Hair and makeup take up a good chunk of a wedding morning. Most NZ artists allow about an hour per service, and every extra person adds to it. The planner works back from your ceremony to when things need to start, and gives each person their own time in the chair, using the timings New Zealand artists publish on their own websites.
Plan your morning
Start with the ceremony time and who's getting ready. We'll suggest how many artists you need and lay out everyone's morning, and from there you can move things around until it matches your booking. It all updates as you go.
Your day
Getting ready at the venue? Put 0 for travel. Once you've added who's getting ready, you can add time before leaving (for a tea ceremony, a blessing or something to eat) or at the venue, right in the schedule.
Who's getting ready
Add everyone having their hair or makeup done. You can change the order they go in once you see the schedule. It's recommended that the bride goes second to last. “Adult” covers bridesmaids, mums and guests; “Child” is 14 or under.
Everyone's schedule
We've started you off with the fewest artists that can begin from 7am, in the quickest order, with the bride second to last. From there it's yours to change. Drag people by their handles, tap ⇄ to swap someone's hair and makeup around, or tap any time or length with a dotted outline. Spare time shows as a striped bar.
It's recommended that the bride goes second to last: the look is still fresh for photos, and if anything runs late, it doesn't fall on the bride. It's your call, though, so move people wherever suits you.
Share the image in your bridal party's group chat so everyone knows their chair time.
Your artists
Leave the numbers blank and the planner picks the fewest artists that can start at 7am or later, when early-start fees stop. Type a number to set your own.
Use the times your hair stylist and makeup artist give you. Allow more for long or thick hair, blow-drying or extensions. The bride's hair and makeup usually take longer than everyone else's, so confirm the bride's times with your artists too. How long hair and makeup take
How this is worked out
- The aim is the lowest cost. Leave the artist numbers blank and the planner picks the fewest artists that let hair and makeup start at 7am or later, when early-start fees stop. It assumes separate hair stylists and makeup artists, the usual NZ setup, unless you tick that each artist does both; ticking or unticking that plans the morning again. Type a number and it's kept, with a warning if it means starting before 7am.
- Each service, hair or makeup, takes the minutes you set: to start with, 60 each for the bride's hair and makeup, 50 each for other adults, and 30 per service for children. Those follow Serenity Makeup, the one Auckland artist we found who gives figures for the bride, the bridal party and children (Serenity Makeup).
- Artists work side by side. When an artist is free, they take the next person in the order who still needs them. If that person is in the other chair, they take the one after, so no artist sits waiting. If each artist does both, they do one person's hair and makeup back to back.
- Order: the planner picks the order that finishes quickest, with the bride second to last, as recommended. Drag anyone in the schedule and your order is used instead; ⇄ swaps whether someone has hair or makeup first.
- After hair and makeup: 30 minutes to get dressed, then a 30-minute photoshoot, then you leave. That's the hour NZ artists suggest finishing before you leave. The half hours for getting dressed and for a first look or photos follow an Auckland venue's guide and a wedding directory's sample morning (Castaways; My Wedding Guide).
- Your own time: change how long each part takes, add time before leaving (a tea ceremony, a blessing, something to eat) or at the venue, or have the photoshoot on the way. Hair and makeup move earlier to fit. The photographer's arrival never moves anything; added, they arrive 90 minutes before hair and makeup finish, the middle of the 1 to 2 hours the same venue suggests.
- Setup: artists arrive 15 minutes before their first chair. Set an artist's arrival in the schedule and they start then, and the other artists fit around them.
- Back to our suggestion: once you've changed the order, the artists or their start times, one tap takes them back to the cheapest, quickest plan. Your people, times and added time stay as they are.
- Early starts: before 7am, the planner warns about early-start fees and, if you've chosen your own artists, shows what one more would change.
- It's a plan to talk through with your artists, who'll adjust it for your styles, hair and setup.
How long hair and makeup take
Most New Zealand artists allow about an hour per service, and the bride usually gets the most time. A few of them publish their times:
- Serenity Makeup, Auckland: 60 minutes each for the bride's hair and makeup, up to 50 minutes each for bridesmaids and mums, and up to 30 for children 14 and under (Serenity Makeup).
- The Beauty Hub, Auckland: 2 hours for the bride's hair and makeup (The Beauty Hub).
- Makeup & Hair Station, Auckland and Christchurch: 45 to 75 minutes per service, depending on the style and hair length (Makeup & Hair Station).
- Fresh and Flawless, Auckland: 45 to 60 minutes per service, per person (Fresh and Flawless).
- Kate Keogh, Wellington: 45 to 60 minutes per person for makeup (Kate Keogh).
- The Makeup Artist & Co, Wellington: up to an hour per service (The Makeup Artist & Co).
Long or thick hair takes longer, as do blow-drying curly hair and extensions (Serenity Makeup), and so do a lot of cultural bridal looks. Best to ask your artists what they'll need and put their times into the planner.
We're not connected to any of the artists or photographers mentioned here.
