You will treasure your wedding photos for a lifetime… All your friends and family will admire them when you post them on Facebook or Instagram, you will make a wedding album to enjoy, and perhaps a couple of framed prints will adorn your walls as a reminder of the happiest day of your life. The dress, the flowers, the hairstyle… But what is the first thing that our eye is drawn to in every photo? The face.

That's where I come in – I am a makeup artist. The face is my business. And it's my job to make sure each bride I work with looks the way she dreams of on her wedding day.

As a full-time artist for the last 8 years, I have been asked every makeup question you can imagine! And one question that brides will inevitably ponder is – "should I hire a professional to do my makeup for the wedding day"? I will offer you a few reasons why the answer should always be yes!

There is such a variety of reasons brides give for why they hire me for their wedding day. For some, pampering on the special day is a fun treat, but most of my brides give more practical reasons.

Examples: they don't wear makeup regularly; they wear makeup every day but want to look special; their own makeup does not last through the day; they have a special look in mind that they can't achieve on their own; they want their bridal party to look beautiful and coordinated; they don't want the stress of trying to do it themselves for such an important event; or they want their eyes to stand out with false lashes. (More on lashes later). And the most popular reason – they want to look like themselves, but the very best, most beautiful version. Whatever the request may be, it is the artist's goal to create the bride's vision for herself and her wedding party. A certified artist will have the training and experience to create any look that is desired.

For brides who are on the fence and considering doing their makeup themselves, I would offer a few things to ponder:

1- Most ladies' everyday makeup is not the same as event makeup – it doesn't need to be. As an artist for MAC Cosmetics, I rarely recommended the same products for my customers' daily use as for their special occasions. Over the years, I have experimented with just about any professional line you can name, and I have found the products that do the best job of staying in place, photographing beautifully, and holding up to tears, heat, etc., while still looking soft and natural. Wedding or event makeup does not have to look heavy or harsh to do it's job – you can have the best of both worlds if you get the right artist! A professional will be able to choose the appropriate products to work with, specific to your needs. For example, an artist may choose airbrush if the client's event is only a couple of hours, but for a wedding or event that lasts several hours or all day, she will choose products with more modern longwear technology combined with primers underneath. I personally no longer offer airbrush– it can't compare to the newer technology that professional lines are using now, and it just isn't the novelty that it was a dozen years ago.

2- The wedding day is not the day to experiment on yourself! If the look that you envision for your wedding day is a departure from your norm, you should definitely set aside time in advance to try it out and determine if that's truly the way you want to go. Wedding day jitters on top of trying something new can end in disaster – and even if you are hiring a professional, you will want to schedule a trial run in advance! This will give you the opportunity to try out new things, make sure you are comfortable in your wedding day face, and then you can look forward to the big day, confident in the fact that you will be at your very best with no surprises.

3- Have fun! Schedules are tight, things are coming together at the last minute, and it would be a shame to add needless stress to a day that should be full of great memories and enjoyment with your bridesmaids and family. You won't have to feel like a slave to your timeline if you have a team of experts making things flow along as they should. A good MUA not only shares her talent, but she is often a grounded, calming influence in a day of potential chaos. Choose well, and it could be one of the best decisions you make for your wedding day.

4- Oh, those lovely lashes! Since I began my own company 3 years ago, my focus has been on weddings. So I see all the trends that brides-to-be ask about and the Pintrest pictures they bring to their trial run appointments. One of the big trends right now, not only for the bride but for the entire bridal party, is the popularity of false lashes. MUAs love them, brides love them, and photographers definitely love them! Clients tell me all the time that they wish they could get the hang of applying them – and the truth is – it really does just take practice! But for a majority of us, false lashes are never going to be a part of our regular routines, so there's really no opportunity to get good at it! A MUA can help you choose a style of lash that will complement your eye shape, look appropriate for the occasion, trim and fit the lash to your lid, and apply it in just 2 or 3 minutes! Ta-da! Instant glamour and emphasis on the eyes!

Now a note on a few things to be aware of when booking your MUA:

1- The best artist for your wedding day is probably not going to be yourself (that's just stress you don't need) or your sister's roommate's cousin who will come and do everyone's makeup for $20. If you have faith in a friend's skills, please do yourself a favor and schedule that trial run! Don't wait until a couple of months before the wedding date, because if you change your mind, professional artists will already be booked! And that friend that does her own makeup so beautifully, may not have the skill set to replicate it on others. Or even if she can, your options may be narrowed down to just the one look that she creates for herself every day – if that's what you want, great! If not, you may have to look elsewhere. Friends with good intentions may do their own makeup well, but it's usually a different set of skills required to accomplish the same on other people. Even when I am training artists, the application techniques that I teach them are somewhat different from the way I teach clients to put their own makeup on for every day.

2- Ask lots of questions! At the top of the list should be a request for an artist's background, training, and especially certifications or licensing. This might not be a necessity once Virginia catches up with the times and starts licensing specifically for makeup artistry – however, at this time it is not regulated! So for now it is up to you to do your homework! Be aware that not everyone who charges a professional price is doing a professional job. An artist that has earned her title will know so much more than just how to put makeup on someone's face – they will be aware of many sanitation rules, they will use only a professional line of products, and their work will reflect a wide variety of looks. For you, this will mean having an artist that can listen to your specific requests and create a look designed for you – not a cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all makeup application. It will also mean sanitized products used in a healthy way, so you don't have any surprise cold sores or eye infections on your honeymoon! It will also mean a well executed, flawlessly blended, natural look that will emphasize your beauty – not draw attention to the makeup itself. So ask for certifications. Ask what line of cosmetics the artist uses. Ask to see a variety of looks they have created for previous clients. And ask if this is their full-time career – it will help you separate the passionate, professional creatives from the part-time hobbyists.

As you can see, hiring a MUA for your wedding day is more than just a convenience. It's peace of mind, it's assurance that you will be proud of your wedding photos and memories, and it's a boost of confidence that will set the right tone for the rest of your day!