Have you ever asked another stylist, “how much do you charge for special occasion & bridal long hair styling?”
If I had a dollar for every time I’ve been asked this question especially during online bridal hair courses, I would never have to work again! Ha – only kidding, how boring would that be!
You may not know this, but I have been a salon owner for over 23 years. At one stage we had 3 salons in very different locations: one in a boutique area on the Mornington Peninsula, one in a Myer store and one in a small shopping centre in Carrum Downs (mid-lower end market).
So when it came to pricing there were so many different factors to consider such as rent, cost of products, etc.
One day I sat down and worked out what we were going to charge for our styling by developing a formula that works around how much each salon charged for a haircut & blow dry. Here it is:
Salon A charges $85.00 for a cut & blow dry.
They take 45min for the service.
$85.00 divided by 60 is $1.88 per minute.
For long hair styling, most stylists want a 60min service:
$1.88 x 60 = $112.80.
Over the past 17 years I’ve had the pleasure of educating some very, very talented hairdressers who are renowned for their cutting & colour skills. But they were terrified of looking after a bride! I came to the conclusion that styling is an extremely specialised area, and should be charged accordingly. Think about all the extra practice stylists need to be both confident and competent. Haircut & colour clients come into our salons every day so we have so many more opportunities to practice our skills and techniques on a daily basis. When it comes to styling you need be dedication to bring in a model or pull out a long hair doll in your own time.
That’s when I worked out my formula:
If Salon A is charging $112.80 for a 60min appointment, we add on an extra 30% for long hair styling. This equals $146.64, round this off to $146.00 and you have your price!
What if you’re a very confident and fast stylist, so you only need 45min?
My best advice in this situation is: charge for your skill, not your time. If you’ve learned and practiced so much that you can create the perfect waves that will last all night, finger waves that don’t droop, smooth chignons, sexy stitched up curls and fashion week ponytails – then you’re worth every cent!
I hope this helps you answer the million dollar question – how much to you charge for long hair styling?
