Money & GST · Guide
Bridal Makeup Packages: Pricing, Deposits and Trials Without Losses
How to build and price bridal makeup packages for Indian weddings: per-look pricing, peak muhurat dates, deposits, contracts, paid trials, staffing and GST.
Short answer
Price bridal work per look, not per day. Add the artist's blocked hours (travel and waiting included), assistants, product kit and travel, divide by one minus commission, fees and margin, and charge more on peak muhurat dates. Hold a date only against an advance, collect the balance before the first event, and credit a paid trial against the booking.
- On a peak muhurat date, the real cost of a bride is the booking you turn away, so peak dates need their own price.
- Price every look and every family member separately, then offer a multi-event rate; never quote a vague "full bridal package".
- A date is held only by a paid advance, and the balance is due before the first event, never after the wedding.
- Charge for trials and credit the fee against the booking, so trials sell bookings instead of costing you a free look.
- Bridal services carry 5% GST like other salon services: advances are taxed when received, travel you bill is part of the value, and work in another state is billed with IGST.
In this guide+
- What should a bridal makeup package include?
- How do you price a bridal look?
- How should you price early mornings, outstation work and multi-event weddings?
- How much advance should you take, and when is the balance due?
- What should a bridal booking contract include?
- Should bridal trials be free or paid?
- How do you staff peak muhurat dates?
- How do you turn bridal enquiries into bookings?
- How is GST charged on bridal makeup?
- Where do bridal bookings lose money?
- Frequently asked questions
Bridal work is the biggest ticket a salon sells and the easiest to lose money on. The date can't be resold once it passes, the work happens at 3 am in a hotel room you don't control, and half the family wants to be added on the morning. Salons that profit from bridal season do three things differently: they price by look and by date, they take money before they give time, and they run trials that sell rather than give away. This guide sets out each one.
What should a bridal makeup package include?
A bridal package is a list of looks, each for a named person at a named event, plus the trial and any pre-bridal work. Write it that way. "Full bridal package" invites the family to assume everything is included, from the mother's draping to a touch-up at the reception.
| Component | What it covers | How to price it |
|---|---|---|
| Bride, per look | Make-up, hair, draping, dupatta and jewellery setting, lashes | Per look, by event and tier |
| Make-up tier | Classic, HD or airbrush; each uses different products and kit | Tier price = the look's cost with that tier's kit |
| Artist | The salon's senior artist, or the owner or lead artist by name | A higher rate for a named lead artist |
| Family looks ("siders") | Mother, sisters, bridesmaids, relatives | Per person, per event, booked by name in advance |
| Groom | Grooming, hair styling, light base | Per look |
| Trial | One look, timed and recorded | A fixed fee, credited if she books |
| Pre-bridal series | Facials, body polishing, hair spas, manicure-pedicure over 60 to 90 days | As a package; see memberships and packages |
| Standby artist | An artist at the venue for touch-ups | Per hour, with a minimum |
How do you price a bridal look?
Price a bridal look from the hours it blocks, not the hours of make-up. Travel, set-up, waiting for the bride to finish her photos and travel back are all hours your artist can't sell to anyone else.
- Hours blocked = travel there + set-up + make-up + hair + draping and jewellery + buffer + travel back
- Look cost = hours blocked × artist cost per hour + assistant hours × assistant rate + product kit + local travel
- Look price (before GST) = look cost ÷ (1 − commission % − payment fee % − target margin %)
The artist cost per hour comes from your cost per chair-minute (see pricing salon services): at ₹8 a minute, a senior artist's hour costs ₹480.
Why peak dates need a different price
Don't discount a peak date to win a booking. Peak capacity is fixed: every artist has one morning on that date, and it will sell. Discount, if you must, on dates nobody else wants.
How should you price early mornings, outstation work and multi-event weddings?
Treat each as its own line on the quote, so the bride sees what she is paying for and the family can't stretch it later.
| Situation | Rule | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Call time before 6 am | A fixed early-morning charge per artist | The artist loses a night's sleep and can't work a full salon day after |
| Waiting past the call time | A charge per hour after the first 30 minutes | Late photographers and venues are the family's delay, not yours |
| Outstation (beyond your city) | Travel and stay at actuals, meals, plus a fee for each travel day | Travel days are days your artist earns nothing in the salon |
| Another state | Bill IGST instead of CGST and SGST | Beauty services are taxed where they are performed |
| Same-day second look (wedding, then reception) | Price as two looks, with travel charged once | The artist waits on site between looks |
| Three or more looks with one artist | A multi-event rate, a few percent off the looks other than the wedding | Rewards booking the whole wedding with you |
Pricing a full wedding
Price each look, total it, then offer one multi-event figure. Families compare the total; show them the parts as well, so the total looks like a saving rather than a number pulled from the air.
