Because of my sensitive skin and fair complexion I wasn't sure what to expect. The service took less time than I expected and my hair and makeup looked natural and flawless! So impressed and will definitely book again. read more

Modern Bridal Studio - Makeup Artists Near Me

In an effort to help future brides: Would not recommend this studio based on lack of follow-through, professionalism, responsiveness, and skill. Booked Modern Bridal Studio by contract for wedding makeup for myself and my bridal party on the recommendation of my wedding planner more than 4 months before my wedding. Was paired with an initial artist Erinn, who ghosted after several weeks of me attempting to book our trial. Then, owner Carolyn said she herself would be our artist due to the mishap. However, she too then backed out several weeks later stating she had a more important "emergency" wedding that was taking priority. Getting down to the wire, owner Carolyn ultimately paired me with artist Sharon, just 4 weeks before the wedding. During the trial, Sharon took none of my requests or feedback into account, and shaved my eyebrows without asking permission just 4 weeks before the wedding. After this experience, I asked Carolyn for a different artist and was told none was available. I then requested a refund. Carolyn was upset because she had paid Sharon before she checked in on how the trial had gone. She stated she'd refund me the deposit minus the cost of the trial, then ghosted both me and my planner for almost 3 months. I ultimately did my own makeup for the wedding in the meantime. read more

Carolyn was an absolute gem to work with. From the day of the trial, I knew she understood our journey as a couple and wedding vision. She has a way with people that cannot be put into words--authentic, sincere and genuine in her presence. On the wedding day, we had family and friends in and out of the bridal suite, celebrating, talking, relaxing---they excitedly wanted to be a part of everything. Carolyn took it all in with stride, remaining calm and relaxed, focused on her work yet also so kind with family/friends. I am sure the rest of her team is the same as I would trust anyone that Carolyn hires to represent her business. read more

I had my hair and makeup done by Jacinda for a one year anniversary photo shoot. Five stars are not even enough!! Not only was Jacinda an absolutely amazing person to work with but she made me feel like an absolutely super model!! Highly recommend working with Jacinda. I cannot wait for my next event so I can get beautified by her again! read more

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Very happy I went with Modern Bridal Studio for the hair and make up at my wedding. They did a fantastic job and made both the trial and my wedding day beautiful and fun. I highly recommend for weddings in the NOVA/DC area. read more

So so happy with the hair and makeup from Modern Bridal! would highly recommend for weddings or special occasion!

Modern Bridal Studio was very accomodating to my entire bridal party. We had several people who had last minute interest in getting their hair and makeup done, and they were able to fit everyone in. Everyone looked beautiful, and none of the bridal party felt rushed. The quality of the product was wonderful! I don't know how many people told me that my hair and make up looked amazing. However, Modern Bridal needs to take more care in setting up too many appointments in one day. It's not fair to brides to have to stress about their vendors being late to their appointments especially after spending so much money! read more

My initial contact with Carolyn seemed great. I was planning an elopement (myself, my fiancée, my dog, our pastor, and a photographer). I wanted hair and makeup done, even though it is going to be a small event. Carolyn quoted me $300 initially when I stated that I was eloping, then changed to $425 (with an offer to do $300 if I went to her home instead) because she decided it would need to cost more as a wedding (claiming she initially thought it was just a photo shoot). Thanks, but I don't need to work with a business that preys on brides. Looks from the dates on the reviews like this used to be a great business. read more

Carolyn and her team were great! She did our wedding two weeks ago and my bridesmaids and I couldn't have been happier. The hair and makeup were perfect and they were all super efficient and thorough. She did a trial on my mother and I and was very open to changes or questions we had both on the trial and the wedding day. Loved it! read more

