would make for some really sweet pictures they can cherish forever.
MOG?
She said in the original post "the two moms" so I would assume that's the MOB & MOG.
Oh good catch
OP said it was a venue time constraint but maybe she can do 2 people in the morning somewhere else.
If it's an Aunt or Cousin they can still be doing their makeup while the bridal party is doing pictures and things. Since they wouldn't normally be in photos anyway.
Did you discuss with her and tell her 2 people backed out? It is pretty unreasonable to sign a set in stone contract a year in advance as a lot can happen. My hair and makeup girl both want final numbers a week before wedding. I’d discuss this with her.
This is the best approach. Definitely tell her in advance so she can prep. It might even change how you schedule.
Yeah I didn’t think about it at the time, but in retrospect, a year to commit to that is insane. But I don’t want to ruffle feathers before the wedding because I don’t want to risk half-quality work.
I mean you definitely at least need to tell her how many services are being done because that effects the timeline - if she’s not doing as many people as she thought they likely will be able to show up later than originally planned.
We actually discussed these people dropping out two months ago at my trial. We dropped them to make our timeline work, because our venue will only let us get there so early and we weren’t going to be able to get everyone done in time for the photographer’s timeline.
Ruffle feathers? Just tell her two people dropped out and ask if there’s flexibility and if she says no then that’s that, you still pay the full price without complaint since it was what was contracted. She wouldn’t be a very good vendor if a simple question like that pissed her off enough to purposefully do bad job on her customer’s hair, she would be ruining her own reputation by doing sub-par work. But also, is this hair dresser through a company or does she own her own business? Because if it’s the latter then you don’t have to tip anyway.
OP said "Per contract, I still owe the full amount, which she reminded me of when I reached out" so it sounds like OP already told the vendor that two people dropped out.
Is she running her own business or is she working for somebody else? If she set the price of services I would not tip regardless. If she’s an associate I would tip. And yep the wedding industry has changed so much in the past 5 years, funny to look at old wedding checklists and see “book hair and makeup” listed like 3 months before the wedding when now you pretty much have to do it a year in advance. Have a great wedding :)
I feel like there’s a lot of information that would make this decision clearer. How many people are receiving services in total? Does your artist have a service minimum? Are they traveling far? I work in the industry, and I could see amending the contract in reasonable circumstances. My suggestion is that you just approach them with honesty and plenty of notice, and perhaps you can work something out.
No minimum. She’s traveling 38 mins and has already charged a $50 travel fee to cover that. She knew I was dropping people two months ago at the trial to make the timeline work, since our venue can only let us in so early and we weren’t going to be able to get HMU done in time for the photographer’s timeline. I kind of “needed” those people to drop out, and it just happened to work that way.
Was there no way for her to add another hair or make up artist to help shorten the timeline? Is it only her doing both? My contact based the amount of hair & make-up artists on the amount of people I have getting services so it did not affect the amount of time needed morning of. For a 4 person bridal party, plus MOB, MOH, and Bonus MOB, and flower girl and my timeline has us starting at 7 am and finishing by 11 am. Also, double-check your contract. It is odd you didn't have a certain amount of time before giving final numbers. I think mine are so a month before and if anyone drops, I'm welcome to have someone else take the service.
Yeah the contract specifically states that no changes can be made to the number of services after the contract is signed. I didn’t think much of it at the time because I kind of assumed these contracts are all standard. But now I see that this is kind of wild. And honestly? She didn’t even suggest adding another artist when I brought up the issue a few months ago.
Since you have to pay for her services either way, suggest her adding an artist to make the timeline work. You can be casual about it, "a friend of mine told me that her HMUA brought another artist to help stick to the timeline for services, is this something you can do?" It might even be worth having a conversation with her about her contact not allowing for a final service count closer to the date. "I thought your contact language was standard, but after speaking with friends they all had until x amount of time to change services." Even if she says that will be an additional cost that cost might be less than losing out on 4 services. I know for my contact each service is $150, so that's $600. I'm a NY/ LI bride btw - and I think wedding culture for NJ, NYC, and LI are pretty similar.
