Hair and makeup has an interesting habit of being squeezed into whatever time remains on a production schedule… and then everybody wonders why the hair and makeup artist is asking for another ten minutes.
We’ve spent more than 15 years working across TV, film, corporate production, livestreams, interviews, and events, and if there’s one piece of advice we’d give a producer planning a filming day, it’s this:
Give hair and makeup the right information and enough time at the beginning, and we’ll probably save you time later.
Here’s what actually helps.

Ask most people what “camera-ready” means and they’ll probably talk about hair, makeup, clothes and looking polished.
After more than 15 years of putting people in front of cameras, I’d define it differently.
Camera-ready is a state.
It’s the point at which somebody stops worrying about themselves and feels ready to concentrate on whatever they’re actually there to do.
The hair and makeup?
That’s part of how we get them there.

I’ve been a part of many a wedding morning over the years – big weddings, small weddings, destination weddings… I’ve worked in rooms where it’s just been me and the bride and others which feels like the whole wedding party has arrived!
One thing I’ve learned is that how the morning starts sets the tone for the rest of the day.
Your wedding morning is actually a big part of the wedding, so while beautiful bridal hair and makeup obviously matters to us, creating an environment in which you can actually enjoy having it done matters just as much.

Headshot day is not the day to reinvent yourself.
Your photograph might sit on your company website, LinkedIn profile, press releases, speaker biography and countless proposals for the next few years. Someone may see it several times before they ever meet you.
And when they finally do, you want them to think, “Yes, that’s exactly who I expected.”
Not: “Oh. You look completely different.”