A makeup artist website that turns a portfolio into dated enquiries
Brides and clients choose a makeup artist from the portfolio, then ask one question: are you free on my date? A makeup artist website should show work organised by occasion, ask for the date and location in the first enquiry, make the bridal trial easy to book, and be upfront about travel fees and the retainer that secures a date.
A portfolio organised by occasion
A single wall of faces makes a bride hunt for the soft, long-wearing looks she wants and makes an editorial client wade through wedding photos. Split the portfolio into the work you want more of:
- Bridal: natural, glam and cultural bridal looks, with the bride's skin type or tone noted when it helps others picture themselves.
- Bridal party and guests: what a group booking looks like on the morning.
- Events and occasions: proms, parties, photoshoots.
- Editorial, film and commercial: credits for photographer, publication or production.
Anticode's CMS can hold each look as an entry in a portfolio collection with fields for occasion, photo, description and credit, so every category gets its own page and new work goes up from the dashboard. Use your own photos with the client's consent and credit photographers; borrowed images are the quickest way to lose a bride's trust. Show a range of skin tones and ages if your work covers them, because clients look for someone who has worked on faces like theirs.
Date first: the enquiry form
Most wedding enquiries are answered with "what's the date and where?" before anything else, so ask for those up front. Anticode's standard contact form has fixed fields (name, email and a message), which works if the page says clearly what to include. A more useful wedding enquiry form, with separate fields for the date, venue or town, number of people needing makeup, ready-by time and whether a trial is wanted, can be a custom form tied to a site function (up to 30 plain-text fields, with your own message on the thank-you page) or an app build. Either reaches you through the same submissions inbox.
Route enquiries to your phone with a form connector to Telegram or Slack, and copy them to a Google Sheet to track who's been quoted and who's confirmed. Speed matters: a bride often messages several artists for the same date.
Trials, booked like appointments
The bridal trial is an ordinary appointment in your studio or at the client's home, so it fits Anticode's booking calendar. Set up "Bridal trial" as a service; the form asks for the service, day, time, name, phone and email, and each slot takes one booking. The calendar offers six fixed times a day (Mondays skipped), and you confirm each trial yourself. Dates more than 120 days out are refused, which suits trials (usually a few months before the wedding) but not the wedding day itself. Wedding days are better handled as enquiries: you need to check location and timing before saying yes, and the calendar doesn't show which dates are already taken by weddings booked elsewhere.
Travel area and fees, stated clearly
Mobile makeup artists lose time to enquiries they can't take. Name the area you cover without extra charge, then a travel fee table by zone or mileage, early-start surcharges (before a set time), parking or congestion costs, and overnight stays for destination weddings. Add your minimum booking for a wedding party and the time you need per person, which helps a bride plan the morning.
| Item | What to state |
|---|---|
| Bridal makeup | The price including or excluding the trial, and what's in the kit (lashes, touch-up). |
| Bridesmaids and guests | Per person, and the minimum party size. |
| Trial | Price, length, and whether it's deducted from the wedding fee. |
| Travel | Free radius, then by zone; early starts and overnight stays. |
| Retainer | How much secures the date and whether it's refundable. |
The retainer and contracts
Most bridal artists take a non-refundable retainer to secure the date. With Anticode, the route is a payment link from Stripe, PayPal or another provider that you send once you've confirmed availability. It isn't linked to the enquiry, so record it against the booking yourself. Set out your terms on a dedicated page: what the retainer covers, when the balance is due, cancellation and date-change rules. Anticode drafts a Privacy Policy and Terms from what the site collects, as a starting point; your booking contract is separate, and you should write or have it checked for your country.
Building it with Anticode
A first prompt might be "a bridal makeup artist in Manchester covering the North West, portfolio by occasion, trials and a wedding enquiry form". Luxury (Jost) or Editorial (Geist) suit a portfolio-led site; keep the action colour quiet (black or gold) so the photos carry the colour. Because enquiries collect contact details, Anticode requires two-factor sign-in for the account owner and the person publishing before the site is published. Related reading: wedding photographers and hair salons.
Limits
- No availability calendar that shows taken wedding dates.
- No retainer collected inside the enquiry or booking; payment links only.
- No file uploads, so clients can't attach inspiration photos to a form; ask them to email them.
- No contract signing; use an e-signature tool.
Questions people ask
Can brides check my availability on a bridal makeup artist website?
Not on a live calendar. Ask for the date in the enquiry and reply quickly; the booking calendar is for trials, not wedding days.
Can clients send inspiration photos?
Not through the form, because there are no file uploads. Ask them to reply to your email with photos.
How do I take a retainer?
Send a payment link from your own provider once the date is confirmed, and set out the retainer terms on your site.