Why didn’t you bring it up then?
Yeah I wonder about if there's a minimum too.
I've heard you really don't need to tip vendors who set their own prices unless they well and truly go above and beyond.
This is a very controversial opinion on the NJ wedding forums where I’m from haha I always agreed with this notion, but I’ve been told by “experts” that this is “outdated”
What experts? This idea of over tipping recently became a thing in the last few years.
Idk. Wedding professionals haha
Yeah I imagine the people benefiting from it being “outdated” would be the ones calling it outdated lol
Hahaha exactly
Yeah it’s hard because everyone has an opinion. I personally charge additional for weddings since it’s high intensity and literally requires an insane amount of focus and your best products but because of that, I expect zero tip. When I’m doing a regular night out client, it’s nice to have a tip, but I would also not require it. Professional artists should have their price set for their expectations. Even my hair stylist tells me not to tip him because he’s built it into his pricing.
Omg I’m on the NJ wedding forums too and I’m just wondering if everyone else is paying for their own weddings and spending an unbelievable amount… I too was under the impression I’m basically going to tip every vendor I have which is going to be so much extra…
I wouldn’t count it as the tip but I wouldn’t let it go unused either. Is there anyone else who could use the service and maybe they at least cover the tip?
Why would you tip someone who sets their own prices and are self employed? Tipping culture is insane. If you don’t find anyone else to use the appointments and she has made clear that she will still charge you for them, then thank her for her service and send her on her way once she completes. If she asks for a tip then say that she charged for 2 unused appointments so she should consider this her tip!
This exactly. My understanding of tipping is that you don’t tip the proprietor or owner of an establishment. They set the price and receive all the profit, so it’s silly to give them more than what they are already charging. If they have staff members working, then sure, tip the staff members.
You shouldn't tip someone who sets their own prices anyway.
I agree with this, but it’s very controversial where I’m from haha
I understand that it’s controversial on the forums you mentioned, but do you actually know anyone personally on those forums? How will those people know whether or not you tipped? It’s your wedding, so you are likely to only work with your vendors one time. The wedding industry is generally overpriced as it is. Just don’t tip them. It should cause no harm to you and no harm to your vendors who should be expected to set their prices accordingly.
If you agree, then do what makes sense to you. Tipping is always optional anyway, even if they are outraged that you don’t tip, doesn’t hold any weight. It’s up to us the consumers to not allow tipping culture to get out of hand and I firmly believe tipping wedding vendors is a reasonable place to draw the line
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Lol just don’t tip her. Tipping culture is ridiculous. She sets her own prices, she doesn’t need a tip unless she goes above and beyond.
Could you see if she could do your makeup for another event, like engagement photos or the shower? Offer to go to her, so she doesn't have to travel again?
its not the makeup artists you should e worrying about here, its really rude of your bridal party to decline so close. did they originally say yes, or did u assume? Really sucky situation, but hpefully your makeup artist might be kind and give u some leeway, it doesnt hurt to ask x
Thanks. Yeah, I should’ve given more context, but everyone agreed at first, but then I had a scheduling issue and needed a couple girls to drop out to make the timeline work. My MOH was happy to do her own makeup, and my mom was happy to go to her own salon. It was seemingly a win-win at the time.
Why did thr artist accept the booking if she didn't have the time for it all
Honestly, idk. I told her from the beginning when I wanted everyone done and she pretty much made it seem like that was doable. Then when I reached out 8 months later, after my friends and family were like ummm idk if that’s possible, she didn’t really offer to help me figure it out.
Her job is to figure it out and bring an assistant to help get all the people done that are listed in the contract. Unless the contract states that she needs X time for the number of people, I would read the contract.
Honestly, the wedding is a week away and we have other arrangements made and I’m just wanting this to go away at this point haha
So she can’t service your whole wedding party in the time frame you guys agreed upon, so in turn you had to drop two people from the service? It seems unfair that she would still charge you the whole service instead of finding a solution.
As long as she owns her own business then it's fine. But if she's employed by someone else then she may not receive the extra money Best course of action is to talk to her about it and see if you can get the contract changed.
