Should I Do My Own Wedding Makeup? | Honest Advice From A Wedding Photographer

Doing your own wedding makeup can work brilliantly, but I would not recommend it to everyone.

If you already do your makeup confidently, know exactly what suits you and can recreate the same look without repeatedly changing your mind, doing it yourself may feel more comfortable than handing the job to somebody else.

For most people, however, a wedding morning is not the ideal time to learn a new technique or add another important job to the list. There are more interruptions, more pressure and a definite time by which you have to stop.

That does not mean everyone needs professional makeup for their photographs. They don’t. The strongest reason to book a makeup artist is not that they will make you look “better”. It is that they take responsibility for one part of the morning and allow you to concentrate on everything else happening around you.

I am not a makeup artist, so I cannot tell you which products to use or what will suit your skin. What I can offer is practical advice based on photographing more than 500 wedding mornings and seeing both professional and DIY makeup work, as well as occasionally cause unnecessary stress.

Doing your makeup at home on an ordinary morning is very different from doing it while a ceremony, venue and room full of guests are waiting for you.

There are more people around, more interruptions and a definite time by which you need to stop. You may also feel more nervous than you expected.

I once photographed a wedding where the bride was doing her own makeup. Her ability was not the problem. She simply reached a point where she could no longer decide whether it was finished.

The ceremony was due to begin at 1pm. At 1:20pm, she still was not in her dress and the registrars were waiting outside the room.

The makeup itself looked perfectly fine. The pressure made it almost impossible for her to stop changing it.

That is the more useful question to ask yourself. It is not simply, “Can I do my own makeup?” It is, “Can I decide it is finished when I am nervous, distracted and working to a deadline?”

A good wedding makeup artist removes that decision from you. You sit down, they take responsibility for that part of the morning and you are free to talk to the people around you instead of watching the clock while trying to perfect your eyeliner.

Before booking anyone, ask how long they allow for each person, when they expect your makeup to be finished and whether they build any breathing room into the schedule.

Not automatically.

A camera does not require heavy foundation, false lashes or a full bridal-glam look. If you normally wear very little makeup and still want to look like yourself, that is completely reasonable.

I have photographed people who did their own wedding makeup beautifully. I have also seen professionally applied makeup need attention later in the day. Paying somebody does not make every possible problem disappear.

What helps photographically is consistency. You want the colour to look right in natural daylight, the makeup to last for a reasonable amount of time and the finished result to feel like you.

If you are testing your own look, check it beside a window and outside rather than judging everything beneath warm bathroom or hotel lighting. Take a photograph in daylight and another using flash.

You are not searching for tiny flaws that nobody else will notice. You are simply checking that the colour and overall finish still look how you expected them to look.

If your bigger concern is not the makeup but how you will feel when the camera appears, my advice for couples who feel awkward in wedding photos will probably be more useful.

Neither option is automatically right. Confidence, preparation and the kind of morning you want matter far more than the size or formality of the wedding.

• You regularly create the same look and know which products work for you.
• You prefer very little makeup or dislike other people working on your face.
• You can complete the look without continually changing it.
• You have carried out a complete, timed practice run.
• You are only responsible for your own makeup.
• Doing it yourself would genuinely make you feel more relaxed.

• You want a look that is very different from anything you normally do.
• You intend to use unfamiliar products or techniques.
• Makeup is something you tend to overthink.
• Several people need their makeup done within a tight schedule.
• You expect to be interrupted throughout the morning.
• You would rather sit down and enjoy the experience than manage another job.

If you rarely wear makeup, hiring a professional does not mean you have to look dramatically different. Look for an artist whose work suits you and explain honestly how you normally like to look.

A trial should help you establish whether you feel comfortable and recognisable. It should not simply demonstrate the most elaborate look an artist can create.

Do not just practise the finished look. Practise the whole process.

Use the same products, brushes, mirror and tools you intend to use on the wedding morning. Time yourself from a completely bare face until everything is packed away and you are ready to get dressed.

Then add a genuine buffer. Your practice run probably will not include suppliers arriving, people asking questions or somebody searching the room for a missing earring.

Wear the makeup for a full day and check it in natural light several hours later. Prepare a small touch-up kit and give it to somebody who will know where it is when you need it.

It also helps to decide on a firm finishing time. Ask someone you trust to keep an eye on the clock and tell you when it is time to move on.

Choose your preparation space deliberately too. Look for clear natural light, a comfortable mirror and enough room to lay everything out. The nearest dressing table is not always the best place to work.

You do not need to make the room look like a catalogue, but trying to apply makeup in a dark corner surrounded by bags, drinks and half the wedding party makes the job harder than it needs to be.

There is no universal time by which makeup must be finished because ceremonies, travel times and preparation locations are different.

Work backwards from when you need to leave or meet the registrar. Allow time to get dressed, put on jewellery and shoes, use the bathroom and deal with anything unexpected.

Ideally, you should also have a few minutes when nothing needs doing.

When makeup runs late, the photographs affected are not simply pictures of makeup being applied. The delay squeezes everything that follows, including getting into the dress or outfit, reactions from the people closest to you and the small unscripted moments that happen once you are ready.

Those moments are often far more meaningful than another twenty photographs of somebody holding a makeup brush.

It is still your wedding morning, not a photoshoot. The aim is not to construct a perfect preparation schedule for the photographer. It is to give you enough space to enjoy that part of the day without feeling as though you are already falling behind.

If you are deciding whether morning preparations should be included at all, I have also explained whether you need a wedding photographer for the whole day.

Do your own wedding makeup if it is familiar, practised and likely to make you feel more comfortable.

Hire a professional if doing it yourself would involve learning a new skill, managing several people or carrying another source of pressure on an already emotional morning.

There is no special prize for doing everything yourself, and there is no photographic rule saying you must pay for professional makeup.

It is your face, your wedding and your money. Choose the option that allows you to recognise yourself and remain present for the morning instead of spending it worrying about whether something needs one more adjustment.

If you want your wedding morning documented without turning it into a staged beauty shoot, look through some of my real weddings to see how those preparations fit into the wider story.

If that feels like the approach you are looking for, you can check my availability below.