The formula
Hair and makeup is the one part of the day that runs in parallel lanes: each artist works on one person at a time. So the time it takes is:
rounds × minutes per person, where rounds = people ÷ artists, rounded up.
Then round up to the next 15 minutes, because real mornings never land on the minute. The timeline generator does this automatically and places the block backwards from your departure time.
A few consequences are worth knowing before you book:
- Six people with two artists take the same time as five. Both are three rounds. A seventh person adds a whole round.
- A second artist halves the morning. Five people with one artist is five rounds — 3 h 45 min at 45 minutes each, which pushes a 4 pm wedding’s start to about 10:40 am.
- One slow person sets the pace. If the person getting married needs 90 minutes, that round is 90 minutes for their artist.
Worked example: 4 pm ceremony, six people, two artists
Inputs: 6 people at 45 minutes each, 2 artists, a 20-minute drive, standard buffers, no first look. Counting back from the ceremony:
| Time | Step |
|---|---|
| 4:00 pm | Ceremony |
| 3:45 pm | Arrive, wait out of sight (15 min) |
| 3:20 pm | Leave (25 min: 20-minute drive + padding) |
| 3:10 pm | Breathing room before leaving (10 min) |
| 2:40 pm | Get dressed (30 min) |
| 2:25 pm | Touch-ups, a snack, breathing room (15 min) |
| 12:10 pm | Hair & makeup starts: 3 rounds × 45 min = 2 h 15 min |
| about 11:45 am | Artists arrive and set up |
| 1:55 pm | Photographer arrives for detail photos |
The photographer comes for the last half hour of hair and makeup and the getting-dressed moments — not the whole morning.
What changes with a first look
With a first look, portraits, wedding party and family photos move before the ceremony, and the couple must be tucked away 30 minutes before guests arrive. For the same 4 pm ceremony the whole block moves to 10:25 am. That’s still a reasonable morning, but for a 2 pm ceremony it means starting around 8:30 am. Compare both days in first look vs no first look.
What changes with a longer drive
Every minute of travel moves the morning earlier, plus padding: the planner adds 20 % by default (relaxed buffers: 30 %). A 45-minute drive becomes 55 minutes and starts hair and makeup 30 minutes earlier than the 20-minute example.
Who goes when
A running order that works for most bridal parties:
- Mothers and grandmothers first — they often want to be ready early to greet family and help.
- Attendants in the middle.
- The person getting married second to last, so the look is fresh for photos.
- The last attendant, while the first artist does final touches.
- Touch-ups for everyone just before getting dressed.
Ask your artists whether they prefer hair first or makeup first; some split the work so one does hair and the other makeup, which changes the rounds but not the total much.
Time per person: ask, don’t guess
There is no standard time; it depends on the artist, hair length and thickness, and the style. Use numbers your artists give you. As a planning default, the tool assumes 45 minutes per person for hair and makeup combined, and you can raise it (the person getting married often takes 60–90 minutes). If your artists quote separately for hair and for makeup with one person doing both, add the two times.
The morning around hair and makeup
Hair and makeup isn’t the only thing happening:
- Food and water. Schedule a proper snack in the buffer before getting dressed; nobody eats again until cocktail hour.
- Details box. Rings, invitation, shoes, jewellery, vow books in one place for the photographer.
- Partner B. Usually gets ready in an hour somewhere else — but a single photographer can’t be in two places. Ask about a second shooter, or let the photographer visit the other suite first.
- Light. A window and natural light make getting-ready photos; ask the hotel or venue for a room that has both.
When the morning runs late
Hair and makeup is the most common reason a wedding day runs late, and lateness compounds: a 20-minute delay here becomes a late departure, a rushed arrival and a shorter cocktail hour. Protect the morning:
- Start on time, not “around”. Give everyone a written slot, and have the first person ready with clean, dry hair if the artist asks for it.
- Keep the buffer sacred. The 15 minutes between finishing and getting dressed absorbs overruns; don’t schedule anything else in it.
- Have a touch-up kit. Lipstick, powder, blotting papers and pins go with the coordinator or a bridesmaid for the rest of the day; the planner schedules a touch-up just before the ceremony.
- Trial runs tell you the real time. Time the trial; if the artist takes 70 minutes on you, plan 70, not the 45-minute default.
If the timeline shows hair and makeup starting before 6 am, the planner warns you: add an artist, trim the number of people, or move the ceremony later. An extra artist for a few hours usually costs less than the stress of a 5 am start.
Put it in your timeline
Enter people, minutes and artists in the timeline generator and the block moves as you change anything else — ceremony time, travel, a first look. The hair and makeup run sheet gives your artists their start time, the touch-up slot before the ceremony and the venue. For whole-day examples see the wedding day timeline examples, or start from a 4 pm ceremony timeline.