Modern Bridal Studio - Makeup Artists Near Me

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Hello brides-to-be! Let me start out by saying this - if you do not choose Carolyn and Modern Bridal Studio for your wedding day, you'll regret it! I can honestly that I have never felt as beautiful and glamorous as I did on my special day. From the second I began emailing with Carolyn, she was professional, prompt with my answering my dozens of questions, and had a great sense of humor to top it off. My 3 bridesmaids, my mother and my niece all had their hair and make-up done as well. I truly can't put into words how breathtaking we all looked! Carolyn came to us at the hotel, which was what I was looking for. I didn't want the added stress of having to get to a salon on time and risk running late for anything. I was able to chat and visit with family and friends throughout the day while Carolyn did her thing. All of us received SO many compliments on our hair and make-up throughout the night. People told me I looked like Cleopatra! I couldn't believe it! Carolyn is the utmost professional, and what she does for a living is indeed an art form. My hair stayed in place, and my lipstick didn't smudge even once - and with all of the dancing we did, I was shocked! I highly recommend the bridal package for the bride which includes a trial run with Carolyn. It was so great to meet with her before the wedding so we could take the time to talk about the look I wanted, what my dress looked like, etc etc. It put my mind at ease, and that's a big deal when you're planning a wedding! I would recommend Modern Bridal Studio to anyone and everyone I know! I simply could not have asked for a more perfect look on my wedding day. THANK YOU, CAROLYN!!! read more

Having effortlessly communicated with Carolyn to setup the details, I'm so thrilled to have been paired with Stefanie for my and my MOH hair and makeup. I met with Stefanie for a trial at my apartment a couple months before my big day. We started by chatting about the feel of the wedding day, my dress, and I showed her some inspiration photos...then we got to work! Not only is she very talented; thoughtful in my requests and accommodating to my feedback, she is a total sweetheart. I enjoyed the process and look, as well as the company. I was so excited to have her join my MOH and I as we prepared for the day. Stefanie met us at our hotel room and it instantly felt like an old friend had arrived. We had a great time and my sister and I looked fantastic! Stefanie worked her magic replicating my look from the trial with ease AND sewed a button back on my dress in a moment of panic just before the start of the festivities. Our hair and makeup held up well into the night, despite jumping and dancing for hours, too! Long story short, Modern Bridal Studio made the whole process, stress-free and effortless...and Stefanie is amazing! I'm so happy and grateful to have had her talents and personality as a part of the big day! read more

Carolyn was awesome! She did my sisters hair and makeup (for her wedding) as well as mine and my mothers. She was very nice and I received soooo many compliments. I would definitely recommend her! read more

I LOVE Carolyn! She is the sweetest, calmest, most talented hair and makeup artist! On my wedding day, she made my mom, sister-in-law, and mother-in-law all feel so beautiful (and these are women who are skeptical of getting "fancy"). She listened to each of them, executing exactly the look they were hoping for. In the end, they all looked so beautiful -- and you could tell they FELT beautiful too! And then there was my own hair and makeup... it was flawless. Carolyn did my makeup and hair to perfection. She adjusted every tiny little thing I pointed out and noticed little things I never would have picked up myself. She tested the makeup by taking a few photos to make sure everything looked good on film -- and then adjusted accordingly (what a thoughtful touch!). AND, knowing what a crazy person I am about my eyebrows, she spent a solid 15 minutes making them EXACTLY what I wanted. In short, she's the best. You can't go wrong! Thank you, Carolyn, from the bottom of my heart! read more

I've had the wonderful experience of getting to work with Carolyn Berry. Carolyn is efficient, professional, and friendly, while doing your make-up and hair. Allowing her to do my hair and make-up each time for various events has had me turning heads all night long. I used Carolyn and her wonderful talents for attending this year's marine ball. She was able to fit me in on short notice. I received compliments all night long on my hair and makeup.! I'm not a big make up person, but having my makeup and hair done by Carolyn gave me that Victoria Secret Bombshell look that I was going for and the confidence step out for a night on the town. I highly recommend her to anyone!!! read more

