Pin Me Up Chicago — Local services in Chicago

Long story short of this review: I loved my hair and makeup for my wedding and my bridesmaids did too. The company that employs these artists need to work on their communication, and I do not recommend using Pin Me Up for your wedding. It will be a toss up and you will be very stressed waiting on communication.

I signed my contract with them in January and they were very patient as I changed service requests due to my bridesmaids making decisions on what services they wanted. Pin Me Up sent everything over in a neat package via their portal. They specified that they would not book a trial until I had submitted a questionnaire filled with pictures for inspiration which I gladly did. They also specify in the contract not to reach out to them to schedule a trial as they will reach out to you - completely understandable given how many artists they manage and the deluge of weddings happening! However no one reached out for months and I started to worry. I reached out finally and got scheduled for two months before the wedding for a trial.

The trial was a miss but that is why you have a trial! The artists were so nice but the hair had to be done twice, the first time was not the style I included in the portal. My hair fell out walking up the stairs to my apartment. Makeup was not blended even after asking for a touch up after the fact. I asked the artists to include two more people for service and they said they would note that. Then I submitted my photos and feedback to the portal and requested a retrial. I did not hear back from anyone for 7 days. I did get a text asking if I could speak on the phone after waiting. That was tough to coordinate too because when the time came for the call, I didn’t hear from anyone and we had to reschedule for the next day. They ran late to that call as well but life happens.

At this point my retrial happened 4 weeks before my wedding. I was very nervous going to the retrial but the artists I booked with were amazing. They got the vision I was looking for right away and they did an amazing job on the day of, my bridesmaids loved their looks too.

After the wedding I got a notification in the portal to pay for extra services. I was very frustrated at this because I had already asked the artists at the first trial to include two more services for the girls which they said they had noted, but I paid this and just want to forget the whole thing. So a word of caution: if you decide to use Pin Me Up, it will take you a long time to hear from the folks there because of how many projects they take on and the fact that there are so many weddings happening this year. You may want to work with a smaller organization that will communicate openly with you, even a message saying “We received your message and will get back to you soon” would have...

Used for my hair and makeup for my wedding, 9/3. It's important to note that this review pertains to my experience dealing with the company itself, rather than the artists who provided the services.

My primary frustration stemmed from the difficulty of getting in touch with Jessica, the company's representative. Communication with her was consistently challenging, and I found myself having to repeatedly reach out for updates and, quite surprisingly, to make payment arrangements. The latter, especially in the lead-up to my wedding, was an unnecessary source of stress.

Another issue that arose was the logistical mix-up regarding the location. Despite our wedding coordinator diligently conveying all necessary details, such as contact information and hotel arrangements, the artists still ended up at the wrong hotel and calling me on the wedding day, rather than my coordinator. I do not fault the artists for this; rather, it appears to be a result of inadequate communication within the company.

One significant drawback was the absence of a dedicated phone number for emergencies. This omission led to several hiccups during the planning process and on the wedding day itself. In a high-stakes event like a wedding, having a direct line for immediate assistance is crucial.

On a positive note, I want to acknowledge that the artists themselves were super friendly, talented and professional. They did a lovely job, and I have no complaints about the quality of their work.

Additionally, the pricing offered by this company is competitive when compared to other similar services in the Chicago area. However, I can't help but feel that the company's pricing structure reflects its communication issues and organizational challenges. While their rates may be attractive, the frustrations caused by these shortcomings did impact my overall...

We had a pretty good experience with Pin Me Up with some small snaffus - but also some great moments. First, when I went for my initial hair trial appointment, there had been some kind of mix up in the scheduling or location and my stylist was not there. Dana reached out while I was on site and we got me rescheduled super quickly, so it wasn't a huge deal. PMU said they would "make it right", but didn't specify what that meant, and nothing ever came of it. One success was at my rescheduled hair trial: my stylist executed my requested style perfectly, and then I promptly realized that I didn't like it! I have to emphasize that that was on me - not the stylist, who followed my request exactly. The stylist then jumped in with some suggestions for tweaks that helped me feel more confident and improved the style while staying in line with my vision. My day-of hair turned out great. Because of the hair trial, I was nervous about how it would come out, but I shared a couple more ideas for tweaks, and it came out beautifully. I got a lot of compliments, and my now husband and I both loved how it suited my style and the dress I was wearing. Pin Me Up also accommodate three last minute additions to the hair schedule when our moms and an aunt asked to be included. It was super easy to make schedule updates and to modify the contract to include the extra styles. Our stylist did a nice job with everyone's hair. We kept our styles pretty simple, so I'm not sure how more complex updos would look, but our simple styles...