$500-1000 for hair and makeup?! 😳

I'm just venting here. Like most of us, I'm trying to save money where I can on our elopement in the woods. I'm in Chicagoland and we're getting married at a state park about 1.5 hours away.

All the quotes I mention below are for wedding hair and makeup, trial and travel fees included.

I first started looking for hair/makeup near the venue. I got a few different quotes.. The lowest was $495 for a vendor that I'm not crazy about. Highest was $650 from a vendor that's seems very talented.

I was like DAMN! Okay, that's a lot. I thought I might as well look around Chicago since there are SO many more vendors in that area. They're all willing to travel but with the fees on top of the trial/day-of, I've been quoted $750, $800, $1000!

In the end I know I'm going to pay for this service because it's something I want. Aside from marrying the man of my dreams, the next two most important things about our elopement is that I feel confident and we get good photos. I know I just have to suck it up and pick one. Part of me feels like, if I'm doing this, might as well pick the one I want most even if it's not the cheapest.

Everything else is shaping up to be pretty affordable, aside from our very talented photographer who I am happily paying $1,420 for 4 hours (he gave us a discount because we're getting married on a Thursday & we paid in full at booking). I just didn't expect hair/makeup to be one of the biggest expenses. Certainly has me side-eyeing my $5k budget for this entire thing to go down.

What has been your biggest expense surprise with planning your elopement?