How much advance should you take, and when is the balance due?
Take an advance that makes the booking real, and collect the full balance before the first event. A date without an advance isn't booked; it's a promise you'll keep while the family keeps shopping.
| When | How much | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| At booking | 30% of the total | Holds the date and the named artist |
| At the trial, or 60 days before | 40% | Commits the family once the look is agreed |
| 7 days before the first event | The remaining 30% | Clears the account before any work |
| On the day | Extras only (added people, waiting) | Paid before the artist leaves the venue |
On the four-event wedding above, that's ₹19,212.48, ₹25,616.64 and ₹19,212.48.
Take bridal payments by UPI or bank transfer. Income-tax law bars receiving ₹2 lakh or more in cash from one person in a day, for one transaction or for one event, and a large bridal booking paid in cash across the trial and the wedding can cross that line. Each payment is also an advance for GST purposes (see the GST section below).
What should a bridal booking contract include?
A bridal contract fixes who, what, when and where, and what happens when any of them changes. Send the summary on WhatsApp and ask the bride or her mother to reply "Confirmed": it becomes your signed record.
Hi {Bride's name}, thank you for booking {Salon name}. Here is your booking summary: Artist: {Artist name} {Event 1}: {date}, {venue}, ready by {time}, call time {time}. {Look and tier} {Event 2}: {date}, {venue}, ready by {time}, call time {time}. {Look and tier} Family looks: {names, events} Total: ₹{total} including GST Paid today: ₹{advance}. Next: ₹{amount} on {date}. Balance: ₹{amount} by {date} Your date and artist are now held for you. Our booking terms are attached. Please reply "Confirmed" so we have your go-ahead on record.
Patch tests and consultation notes are covered in our client consultation and patch test guide, and photo consent in client data privacy.
Should bridal trials be free or paid?
Paid, and credited in full against the booking if she books within 14 days. A paid trial filters out brides collecting looks from five artists, covers your cost if she doesn't book, and turns into a booking when she does.
| Free trial | Paid trial, credited on booking | |
|---|---|---|
| Who books it | Every bride comparing artists | Brides who are close to deciding |
| Your cost if she doesn't book | The artist's time and the product | Covered by the fee |
| What it signals | That your time is free | That the look is worth paying for |
| Conversion | Low, and you can't tell who's serious | The fee is already part of the booking |
Run the trial on a weekday morning, never on a weekend in the season. Time every step, because the trial's real duration sets the wedding-day call time. Record the look on a card: products and shades, lash style, hair plan, photos with her consent. Then ask for the booking at the mirror, while she is still looking at herself.
This is the look we'll do on {date}, with the same products. We've timed it at {hours}, so your call time that morning would be {time}. Your {date} is one of the busier dates this season, and we hold dates against the advance. If you'd like to book it today, the trial fee comes off your total.
How do you staff peak muhurat dates?
Plan the season's capacity before the enquiries arrive. Take the season's wedding dates from the panchang, mark the peak dates in your calendar, and set a cap for each: how many brides each artist can take, and how many family looks each assistant can cover.
- One lead artist, one muhurat window. Never book a lead artist into two call windows that could overlap if a photographer runs late.
- Freelance backup under contract. Agree a day rate and a standard with two or three freelance artists in July, not on the morning of a crisis.
- A kit for every artist. Lashes, pins, setting spray, a backup foundation shade and a phone power bank, checked the evening before.
- A run sheet for every booking. Pickup time, call time, ready-by time, the family member responsible on site and their number.
- Salon cover. Peak wedding mornings are also peak salon days; the artists who go to venues are out of the salon, so roster the floor for it.
How do you turn bridal enquiries into bookings?
Reply fast, qualify in the first message, quote in writing the same day, and follow up on a schedule. Most bridal enquiries go to whoever answers clearly first.
Hi {Name}, congratulations, and thank you for thinking of {Salon name}. To quote you properly, could you tell us: 1. The wedding date and city 2. Which events you'd like us for (mehendi, sangeet, wedding, reception) 3. How many family members would need make-up 4. The look you have in mind (a photo helps) We'll send you a written quote today, along with photos of our brides.
That's fair to compare. Could you check whether their quote includes the hair, draping, lashes and travel, and whether it's the senior artist on your wedding morning? Ours includes all of that, and your trial fee comes off the total. If you'd like, I can go through both quotes with you line by line.