The Modern Bridal team that handled hair and makeup for my wedding was wonderful. The team was lead by Alexis Reese who was so incredibly talented, fun and bubbly. She and her team believed in bringing out the best in everyone's natural beauty and not making anyone look overdone. All of the bridesmaids, my mother and stepmother, the MOG and I really felt like our best selves. I am so thankful that we used this wonderful team. read more

Carolyn ROCKS. She did my hair and makeup as well as the MOB and MOH's hair and makeup, too. She traveled an hour and a half away from Alexandria to rural Virginia to do my wedding, and I can attest to the following facts: 1) Carolyn is a sweet, calming person who is wonderful to be around on a potentially very stressful morning! Considering that you (and your bridesmaids, and your mother, etc.) will spend the first part of your wedding day with your makeup artist, you want that person to be kind. She is fabulous, and not overbearing like some makeup/hair artists can be! 2) Your makeup will look flawless, and more importantly, IT WILL LAST. I looked the best I have ever looked. Carolyn is a total professional. My makeup stayed on for 14 hours, without a single touch up, and even by the very end I looked as fresh as if I had just stepped out of the chair. It was 95 degrees out with 100% humidity in Virginia and there were plenty of tears and then two hours of non-stop dancing, so it wasn't like there wasn't opportunity for the makeup to fail. My mother and sister, who both got their makeup done, also looked fantastic! 3) Carolyn also crafted a gorgeous and completely unique hair style for me that I LOVED. 4) She will listen to you while still guiding you in the process. I didn't like the lip color she initially chose for me, and when I told her so, she chose something different. The second color she chose was not one I would have initially picked out, but it looked amazing after application. I got compliments all day on it too (which, considering all the beautiful things you are wearing on your wedding day, is a pretty specific thing to get compliments on!). 5) Carolyn is worth every penny. Let's be honest, it's your wedding day, and you want to look the most beautiful you have ever looked in your life. Why why why would you skimp on the cost of a professional makeup artist and have your friend do it for you, only to have it melt off before the ceremony starts? Carolyn is worth it! read more

I chose Modern Bridal Studio to be the hair and make up vendor for my wedding in Alexandria, VA. I had Carolyn, the owner of the company, do my hair and make up. I had 7 other ladies scheduled for hair and make up, and there were separate artists that came to take care of their services so that Carolyn's attention was focused on me. I paid for all of the services in advance, but I had many friends visit my hotel room while we were getting ready. Two of my friends loved how great everyone looked and wished that they had scheduled appointments. When Carolyn was finished with my hair and make up, she offered to do my friends as well even though they weren't scheduled! She had the capability for them to pay on credit right there. Everyone came out gorgeous! Throughout the trial process, Carolyn was great about offering suggestions and trying to recreate exactly what I was looking for. I had several trials because I wanted to try different looks and she was very patient and tried multiple looks at each trial. She took pictures of each from all different angles and sent them to me so that I could look them over at home and decide which look was the best. On the day of my wedding, my hair came out amazing and I got a ton of compliments on it. My make up was flawless and stayed on all day and night. I would highly recommend Carolyn based on her demeanor, her ability to be a creative partner in the process, her professionalism, and her hair & make up abilities. read more

I had my wedding in May of this year. I bought the package so I had my make up and hair trial (what I really recommend) but one week before the wedding I decided to change everything. Carolyn was very open to the change; she informed me about the cons but she was very calm and supporting. I was very happy about that! Carolyn's team took care of the bridesmaids, my mother and my mother-in-law. Everybody loved the results. I couldn't be happier with the Modern Bridal Studio! read more

Carolyn was incredible and wonderful to work with. She did my hair and makeup and all of my bridesmaid's and mother's makeup. One of her associates did my bridesmaids' hair. She was able to do exactly what I wanted with relatively little guidance. The results were beautiful and looked great in pictures. She made everything easy on me and it was a very relaxing way to start my wedding day. read more