One artist or two?
On most NZ wedding mornings there are two artists working side by side, one on hair and one on makeup. The Makeup Artist & Co arrange two stylists nine times out of ten (The Makeup Artist & Co). With someone in each chair at once, the morning takes roughly half as long.
If one artist is doing both, allow longer. Greer Melrose allows an hour and a half a person for hair and makeup together (Greer Melrose). With a bigger party, or a tight timeline, artists will often bring in help (Kate Keogh). We didn't come across anyone who sets a number of people per artist, so the planner works it out from your times.
When to be finished
The artists we checked mostly agree on an hour. Kate Keogh and The Beauty Hub suggest everyone's finished at least an hour before you leave, and The Makeup Artist & Co say at least an hour before the ceremony. That hour goes on getting dressed, photos, and catching your breath. One wedding directory reckons 30 minutes before you leave is enough (My Wedding Guide), which feels tight once dresses and photos come into it.
Doing a first look, or a lot of photos beforehand? Allow more. One NZ photographer's sample timelines have hair and makeup done an hour and three quarters before a 3pm ceremony, and three hours before when there's a first look (Cushla Marie Photography). Your photographer will have their own idea of how long they'd like with you, so ask.
Castaways, an Auckland wedding venue, suggests 30 minutes for getting dressed, and having the photographer turn up 1 to 2 hours before hair and makeup finish (Castaways). Add the photographer's arrival in the planner and it goes on everyone's schedule.
Who goes when
Two Auckland artists, quoted by an Auckland wedding photographer, like the bride to go second to last. The look's still fresh, and if anything runs over, it runs over on someone else (Dear White). Others put the bride last, for the freshest possible finish (Text My Wedding, a US wedding-planning service). The planner starts with second to last. If you'd rather the bride went last, drag them to the bottom of the schedule.
It helps if everyone knows their chair time and is ready when it comes round, partly because some artists charge for waiting. Fresh and Flawless charge $25 for every 15 minutes (Fresh and Flawless). Your artists will want a few minutes to set up before the first chair, too; The Makeup Artist & Co arrive at least 15 minutes early (The Makeup Artist & Co).
Early starts
Put a big bridal party together with an early ceremony and the start can get very early indeed. Plenty of artists charge extra before 7am:
- Makeup & Hair Station: $40 plus GST per artist, for each hour before 7am (Makeup & Hair Station).
- Fresh and Flawless: $50 per artist for starts before 7am (Fresh and Flawless).
- Serenity Makeup: an early-morning fee per artist for bookings before 7am (Serenity Makeup).
Sometimes another artist costs less than those fees would, and everyone gets more sleep out of it. If your plan starts before 7am, the planner will show you what adding one would do.
Things to sort out beforehand
- Hair washed and completely dry, with no product, unless your stylist asks otherwise. Artists usually ask for it to be washed the day or night before (Makeup & Hair Station; Serenity Makeup).
- A button-up top, so nothing goes over your hair and makeup (Fresh and Flawless).
- Dresses and suits steamed the night before, not after hair and makeup are done (Dear White).
- A spot with good natural light, a big table and power points, with room for two artists (Fresh and Flawless).
- Dress, rings, shoes and invitations together for the photographer (Dear White).
- Everyone knows their chair time. Save the schedule from the planner as an image and share it with the bridal party.
Food and drink
It's a long morning, and often a long wait until the reception meal, so it's surprisingly easy to forget to eat.
- Have breakfast before your chair time, something with a bit of protein that's easy on the stomach and not too greasy or sugary. Eggs on toast, yoghurt and fruit, porridge, muesli, a smoothie.
- Keep snacks and plenty of water in the room: nuts, fruit, muesli bars, crackers.
- Eat between chairs. Everyone's schedule shows when they're free, so nobody has to stop the whole room for a break.
- Straws for drinks once lipstick's on, so it stays put.
- And pack energy bars and bottled water in the bag that goes with you to the ceremony.
For more ideas, visit My Wedding Guide.
Sources
All checked on 30 September or 1 October 2026.
- Serenity Makeup, Wedding makeup + hair (service times, hair preparation, early-morning fee)
- The Beauty Hub, Wedding hair & makeup Auckland (bridal timing, when to be finished)
- Makeup & Hair Station, FAQ, Wedding pricing (early start surcharge) and Your guide to long-lasting makeup and hair
- Fresh and Flawless, Wedding tips & tricks and Terms & conditions (early start and waiting fees)
- Greer Melrose, Wedding hair and makeup Auckland
- Kate Keogh, FAQs
- The Makeup Artist & Co, Frequently asked questions
- Dear White, How to plan your morning getting ready
- Cushla Marie Photography, The perfect wedding day timeline, New Zealand (2020)
- My Wedding Guide, The ultimate wedding morning timeline
- Castaways Resort, Creating the ultimate wedding day timeline (getting dressed, photographer arrival)
- Text My Wedding, Wedding hair & makeup timeline (US)