09/09/2024
It's Fall wedding season! And military ball season! I want to talk about military ball season and Fall brides/ weddings particularly in this post
I see ALOT of ISO H&MUA's for this season every year. I want to lend some professional and cautionary advice! You may want to read on! ~
Let me preface this by stating I understand what it is like to be non a budget. My husband and I did the Dave Ramsey plan many years ago to attain a debt free life. And with the economy the way it continues to have rising inflation all around I understand that my profession may be a luxury at this day and age and not a "necessity." HOWEVER that does not mean that we as professionals should lower our cost to meet the criteria of said economic distress. Allow me to enlighten you. Professionals go by a scale of "CODB" cost of doing business. This is what it costs us every time we start with the first inquiry from a client. For me this is for hair and makeup and photography/videography, and content creation. The hours that go into correspondence, contracting & said paperwork. To time on site, the amount our gear depreciates, cost for mileage, and please never forget the years of dedication to honing our craft and skillset by investing in constant furthering of education. Then we have to add in the glory of taxes. So in the interim we are actually making much less after all of our expenses are caught up than one may think. We MUST account for all of this so we can get paid sometimes a barely met minimum wage per hour. This really depends on how the professional prices out their investment packages and so forth. And let me tell you I PRIDE myself in the overall experience that I present in and through my businesses that I have built with my own 2 hands over (close to now) 2 decades. However I must acknowledge that I have amazing and reoccurring clientele that I treasure more than anything. For that I am forever grateful! From the tagging to the recommendations I simply fawn over how kind my clients are and can be.
This brings me to my next point and a VERY important one! Licensing, registration, and insurance. This also goes into the above aforementioned CODB but I am particularly pointing this out because it is the main point of this post. When someone makes an off the cuff comment to me about how I am not affordable or not worth my weight in what I quote for a service my first thought are these - As a client is it actually worth it to go to a non professional that more than likely does not follow proper protocol for sanitation of let's say hair and makeup services? ESPECIALLY as a bride! There is always a risk yes but I would argue so much more higher of a risk with that of a non professional. Is it truly worth it to pay less in the beginning and end up contracting let's say pink eye, getting a stye, any type of eye infection, even worse yet a staph infection, or even something that could turn deadly such as MRSA and face the risk of going septic? Sound extreme? Yes, but a possibility if not a high probability if going to someone that does not have the proper protocol, one time use (& throw away) tools. And what if they are not insured? ALL those medical bills now fall on you. Perhaps you miss a honeymoon because of it. Or days of work which equals loss of income. So now you are double in the hole...
PLEASE think of these things when considering saving just a couple of dollars towards a service. And I would reckon to think if you are seeking this service in the first place you are investing towards an even or momentous occasion that you truly want to look and feel your best for.
Spend the "few extra dollars." It is so much more of a security blanket to know that you went to a professional that has all their ducks in a row to not only protect themselves but you as well!
Thanks for reading this far and I hope there was a pebble of a takeaway when it comes to supporting your local hard working professional service person!
Xo
Amy Jo