I was so pleased with my experience with Modern Bridal Studio! Carolyn was very helpful and responsive when I was trying to make up my mind on hair and makeup. Once the style was confirmed after the trial, she was on hand to provide general guidance and field frantic questions and requests. Carolyn and her staff accommodated a ten person bridal party and made the entire process easy, fun, and low-stress. All my needs were met and I would recommend Modern Bridal Studio to anyone without hesitation. read more

I had the pleasure of having Carolyn and her team not only make me beautiful for my wedding day but make my bridesmaids stunning! The service was flawless. One of her ladies started with the bridesmaids at my hotel room and Carolyn came and met me out at the Vineyard. Everything went smooth and fast and she helped keep me calm as the ceremony was approaching. Did I mention my hair was absolutely gorgeous!! My make up was neutral with just enough to provide flawless photographs. I did have a trial run and Carolyn went through many different styles to see what I was interested in. She also helped with advice on getting my skin smooth for the day of and picked out a beautiful lip color, which I purchased to have handy throughout the night of the wedding. Thank you modern bridal studio!! read more

So I would give 5 starts to my makeup artist the day of (Jacinda) but can only give Max 3 starts to the company itself for many reasons. And 3 stars is being nice. First off it's a very un personal business, you never meet the managers, everything is via email and they assign you an artist, I was lucky mine, Jacinda, was amazing! Second of all they charge for everything! Even to change the contract! I had to say 7months in advance what my bridesmaids wanted and of course one changed her mind 1 month before and I got charged $25 for it when clearly it didn't change anything in the organization since we only got one artist that day!! So $25 to delete a number on a computer is kind of expensive. Which brings me to my third point, only one artist for 5 people!!!! The first girl had to get her hair done at 8:00am when the wedding was at 3pm and the artist was 40min late!!! And of course no discussions possible since it's so business oriented and not personal. I would definitely go with someone else if I could go back! I would pick a small business where the people you talk to are the ones doing your hair and makeup and are customer oriented! read more

We used Modern Bridal for bridal hair, airbrushed bridal makeup plus hair and makeup for 6 bridesmaids, the Mother of the bride and the Mother of the Groom. Quality and timeliness was great and everyone loved how they looked. I also did two trials to ensure my hair would be what I wanted on the day of the wedding, and Emine did exactly what I wanted. I also want to note that the makeup artist that was reserved for our wedding ended up having a personal emergency and Carolyn - the owner of Modern Bridal - stepped in last minute and took over all responsibilities. Super experience overall. read more

I'm a wedding planner, and one of my recent brides used Modern Bridal Studio for hair and makeup services for herself and her entire wedding party, including the mothers of the bride and groom. Carolyn was wonderfully responsive for the makeup trial, very willing to work with my bride to marry her everyday no-makeup style and her wishes for a polished, natural look for her wedding day. On the wedding day, Carolyn and Courtney arrived on time and were ready to get to work immediately. Everyone looked beautiful, and seeing my bride beaming upon viewing her finished look was one of the highlights of my day. This was an outdoor wedding in July, and everybody's makeup looked as fresh and lovely at the end of the night as it did when they walked out of hair and makeup earlier in the day. I loved working with Carolyn and her team, and I look forward to our next wedding together. read more

I had a bad experience with Modern Bridal Studio. I booked an appointment a week in advance to get my makeup done for my engagement photos. I made my appointment with Carolyn based off reviews on Wedding Wire and the Knot. Carolyn called to confirm my appointment date and time a few days before and seemed friendly at the time. Carolyn never showed up for my appointment (I waited at the studio the entire time) and after waiting 25 minutes (I had a 30 minute appointment), I had no choice but to leave and go home to put on what makeup I could with the few minutes I had left before my shoot. It ruined my day. I will not be using Modern Bridal Studio in the future. I also wanted to add that after posting my review about my experience, I felt bullied by Carolyn to delete or edit my review. read more

