01
Do you require a deposit?
We sure do.
A deposit (or as we call it, 'retainer fee') is required for all events, including wedding-related events, special occasions, and makeup or hair parties. Not only do retainer fees guarantee your artists' availability for your event, but they protect your appointment from any other conflicting inquiries that come our way. Your best bet is to pay the retainer fee for your day as soon as you can in order to guarantee our availability.
If no retainer fee is received, we cannot guarantee the continued availability of any artists mentioned by name. To secure additional artists, or even a different artist, arrangements must be made well in advance so that the artists have plenty of notice to reserve the day. In other words, if we tell you one artist is available, but don't hear from you or recieve a retainer fee from you for a while, there is a good chance that artist may get booked for someone else's event who paid a retainer fee.
Know that we will always tell you if we have conflicting events, and give you the best chance we can!
The retainer fee paid for a special occasion - $30 - (this includes bridal previews and engagment photos) is credited towards the cost for that event, whereas the retainer fee paid to reserve a wedding day - $50 - in our calendar is not. It serves as an administration fee.
All retainer fees are non-refundable, unless we have a family/medical emergency, in which case you'll receive your entire fee back at our discretion. When you make any payments, you're agreeing to this. Payment processed through Honeybook, personal check, or Paypal. <3
02
Do you charge a fee for an early morning call time?
We do.
Call times before 8AM are an extra fee. Kinda weird, I know, but let me explain.
If we have to be at your venue by 8AM, and your venue is 45 minutes away, that means we're usually waking up around 5:30AM. If the call time is any earlier.... you can imagine. So here's how it works:
For call times before 8AM, it's $15 per artist, per hour.
So, for example, if you need 3 artists at your venue by 5AM, that means that there are 3 hours to 'buy'. At $15 an hour per girl, that would mean the cost is $135.
Sometimes, there are exceptions to the rule, but those exceptions are fully dependent upon circumstance, and entirely up to our discretion. <3
03
What forms of payment do you accept?
This is good to know!
We take most payments through Honeybook, the booking program we use. An account will be created for you when you contact us via the contact form. It's very easy to use, so don't worry!
Honeybook accepts most major credit cards. If Honeybook is not an acceptable form of payment for you, we will do what we can to work with you on how to deliver payment. Please understand that, due to certain credit card processing fees, we may have to charge extra.
Full payment is due on the day of your event. In person, we can accept cash or personal check. <3
04
Do you charge a travel fee?
Yes we do!
We will go anywhere in the world for these rates, always starting at each artist's point of origin.
Southern California:
Speaking round-trip, the first 50 miles are on us. After that, it's $15 for every 20 miles traveled. Additional fees may be added if additional artists/vehicles are needed.
If your event is outside of my 25-mile radius for free travel, then usually I require a minimum of 4 services booked. Contact us with questions regarding this!
Outside of Southern California:
Airfare, lodging, and meals must be paid for by the client. Of course, we are always willing to work out a trade for the opportunity to travel!
Sometimes, lodging is required for certain events. Our travel fee usually applies to the cost of a place to stay, so if you have any discounts or group rates that you can extend to us in this case, we would be thankful.
Additional note: We carpool as much as we can! We try to keep costs down for our clients as much as possible, and are always communicating with each other on how we can make that happen. Sometimes, however, it is inevitable that we have to take more than one car to your destination. <3
05
I have a very large party. Are there any fees that apply?
Depends on your time restrictions, really.
Let's say you have 8 girls who all need makeup and hair done, but you only have a 4 hour window to get them ready in. If we only send two artists (a makeup artist and a hairstylist), it will take them at least 7 hours to get them done, which obviously won't work out so well. So, we need to book you an additional makeup artist and an additional hairstylist. With the extra help, it will be a stress-free experience for all, since the entire party will be completed by the 4 hour mark.
However, this also means that we can't book our artists for any other major events that day, and they are performing less services (earning less money) in order to make that happen for you. It also means more planning and strategizing your event on our end.
With that in mind, we charge a flat $150 per extra artist needed. For the scenario above, for example, it would be an extra $300.
However, if you had 8 hours to get all 8 girls ready to go in, you'll only need two artists, which are complimentary. So it really does all come down to your timeline, and how much time you can afford to give us!
If you have any questions regarding these fees, please let us know when you contact us. <3
06
What are some other day-of charges I may encounter?
Great question!
