The first event hosted by the Scottish Wedding Hair & Makeup Directory is getting set to take place this September.

The Directory was started earlier this year by bridal makeup artist Hania McIntyre as way for Scottish based hair and makeup artists who specialises in working with brides to connect with perspective clients online.

Hania has been working as a makeup artist within the wedding industry for eight years now, having trained at the Academy of Makeup Scotland in 2015. She found herself working exclusively in weddings as she found that’s where her style naturally fit.

She continues her makeup while running the directory, providing additional services for members like helping with social media, templates for websites and regular blog posts.

Hania discusses the importance of the Directory saying: “I started it earlier this year as I felt the industry was missing something that’s focused on wedding beauty.  There are a number of wedding directories at the moment, but there wasn’t anything for just hair and makeup in Scotland. 

I was receiving so many enquiries from destination Brides getting married in Scotland, I realised that many don’t know what artists cover what areas.  If a Bride is looking for hair and makeup and Google wedding makeup in Scotland, there will be pages and pages of Artists to go through, and some may not travel or cover the area they are getting married.

I thought it would be so much easier if they could search in one place and see straight away who covers the area.  They can look through the member’s listings and get a vibe for their style and see if it’s a match.”

She added: “From the member’s side, the Directory is great if they don’t have a website as their listing is like a website for them and they receive enquiries directly. I also wanted to create a community for other Hair and Makeup Artists as I know how lonely this job can be.

Members are part of a community where we can all chat and share ideas. The reaction to the Directory has been amazing already, with new artists and salons signing up frequently, I am so excited for the future of this.”

This upcoming event is the first Bridal Beauty Roadshow at the Holiday Inn, Dumfries on the 29th of September. This is planned to be the first in a series of these kinds of events as Hania hopes to finalise one in Edinburgh by the end of the year before taking the roadshows across Scotland.

This first show will include a mini catwalk from a local bridal boutique, selfie booths, goody bags and there will be a charity raffle in aid of Dumfries and Galloway Canine Rescue Centre. This is a charity close to Hania’s heart as she adopted her dog from there and she admired how the charity took in 6 strays that were abandoned near where she lives.

She commented on the Roadshows saying: “The Roadshow was something I thought about as another way to promote the members and to offer something completely different.  I thought I could organise events where the members who are listed on the site can come along and promote their work

Two of the members are providing hair and makeup for the models, a local boutique providing a few select outfits, there will be a demo from a local dressing service and I’m currently working on finding a selfie booth to come along.  

I plan to organise these events all over Scotland to promote members in different areas as well as raising money for local charities.”