I've never worked with anyone else for wedding hair and makeup, but I'm so glad I chose Modern Bridal Studio. Carolyn had good suggestions for me and talked through my beauty options. When things didn't satisfy me, she was happy to try a different look. I got compliments on my hair and makeup all night. read more

I was so pleased with my experience working with Modern Bridal Studio. After doing quite a bit of research on Weddingwire, I'm so glad I decided on Modern Bridal for my hair/makeup services for my December 2017 wedding. The owner Carolyn was very easy to work with, and I found her to be responsive - usually would respond to inquiries in about 24-48 hours. My trial hair/makeup went extremely well with Ulrich in late October - their studio is in a building with other businesses, but I found it to be nice and adequate. Ulrich took his time to understand the type of look I was going for before getting started, and I was really happy with the trial result. We were fortunate enough to have him do all of our hair and makeup the morning of my wedding. It was a very early start with potential for snow, so Ulrich met on-site at our hotel about 15 minutes early around 4:45am before a 10:00am ceremony. He did an AMAZING job with everyone - my hair and airbrush makeup, my mom's airbrush makeup, and hair for the mother of the groom, bridesmaid, and matron of honor. He is very talented, pleasant, and professional. Everyone looked absolutely gorgeous! I wore my hair down, and he pinned it a little off the side to make sure the curl stayed throughout the whole day. My hair and makeup looked great, and I didn't have to do any adjustments after the morning ceremony and brunch wedding reception. Everyone was so happy with how they looked that day, and we can't thank Ulrich enough! My photographer even asked for his card, because his work was so awesome. I highly recommend Modern Bridal Studio. Overall, I found Modern Bridal to be a great value and enjoyed working with them. read more

I came across Modern Bridal Studio while doing some research on The Knot and I could not have been happier with my decision. Carolyn did such a WONDERFUL job with both my hair and makeup. I felt so beautiful and comfortable all thanks to her. Throughout the whole process, she was so accommodating and understanding. She is a true professional. Everyone in my bridal party who got their hair and makeup were also so pleased with how they looked. It was such a perfect experience! All of my expectations were exceeded. I would highly highly recommend using Modern Bridal Studio! read more

Carolyn did an amazing job with my hair and makeup - I received compliments all night on it! She was so great to work with, listened to what I wanted, and had some fun ideas too. I would absolutely recommend Carolyn or anyone on her team for hair and makeup. read more

I never felt more beautiful and glamorous than I did on my wedding day, and I owe it all to Carolyn and her team. Carolyn is amazingly talented, and is great at listening to her customer's ideas and then implementing their vision with creative professional touches. I can't wait to work with her again for other special events in the future! read more

Could not have been happier with the results. I recommend Modern Bridal Studio with no reservations. Carolyn was fantastic. She helped to make my big day perfect. read more

UNRELIABLE & UNPROFESSIONAL. I made an appointment for hair and makeup almost three weeks in advance of a professional cocktail social. The appointment was confirmed via multiple emails with the owner and she took my credit card as insurance. On the day of the appointment, I showed up for my appointment 15 minutes early - it is VERY hard to find parking around the building which is on a busy corner and even harder to find this "studio" that, in all actuality is the size of a small walk in closet. Peek in the glass door - lights off and not a soul in sight. I call the owner, then text, then call again...no response...20 minutes later I am working the phones scrambling to find replacement services provider and was absolutely blessed to find Valarie at El Shaddai Makeup and Hair Salon on Hooffs Run Drive in Alexandria. She did my makeup BEAUTIFULLY in spite of the rush and I am certain would have done the same to my hair were we not out of time since she had squeezed me in. The worst part is...its two days after the event and the owner of Modern Bride has yet to even contact me to explain and/or apologize for standing me up. Terrible customer service and apathetic approach to customer needs. Do not let this happen to you on your special day. read more