How to plan your make-up trial
When to do a bridal trial, what to bring, and how to give feedback that changes the result.
Last updated 19 August 2026
A trial is the only chance to find out that what you described and what the artist heard are the same thing, on a day when being wrong costs nothing. It is worth the money and worth the afternoon.
When
Six to eight weeks before. Late enough that your skin is roughly what it will be, early enough to book somebody else if it does not go well. Doing it the week before removes the second half of that.
What to bring
- A photograph of the outfit, or the outfit itself if you can. Colour changes what works.
- Your jewellery, or a photograph of it. Heavy pieces change where the eye goes.
- Two or three photographs of looks you like, and one you do not. The second is more useful than the first three.
- Anything your skin reacts to, written down. Say it before anything is applied.
How to give feedback
Say what you want changed while you are in the chair, not afterwards by message. "Lighter" and "less" are hard to act on; "I can see where the base ends along my jaw" and "the eye is heavier than I expected" are things an artist can fix in two minutes. It is not rude. It is the entire reason you are both there.
Afterwards
Wear it for the rest of the day and photograph it in daylight, in the evening and with flash. Most of the surprises on a wedding morning are surprises about light.