True Grace Makeup

Articulated beautifully please keep this in mind as you choose your vendors!
Xo

A perspective shift on "reasonable" bridal rates.

I keep seeing posts asking for a “reasonable” bridal makeup artist and at this point, it’s not about pricing, it’s about expectations.

Bridal makeup is a luxury service. Full stop.

You are asking a professional to give up their weekends, travel to you, bring a kit worth thousands of dollars, maintain strict sanitation standards, communicate with you for months, and deliver flawless, reliable results on one of the most important days of your life.

And somehow, the expectation is that this should be cheap?

You cannot walk into a store and buy the products required for a full face skin prep, complexion, eyes, lashes, tools for what some people expect to pay an artist. That alone should put things into perspective.

On top of that, you’re paying for a legitimate business not a hobby. That includes licensing, insurance, taxes (which are significantly higher for self-employed individuals), continuing education, overhead for a space, years of experience, and more.

If a professional artist is out of your budget, that’s okay but that does not mean the industry is overpriced.

It means you need to adjust your expectations.

Because at the end of the day, lower prices don’t mean the same standards and that’s the trade off.

It’s interesting that many will spend $2,000+ on a dress they’ll wear for five hours, yet belittle the rates of the artist responsible for how they look in every single photo. Please put things into perspective before you devalue a professional's career. If you want the luxury of a professional, you have to pay the professional rate.

Respect the profession, or be honest about what you’re actually asking for.

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Wedding tipping is a source of confusion for many couples—and according to leading event planners, that's a sign of a larger problem. We asked the pros to weigh in on who to tip and whether tipping culture is our of control.

Read more about the state of wedding gratuities at the link in the comments. 👇️

The once-simple request of "Will you be my bridesmaid?" has metastasized into destination accommodations, $800 gowns, and multiple showers. Annie Joy Williams on the inflation of the bridesmaid economy: https://theatln.tc/CLmgKLvz (From 2025)

Our beauty ❤️

Wondering how much wedding hair and makeup costs? We asked the experts to break down the average price points, plus they reveal the factors that affect the total bill and identify additional costs to budget for.

See the link below. ⬇️

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An iconic picture 😂 #dog #newyork #samoyed #puppy #nyc #subway

Our sweet Emily ❤️

In 2019, the dressmaker Sergio Guadarrama was cast on “Project Runway.” The appearance backfired; he came across as a villain, and dress orders for his business plummeted. He decided to move upstate with his business partner and fiancé, Kade Johnson, and begin again—right as the pandemic all but shut down the bridal industry. Business tanked. In 2022, a saleswoman from the Knot called Guadarrama, in response to a form he’d filled out online. If he signed up for a premium advertising package, she said, he could expect between 80 and 240 brides to contact him each month. Johnson thought this sounded implausible, but, despite his misgivings, the couple signed a yearlong advertising contract with the Knot, for $5,800. “We were looking at the Knot as a beacon of hope,” Johnson said. “And it was the complete opposite.” Guadarrama added, “The Knot was, like, the final nail in the coffin.”

After signing up, Guadarrama and Johnson sent their first payment to the Knot. They got 15 leads, but a month went by with no responses. One afternoon, Guadarrama called the phone number listed on a lead. He said that the woman who picked up told him, “I never signed up for the Knot! I’m not even getting married. Who are you?” Guadarrama tried to cancel his contract, but the company refused to let him out of his yearlong commitment. So he closed his bank account to prevent them from continuing to withdraw payments.

More than 20 wedding venders who advertise with the Knot told Adam Iscoe that they’ve received inquiries from what they believe are fake brides. Iscoe also spoke with dozens of current and former employees of the company to better understand the venders’ claims. One former saleswoman put it bluntly: “We fu**ed over venders.” (“We strongly dispute these claims,” a spokeswoman for the Knot said.) Is the popular wedding website sending venders fake leads? Read Iscoe’s report: https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/QoQnUE

Our brides are the sweetest ❤️