How Much to Tip Wedding Hair and Makeup Artists

Hair and makeup artists are some of the first vendors you’ll see on your wedding day. They show up early, work fast, and make you look like the best version of yourself before the chaos begins.

The beauty industry has its own tipping culture, and it carries over to weddings.

The amount

15-25% of the service cost, per artist.

If your hair costs $200 and makeup costs $150, you’re tipping:

• Hair stylist: $30-50
• Makeup artist: $22-37

For a bride paying $350 total for hair and makeup from two different artists, that’s roughly $50-85 in tips across both.

Yes, you tip even if they own the salon

This confuses people because the general rule for many industries is “don’t tip owners.” The beauty industry is different.

Salon culture has always included tipping the person who does your hair or makeup, regardless of whether they own the business or work for someone else. That norm applies to weddings too.

If your hair stylist owns her studio and personally did your hair, you still tip her. Same for makeup artists.

The 15-25% range applies to everyone.

Trial vs wedding day tipping

The trial: Tip 15-20% after your trial appointment. This is a normal salon visit and deserves a normal tip.

Wedding day: Tip 15-25% for the wedding day service. The higher end recognizes that they’re waking up early, traveling to you, working on a tight timeline, and dealing with wedding-day pressure.

You’re tipping twice: once for the trial, once for the wedding day. Both are separate services.

Tipping each artist separately

If you have one person doing hair and another doing makeup, tip them individually. Don’t give one person a lump sum and expect them to share.

Prepare two envelopes the night before:

• “Ashley - Hair” with $40 cash
• “Morgan - Makeup” with $35 cash

Hand each person their own envelope after they finish your service.

What about the bridal party?

Here’s where it gets logistically complicated.

If you’re paying for their services: You’re generally expected to tip on their behalf too. Budget 15-20% of whatever the bridesmaids’ services cost.

If they’re paying for themselves: They should tip the artist directly after their service. Make sure they know this ahead of time so they bring cash.

Mixed situation: You’re covering some people, others are paying themselves. Just make sure everyone knows who’s responsible for which tip.

For a bridal party of 5 bridesmaids at $100 each for hair, that’s $500 in services. If you’re covering their tips, budget $75-100 additional.

When to hand over the tip

After your personal services are complete. Once they finish your hair or makeup, that’s your moment. Hand them the envelope before they move on to the next person or start packing up.

Morning-of logistics tip: Have your envelopes ready in your getting-ready bag. Don’t scramble to find cash while wearing a robe with your hair half done.

Example math

You’re the bride. Hair is $225, makeup is $175, both from different artists. Four bridesmaids are also getting services at $80/hair and $60/makeup each, which you’re paying for.

Your services: ($225 + $175) × 20% = $80 in tips for yourself

Bridesmaid services: ($80 + $60) × 4 bridesmaids × 18% = $100 in tips for their services

Total beauty tips: $180

That might sound like a lot. But these artists are starting at 6am, working under time pressure, and you’ll have photos of their work forever. Worth it.

What if you need touch-ups?

Some hair and makeup artists stay for touch-ups before the ceremony. If they do, that’s usually part of their package. You don’t need to tip extra for it unless they stayed significantly longer than planned or went above and beyond.

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Calculating tips for hair, makeup, and all your other vendors? Our free calculator does the math.