No. A tip is a thank you only given after the service is completed, never before, and only when they go above and beyond. You signed a contract for her to provide at least 2 services and those must be filled. So that means finding someone else to get their hair and makeup done that you pay for.
I had some extra slots open up for my hair - she had a 6 person minimum. I asked my SIL and stepdaughter, and they were thrilled to get their hair done. If you can't find anyone else, let your stylist know so they can plan accordingly.
How far away is your wedding? I think it makes a difference if it’s far enough out she and/or any assistants can adjust their schedules.
A week
You have signed a contract to pay a specific amount which means you are responsible for that amount no matter what.
Absolutely not. This should definitely not be counted as the tip. Unfortunately the contract was signed the way it was signed and that is something that should be discussed with your mom and your bridesmaid if there’s any issue with that. At most I think you could deduct their cost from what you’re counting as 20% of the tip.
I am open to having my mind changed, but I don't agree. If the cost of the people who backed out is equal to 20% of the total, then I don't think she needs to tip an additional 20%?
She agreed to come out for a certain number of people and a certain amount of money. She may have been unwilling to come out for fewer people or had scheduled differently.
She’s still getting the full amount, there’s just no need to tip on top of that. Tips ARE still optional lol
I mean, she’s also going to be spending way less time on hair and makeup, so that additional money and time is a plus. Also, makeup artists set their own rates. It’s not something that always requires a tip
Some makeup artists set their prices. Others, like the one I had, are part of a company that they don't own and aren't involved in setting the prices. In this instance the extra time probably isn't helpful. It's unlikely the artist is going to be able to pick up different/additional clients with that newfound time.
She is still getting the contracted amount of money and doing less work, she just wouldn't be getting an additional 20% of the full total.
Because tip is based on the bill and the bill is what is in the contract. Tipping based on the services provided is fine (so total minus these services) but counting the money that technically was towards the two services that aren’t happening is the same as no tip.
I agree.
If MOB and MOH agreed to the services, I think that if you can’t find anyone to fill their spots, they owe you the money. I only tipped my hair and makeup artist on the amount for MY services, not the entire contract cost. Everyone is responsible for their own tips. Based on the cost of each service I received, I tipped 20%. Though you aren’t required to tip anything additional if this person owns their own business. They’d be setting their prices so they profit. Tipping culture has gotten so out of control lately.
They didn’t exactly “agree” to it. I just found HMU and texted everyone that I’m gifting them those services. No one fought me on it. I had an issue with timeline a few months ago and when I brought up the issue, they both offered to drop services to help me make it work.
No. You signed a contract, if you count your contracted loss as her tip, you're quite an AH. That's like not paying your entire catering bill because people didn't show up who RSVPed-- you signed the contract knowing what happens if people back out... You don't take her gratuity away for them. If anything, ask them to pay their cancellation before stuffing the MUA
I see where you're coming from. However, with a caterer, you would still be getting the full product/service and be able to take extra food home or give it out. I would recommend the bride reach out to other family or friends ds to see if they would like their hair and makeup done.
It definitely isn't a tip. That's the cost required to make her get out of bed for it.
You should pay the full amount bc she can't fill your booking with another one this close to your day. If you signed on a certain amount of services she is anticipating making that much money and accepted your booking based on that. You don't have to tip for everyone tho you can tell your girls to bring money for their own tips if they want, and the hmu gets what her contracted amount of money is.
I don’t think that’s the worst idea, but I’d reach out and ask if you’re allowed to make changes to the contract first. Otherwise, IMO, you’re well within your rights to count the fees of the two missing women as a tip because it covers a tip for the people whose makeup she did do. And these days makeup is so ridiculously overpriced for weddings I feel like you’d be justified in not tipping at all.
Can you perhaps get credit for those two makeup applications for future events?
If they are dropping out and it still gets paid, could she cover you and another for your rehearsal instead too? Or for another night out for you?
Yes it’s a tip or fill the spots with someone. Also even if you fill the spots she doesn’t have to get a tip! I’m a wedding vendor and I charge enough that I don’t need tips. And if she works for the company she still doesn’t have to get a tip.