Hi {Name}, just checking whether you had any questions about the quote for {date}. We hold dates only against the advance, so please let us know if you'd like to go ahead, or if anything needs changing.
Only tell a bride her date is in demand if another enquiry for it really exists. Families in the same city talk, and an invented rush costs you the next bride in that family.
How is GST charged on bridal makeup?
Bridal make-up is a beauty service, so it carries 5% GST without input tax credit, the same as your salon services. Three bridal-specific points:
- Advances are taxed when you receive them. GST on a service falls due at the earlier of the invoice or the payment, so the booking advance carries 5% GST in that month's return. Issue a receipt voucher, and adjust it in the final invoice.
- Travel and stay you bill are part of your price. Amounts you charge the family for travel, stay and meals are generally part of the value of your service and carry the same 5%, unless your CA confirms they qualify as pure-agent reimbursements.
- Work done in another state carries IGST. Beauty services are taxed where they are performed, so a destination wedding in another state is billed with IGST, not CGST and SGST. A salon on the composition scheme can't make that inter-state supply at all.
If your salon isn't GST-registered because turnover is under the ₹20 lakh limit, don't charge GST at all. Our GST guide for salons covers registration, invoices and advances in full.
Where do bridal bookings lose money?
Frequently asked questions
How much should a salon charge for bridal makeup?
Work it out from the hours the look blocks, including travel, set-up and waiting, at your artist's cost per hour, plus assistants, the product kit and travel. Divide by one minus commission, payment fees and your target margin. In a worked example, a 7-hour HD look at the venue cost ₹7,860 and was priced at ₹11,999 before GST, with peak muhurat dates priced higher.
How much advance should a bridal makeup artist take?
Enough to make the booking real: about 30% at booking to hold the date and the named artist, around 40% more at the trial or 60 days before, and the balance a week before the first event. Never leave the balance until after the wedding. Take payments by UPI or bank transfer, issue a receipt for each, and remember that advances carry 5% GST when received.
Should a bridal makeup trial be free?
A paid trial works better. Charge a fixed fee that covers the artist's time and product, and credit it in full against the booking if the bride books within a set period, such as 14 days. A serious bride pays nothing extra, while brides collecting looks from several artists cover your cost. Run trials on weekday mornings, and time each step to set the wedding-day call time.
What is included in a bridal makeup package?
A clear package lists each look by event (mehendi, sangeet, wedding, reception) with make-up, hair, draping, dupatta and jewellery setting, and lashes, plus the make-up tier and the artist's name. It also lists every family member's look by name, the trial, travel, and anything excluded, such as extensions or nails. Avoid the phrase "full bridal package" without a written list.
What is the difference between HD and airbrush bridal makeup pricing?
The two use different products and kit, so price them as separate tiers of the same look. Work out the time the look takes and add the tier's own product and kit cost. In a worked example, the HD kit cost ₹2,500 and an airbrush kit ₹3,500, which moved the listed price of the look from ₹11,999 to ₹12,999 before GST.
Is GST charged on bridal makeup?
Yes, if the salon or artist is GST-registered. Bridal make-up is a beauty service taxed at 5% without input tax credit. Advances are taxed in the month you receive them, travel and stay you bill the family are generally part of the taxable value, and work done in another state is billed with IGST. A salon below the ₹20 lakh registration limit doesn't charge GST.
What should a bridal makeup contract include?
Names, events, dates, venues, muhurat and call times, each look and tier, the named artist and a substitution rule, family members by name, inclusions and exclusions, a waiting charge, date-change and cancellation terms, a postponement clause for bereavement, a patch-test requirement, photo consent, and the payment schedule with GST. Send it on WhatsApp and ask for a reply confirming it.
How do you handle a bride who wants to change her wedding date?
Follow the contract. A fair rule is one free date change if it is requested 60 or more days ahead and the artist is free on the new date, with the advance moving across. If the new date isn't available, hold the amount paid as credit for 12 months. For a postponement after a death in the family, hold the full amount paid as credit.
Sources
- GST Council — FAQs on the decisions of the 56th GST Council (5% on beauty services)
- CBIC — CGST and IGST Acts (time of supply, value of supply, place of supply)
- Income Tax Department — Limit on cash transactions
General information for salon owners, not legal or tax advice. Rules change and some vary by state — check with your CA or the department concerned before you act on them.
The Salos team
We build Salos, the salon operating system, and run it every day inside a working salon — so these guides come from the same front desk, chairs and month-end you deal with.