I’ll never forget the first wedding season I booked 60 weddings—in one year. 

*Checks math*

Yes, there are only 52 Saturdays in a year! For a few years, I had multiple weekends where I did 2 or even 3 weddings in a row! It was a lot, but as I grew, I started to increase my rates so that I could make the same amount of money—without killing myself!

Now that I’ve been doing this for 14 years (holy cow, my HMU business is a teenager!), I want to encourage other bridal stylists who might be in those beginning stages trying to figure out how to grow their business, so they fill their calendars with brides they’re excited to serve.

5 tips to help you book more weddings as a bridal stylist in 2023:

1. Position yourself as an honorary bridesmaid
   • The way in which you communicate with your inquiring brides is enough for a Bride to say, “Yes girl I want you on my glam squad team” or “I don’t want that kind of energy on my wedding day.”   
   • When a bride first inquires with you regarding your services for her wedding day, think about the vibe she gets in that first point of contact. Are you too casual and borderline unenthusiastic about the day she has been dreaming about since she was a little girl? Are you clear and timely with your communication? Are you professional and reassuring? Do you set her at ease knowing that if she books with you, she will be in the best hands not only on her wedding day but in all the “in-between” time as she waits for her day to arrive?
   • Review and reflect on how you communicate with your inquiring brides. The language you use should position you as the best decision she could make for herself and her bridal party for her wedding day. 

2. Add value to better serve your brides and set yourself apart from other stylists
   • Offer additional services that go above and beyond just your typical makeup application or hair styling services. Think about what are some things that a bride might need that if you didn’t offer the service she would have to go somewhere else, or find someone else to provide the service for her giving her another thing on her to-do list before her big day. 
   • For example, if you offer hair styling, you could also offer a blowout the morning of the wedding or the night before for the rehearsal dinner. You could offer to provide the bride with clip-in hair extensions for her big day (taking one less thing off her plate to go and do, you include the clip-in extensions for her wedding day). 
   • If you offer makeup, you could include a touch-up kit for each of your clients. You could offer tattoo coverage or a special décolleté enhancement. Is there a skin hydration mask or treatment you can do for the bride on the morning of? 
   • Comprise a list of “other services I offer” list that you could include in the email you send to your bride after she inquires with you. 

3. Build relationships and rapport with every wedding vendor
   • Picture this. You are curling the bride’s hair on her wedding day in preparation for a beautiful updo. The wedding photographer and videographer walk in to start capturing the big day and these detailed moments. You want to keep your eyes looking down on the bride’s hair, not making eye contact with any of the lenses that are pointing straight towards you, and pretend like no one is there because you feel awkward or intimidated. So you just keep working.  
   • Now picture this. You are curling the bride’s hair on her wedding day in preparation for a beautiful updo. The wedding photographer and videographer walk in to start capturing the big day and these detailed moments. You look up from the bride’s hair with a warm smile on your face. When the time is right you pause and introduce yourself to the photographer and videographer and tell them how excited you are to be working with them today. Offer them a compliment or word of encouragement (Ex: I love your work!) keep it simple. When you finish your masterpiece (aka the updo you just nailed)… take the time to give the photographer & videographer your card or social platform and tell them you would absolutely love pictures from the wedding today! 
   • Make the connection, be personable, and have your bride finished with their services right on time or even a little before the scheduled time. These are all a really big deal to photographers and videographers. 
   • Do this, and you will be sure to be on their top vendor lists when Brides come to them asking for hair & makeup referrals. 
4. Maintain relationships with past brides—and increase referrals
   • Send your past brides a handwritten thank you note on their 6th month anniversary or 1 year wedding anniversary reminding them how much fun you had on their wedding day and what an honor it was to be a part of it. 
   • Include a business card or informational sheet on your bridal services so they can share it with their bestie who just got engaged!! 
5. Create a vendor profile on theknot.com
   • Head on over https://www.weddingpro.com  to fill out a short form to get started. With over 20 million monthly (actively planning) viewers, theknot.com is an incredible place to get exposure and get connected to brides looking for bridal stylist for their wedding day. 
   • With the vendor profile, you can easily upload photos of your work, add all your contact information, preferences, specialties etc. to create an easy and quick platform for potential brides to browse and reach out to you directly.
   • Another amazing perk is you can ask your past brides to write you a service review on your Knot profile for inquiring brides to read. Once you hit a certain number of reviews, you are eligible for awards and accolades given by The Knot, which also boosts credibility and traffic to your profile. 

When it comes down to it, you want to have the Big Sister Energy for your brides. You want to be the calming presence, the one that knows how to make them look and feel their best, the one who is going to read between the lines and get them.

If you can do that, your calendar will fill itself.

Cheering you on!

xoxo,

Emily