I was referred to Vanity SD by our wedding photographer. I had been looking around for a hair and makeup stylist for our wedding, so I contacted Van. Her coordinator, Drana, filled me in on all the details and pricing, and scheduled a trial for me on the day of our engagement shoot. I found Van's pricing to be quite reasonable when compared to other stylists in the area, and so I thought it would be worthwhile to give her a shot. Our photographer had also provided us a coupon that I could use upon booking her should I decide to use her for my wedding day, so that was also an added incentive to utilize her services.
On the day of the trial, Van called me ahead of time and asked if I could go in a half hour later since she was running behind with an earlier appointment. It was of little consequence, though I did phone our photographer to let him know we'd be running a bit late for our photo session. It was a bit tricky finding the exact location of Van's studio, but when I arrived, she greeted me warmly and listened to the ideas I had for my hair and makeup. The makeup itself turned out quite great, and with a few tweaks, I was very happy with it. Initially I felt it to be a bit much, so Van toned it down just a bit. The hair was a bit more difficult, as it took a few attempts at different styles before we settled with one that we both thought was just right. In total, I was probably at Van's studio for about two hours. She definitely took her time and made sure that I was happy, and for that, I was grateful. I ended up booking her for my wedding as well. The engagement photos turned out really nice, and Van's work played a large part in that.
Leading up to the wedding, we had a few changes with a couple of people dropping out on their plans to do hair and makeup with me, my mother, and my bridesmaids. Nevertheless, Van and Drana were still able to accomodate us. There was a bit of back and forth about us needing to be charged at a higher rate since we had less people, but ultimately, the original agreement was honored on their end. There was a change in schedule on their end, though, which meant that we would be seen a bit earlier than anticipated. This left a three and a half hour gap between the completion of our services and the wedding ceremony, which concerned me a bit, but it ended up working out OK. Our photographer simply showed up earlier, but it wasn't too much trouble for him. On the wedding day, Van showed up about twenty minutes early and got to work right away on my mother while I finished straightening my hair for her. Van and her assistant, Chanel, both took turns on the four of us with Van primarily doing makeup and Chanel focusing on hair. Though when it came to me, Van also worked to finish up my hair. There were a few issues of professionalism that came up, with Van getting a bit irritated at my questions of what she was doing. There wasn't a mirror in front of me, so I had been curious to see what was being done. Also, I had expressed some concerns about the lining on my lips not being straight, and she handed me the applicator and told me to do it myself. Of course, I didn't need the attitude on my big day, as things had already been stressful enough by that point. My mother had even provided Van and Chanel with food and drink. At the very end, there was also a bit of confusion with the contract as Van's copy indicated that I owed more than what my contract had showed, but those issues were cleared up.
Professionalism aside, I believe my party would agree that Van is great at what she does, and it is obvious that she loves doing it. She spent a good deal of time making my hair and makeup just right, and I absolutely LOVED the way I looked when she was done. Not only did I look amazing, but so did my mother and my two bridesmaids. Despite the negative aspects over the course of my experience with Van, I still must say that her work speaks for itself, and with a few tweaks and improvements to the business side and professionalism aspect of her business, Vanity SD has the potential to become bigger and better. read more