On the day of your event, sometimes, we encounter charges we didn't expect. For example, valet charges, toll road charges, or parking charges. We will apply these fees to your bill as well.
As mentioned in our Services FAQ section, our hairstylists may take a look at a head of hair and determine that it will take longer to style. If that's the case, the fees mentioned there will apply.
If you or anyone in your bridal party run significantly late to the point where it dramatically interferes with our timeline, we will charge a late fee. This usually starts ticking at 30 minutes late, and the amount charged is solely up to the service provider. ( From our perspective - it's a total bummer on our end when we sit around doing nothing for a long time, then have to seriously bust our ba-donk-a-donks to finish everyone against a very tight deadline, with the same expected quality and care, and end up running over anyway. We hate it when we're late, as it reflects on our reputation with other vendors in the field.)
If any other charges crop up on the day of your appointment, please know that we will always keep you informed, and never "slam" you with a surprise bill. We value you, your business, and your time, and will absolutely keep you in the know.
Also, this makes it sound like we try and "rack up the total" as much as we can. We promise we don't. We keep these extra costs as low as we can, and oftentimes, we end up waiving some of them without your previous knowledge that they even existed to begin with. <3
07
Why does the bride cost more?
Great question!
The bride is the most important person on the day of the wedding, and we make it a point to take extra special care of her. More time, effort, and care is invested into her look on the day of. On average, we will spend about 30-45 minutes for services on bridesmaids and mothers, and spend anywhere between 1 hour and 1 hour, 15 minutes on the bride. A touchup kit is also included with the bridal packages.
There is so much that happens behind the scenes of any successful makeup and hair company, too. So many additional fees, business costs, and more that the business owner must take on, and this is factored into price as well. It would be unfair to charge this to your bridesmaids and moms, since it would significantly restrict their ability to get dolled up, and we really don't want anyone to be left out.
So, aside from what's already mentioned, what are you actually paying for when you book with Riley Brianne, Makeup & Hair Design, instead of a cheaper makeup artist elsewhere?
- Professionalism: when we agree to be there, we will be there. We do not "ditch" you at the last minute, leaving you scrambling for a replacement artist. Unless we have an emergency on our end (which is very rare), you can absolutely, 100% rely on us.
- Luxury: Not only do we drive to you when you want us there, we pack an almighty amount of quality and talent. The level of service that we deliver is one that Hollywood stars would expect - no exaggeration there.
- Experience & Skills: The time, effort, practice, research, and training that we've invested in our education is quite extensive. Hours upon hours have been spent training each artist on the team, as well as ourselves. Riley and Kaylee "kick off" the years' worth of experience at 7 years, and the rest of the girls follow suit.
- Quality Products: We can't even begin to tell you the cost of maintaining our professional kits. While sure, we do get discounts sometimes, the cost of maintenance per year, per kit is around $1,000. Ouch!
- Time Investment: We spend about 20% of our time doing what we love - makeup and hair. The other 80% is spent on education, cleaning and maintaining our kits, sanitizing our tools, and running the business.
- Peace of Mind: Yes, we totally think this is worth mentioning. Our heart from the very start is to care for our clients so extensively, that they don't have to worry about a thing on the day of their event. We take care of everything from the looks to the timelines so that our clients don't have to. We've also been known to protect our brides from potentially hazardous situations, asking some people to leave the room, keeping her mimosas refilled, or anything else that comes our way. Once, Riley's shoulder served a mourning mother-of-the-bride when she was told that her cat of 16 years passed away a couple hours earlier. We're there for whatever you need us to be! <3
08
Do you ever waive any fees?
Occasionally.
It all depends on your event, timeline, and your situation, but it's always worth asking us! You never know! <3
09
Will you try and sell me anything, like products?
Nope!
None of our artists represent any brands like Avon or Mary Kay. We use the products that we know work, and don't limit ourselves to one specific line. We will offer recommendations for products that we think will suit you, if you ask, but aside from that, you're not going to encounter any sales pitches on the day of your event.
A note from Riley: I do use a brand of lip stain in my kit that comes from an MLM company. I was so impressed by the product, I wanted to add it to my professional kit. I did have to sign up as a distributor to do that. So, if a client falls in love with it and wants to buy it, I'm not going to stand in their way since purchasing through a distributor is the only way to get it. I will put their order in. However, I absolutely will not be making any sales pitches or bringing any extra attention to the product at any event, as I don't believe in taking advantage of my clients that way. <3