CaraSue Hall Makeup + Artistry

KSCouple2010

Not For Me

Rating details

My Ratings:
Overall:
Value:
Professionalism:
Responsiveness:
Flexibility:

• Wedding Date: 10/10/10
• Review Date: 12/26/10

This is a vendor we had mixed reviews with and ended up not using, but I'd still like to share my experiences using pros/cons. Again, we did not work with CaraSue on our actual wedding day, but we did initially sign a contract with her and I had a hair/makeup trial before canceling. PROS: -Excellent makeup artist. Very natural CONS: -Horrible at styling my fine hair. I actually cried after leaving my trial. I made some suggestions that help with fine hair (i.e. a large, non-bristle round brush for body), but she said stylists have their own way of doing things. My mother and husband were present when this all happened -Not flexible with brides on their start time. When I turned in the contract I requested a start time around 11:00am, but a few weeks before the wedding she told me we'd have to begin at 9:00am, which conflicted with other plans we had that morning, but I rearranged by schedule. She then stated she originally "thought" a 7:00am start time would work. Here's a portion of an email she wrote to me: "As far as you writing 11am on the contract, I determine the timing based on location, how many are having services done and what time you need to be ready by. That is why I ask on the contract what time you need to be ready by. Rarely, if ever, do I have someone that sets their own time of what time they would like for me to be there. While I understand that is the time that you wanted, that is not the time that I would have set up and we never did discuss that timing at all. You never seemed upset, at all, by the 9AM timing. I never "asked" you to start at 7. I told you that was my original thought." My wedding wasn't until 5:30pm (photography starting at 1:45); therefore, I thought 9:00am was way too early to be completely ready and waiting for hours. Considering I made it clear from the very beginning that I wanted a late morning start time, I thought this was unfair. I'm not trying to sound like a bridezilla, but I honestly thought it was customary for vendors to work with couples on their start time, not the other way around. I didn't have a single other vendor tell me when we should start, so this was new to me. -Deleted me from Facebook after I canceled my contract. Seemed rather silly as we are bother adults. OTHER: -This could be good or bad for some, depending on their preference. She said she only needed 30 minutes total per person for hair and makeup both. For the price that I was paying, I wanted to feel like the person doing my hair and makeup was taking their time to make it perfect, not rushing to get done as fast as possible. Obviously, some brides want someone who can get the work done fast, but I wanted someone who would almost "pamper me" on my special day (and I'm not trying to sound narcissistic) The cons obviously outweighed the pros for us, and I canceled my services with CaraSue. Luckily, she returned my deposit. In the end, I researched wedding makeup tips online and went to a Sephora and had someone show me how to apply beautiful eye makeup. So with the proper planning and special items (i.e. foundation primer, eye shadow primer, finishing spray, etc), a bride can certainly do her own makeup, look fabulous, and have it last all day/night. As for my hair, my stylist in town opened the salon special for me to do my hair and she did absolutely amazing with my fine hair! For many brides, CaraSue would be wonderful to hire, but for our particular situation, things just didn't work out. I am in no way bad-mouthing CaraSue, I just want to provide advice to other brides who may have concerns with fine hair styling and/or scheduling and tips on how I overcame canceling my contract with her.