Wedding Blog

I found a stylist to come to my hotel to do wedding day hair! This was something that was on my February To-do list, so I’m glad I am a bit ahead of the game. Who is she and how did I find her?

Well, back in 2002 when I was fresh out of college, I was desperate for a job. So I suffered a 6 month stint as a manager at a Mario Tricoci’s, an upscale Chicago salon chain. At the time, I was friendly with a young stylist there who I’ll call “J,” who did kickass updos and special occasion hair. I’ve gone back to her every once in a blue moon for a cut, but it’s been over 2 years since my last visit. At this point, I wasn’t even sure she still worked for the company!

Luckily she was still there, so I booked a haircut appointment with her this past weekend (I desperately needed a trim). I knew that stylists there technically aren’t supposed to “freelance” on the side, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask. She was thrilled and said she would absolutely do it! Besides, with me and my 5 bridesmaids, it’s definitely worth her while (financially speaking, since she gets to keep 100% of the profits instead of 50% automatically going to the company). Whereas the salon would charge $75+ for an updo, she will charge me $45-50 per girl. YAY!! Cheap is good, considering that I’ll be footing the bill for 6 updos.

Now my concern is the whole signing a contract issue. Even though she is kind of doing this for me as a “favor,” I should still ask her to sign something, right? And maybe give her a security deposit? Like I said, we are “friendly” but that doesn’t necessarily equate being friends (it’s not like we’ve kept in touch). I guess I’ll have to call her in the near future to hammer out the details… fun fun.

Do you have any vendors you’re hiring without a contract? Or are you creating contracts for any of your vendors?