A no-show wedding party or an unbilled trial costs a makeup artist a full day of income. GhostBill Pro takes the deposit that secures the date, bills travel and add-ons, and gets the client to sign and pay from their phone.
A bridal party books your Saturday, then cancels two weeks out. With no deposit, you lose the date and the income, and it is too late to fill it. The deposit is what turns a tentative hold into a real commitment.
The trial run, the early call time, the 90-minute drive to the venue: real costs that quietly disappear because they were never itemized. A bridal package quoted without travel and trial broken out is a package you partly worked for free.
It is 6am, you are doing the bride's mother, and the balance is still unpaid. Nobody wants to talk money in that moment. Without a deposit taken at booking and a pay link sent in advance, you are stuck invoicing after the fact and hoping.
Send a quote with a deposit due to confirm the booking. The client pays from their phone, the date is locked, and a cancellation no longer means a lost day of income. The deposit funds your hold on the calendar.
Break out the trial, the travel, the early start, and each additional face as line items the client can see and approve. An itemized package gets paid in full because the client understands exactly what each part costs.
Send the balance invoice with a pay link ahead of the date so the money is handled before the morning of. No awkward money conversation while you are holding a brush. Card or one-click pay, no account for the client to create.
Deposits that lock the date, travel and trials billed in full, and the balance handled before the morning of. Your booked days become paid days.
A 25 to 50 percent non-refundable deposit is standard for bridal and event makeup, due at booking to secure the date. The deposit protects you against last-minute cancellations that leave a day unfillable, and it signals that the client is committed.
Yes. The trial is a separate session with its own time and product cost, so it should be its own line item, either billed on its own or clearly broken out in the package. Folding it in for free is one of the most common ways makeup artists lose money on bridal work.
Charge a travel fee based on distance or time, and put it on the invoice as its own line. For early call times, a separate early-start fee is reasonable. The key is to quote both up front so they are agreed before the date, not a surprise on the final bill.
The service (bridal, event, trial), number of faces, any travel or early-start fees, the deposit already paid, the balance due, a specific due date, and a pay link. Showing the deposit and the remaining balance clearly is what keeps the money conversation clean.
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