u/cyoshi89

Would you ask for a full refund after finding out your bridal hairstylist wasn’t licensed?

I got married last week and I’m looking for some outside perspective because I’m honestly not sure if I’m being reasonable or if I’m just emotional because this happened on my wedding day.

I booked my bridal hair through a professional bridal hair/makeup company. My total booking came to about $1,170. That included $300 for my bridal hair, $200 for my mom’s hair, plus travel, an early-morning fee, gratuity, booking/processing fees, etc.

The stylist who came to our Airbnb was incredibly sweet, professional, on time, and genuinely a joy to be around. I want to make that clear because I don’t have anything against her personally.

Unfortunately, my hair did not turn out well.

My hair was finished early that morning, and before I even got into my dress around 9:30, the curls were already falling out. It was getting extremely frizzy and tangled, there were visibly straight pieces mixed in with curls, and it continued getting worse as the morning went on.

I was so insecure about it that I ended up keeping my veil on for basically my entire wedding day.

Later that night, things got worse. When I removed my clip-in extensions, my natural hair was so tangled into them that a significant amount of my own hair came out with them. I’ve worn extensions and had my hair professionally styled before and have never experienced anything like that.

I contacted the owner afterward and explained what happened.

To her credit, she was extremely kind and apologetic. She offered to refund the $300 bridal hair service in full and did so. She has been very professional in all of our communication, which is part of why I’m struggling with what to do next.

Then I discovered something that completely changed how I felt about the situation.

I happened to find my stylist’s professional Instagram. Her bio said:

“Bridal hair bookings will open after licensing.”

I had absolutely no idea she wasn’t licensed yet.

Nothing during booking or before my appointment indicated that the person being sent to do my bridal hair wasn’t licensed. She also came to the appointment completely alone — there was no licensed stylist, instructor, or supervisor there with her.

I emailed the owner again because I honestly thought maybe I was misunderstanding something.

The owner responded and confirmed that the stylist had not completed her cosmetology licensing.

She explained that she had not realized this herself and believed the stylist had already completed cosmetology school. She called it an oversight on their part, took responsibility for not catching it, said their bridal hair artists are supposed to be licensed, and told me they will not have this stylist perform any more bridal hair services until her licensing is complete.

I genuinely appreciate the owner’s honesty. She could have been defensive or tried to avoid answering me, and she didn’t.

But at the same time, I’m having a really hard time getting past this.

I specifically hired a professional bridal company because I wanted to be able to trust that the person they sent was appropriately qualified to do my hair on one of the most important days of my life.

I wasn’t told she wasn’t licensed. I wasn’t offered a discounted student service. I paid the company’s normal $300 bridal hair rate, and I would have requested a different stylist if I had known beforehand.

Had my hair turned out beautifully, maybe I would feel differently. But knowing that it was already falling apart before I put my dress on, that I spent my wedding day hiding it under my veil, that I lost a concerning amount of my own hair removing the extensions, and then finding out afterward that the stylist wasn’t licensed has made the entire situation feel very different.

The company has refunded the $300 specifically charged for my bridal hair.

I’m now considering asking them to refund the remainder of the booking, meaning the rest of the approximately $1,170 I paid, including the associated travel/early-morning/booking fees.

I’m also considering reporting what happened to the Idaho cosmetology licensing board. I’m not looking to destroy anyone’s business or get this stylist in trouble. I just feel uncomfortable knowing that an unlicensed stylist was apparently sent alone to perform a full-price professional bridal service, and I feel like the licensing board is probably the appropriate place to determine whether that was allowed.

So I’m genuinely looking for outside opinions:

Would you ask the company for a full refund in this situation?
Would you report the licensing situation to the state board?
Am I being reasonable in feeling like the $300 hair refund alone doesn’t really address what happened?

I’d especially love to hear from licensed hairstylists/cosmetologists, salon or bridal beauty business owners, and other brides.

I really am trying to be fair here because the owner has been kind and has taken responsibility. At the same time, I can’t shake the feeling that I paid a professional company specifically so something like this wouldn’t happen.

Would you ask for a full refund after finding out your bridal hairstylist wasn’t licensed?

I got married last week and I’m looking for some outside perspective because I’m honestly not sure if I’m being reasonable or if I’m just emotional because this happened on my wedding day.

I booked my bridal hair through a professional bridal hair/makeup company. My total booking came to about $1,170. That included $300 for my bridal hair, $200 for my mom’s hair, plus travel, an early-morning fee, gratuity, booking/processing fees, etc.

The stylist who came to our Airbnb was incredibly sweet, professional, on time, and genuinely a joy to be around. I want to make that clear because I don’t have anything against her personally.

Unfortunately, my hair did not turn out well.

My hair was finished early that morning, and before I even got into my dress around 9:30, the curls were already falling out. It was getting extremely frizzy and tangled, there were visibly straight pieces mixed in with curls, and it continued getting worse as the morning went on.

I was so insecure about it that I ended up keeping my veil on for basically my entire wedding day.

Later that night, things got worse. When I removed my clip-in extensions, my natural hair was so tangled into them that a significant amount of my own hair came out with them. I’ve worn extensions and had my hair professionally styled before and have never experienced anything like that.

I contacted the owner afterward and explained what happened.

To her credit, she was extremely kind and apologetic. She offered to refund the $300 bridal hair service in full and did so. She has been very professional in all of our communication, which is part of why I’m struggling with what to do next.

Then I discovered something that completely changed how I felt about the situation.

I happened to find my stylist’s professional Instagram. Her bio said:

“Bridal hair bookings will open after licensing.”

I had absolutely no idea she wasn’t licensed yet.

Nothing during booking or before my appointment indicated that the person being sent to do my bridal hair wasn’t licensed. She also came to the appointment completely alone — there was no licensed stylist, instructor, or supervisor there with her.

I emailed the owner again because I honestly thought maybe I was misunderstanding something.

The owner responded and confirmed that the stylist had not completed her cosmetology licensing.

She explained that she had not realized this herself and believed the stylist had already completed cosmetology school. She called it an oversight on their part, took responsibility for not catching it, said their bridal hair artists are supposed to be licensed, and told me they will not have this stylist perform any more bridal hair services until her licensing is complete.

I genuinely appreciate the owner’s honesty. She could have been defensive or tried to avoid answering me, and she didn’t.

But at the same time, I’m having a really hard time getting past this.

I specifically hired a professional bridal company because I wanted to be able to trust that the person they sent was appropriately qualified to do my hair on one of the most important days of my life.

I wasn’t told she wasn’t licensed. I wasn’t offered a discounted student service. I paid the company’s normal $300 bridal hair rate, and I would have requested a different stylist if I had known beforehand.

Had my hair turned out beautifully, maybe I would feel differently. But knowing that it was already falling apart before I put my dress on, that I spent my wedding day hiding it under my veil, that I lost a concerning amount of my own hair removing the extensions, and then finding out afterward that the stylist wasn’t licensed has made the entire situation feel very different.

The company has refunded the $300 specifically charged for my bridal hair.

I’m now considering asking them to refund the remainder of the booking, meaning the rest of the approximately $1,170 I paid, including the associated travel/early-morning/booking fees.

I’m also considering reporting what happened to the Idaho cosmetology licensing board. I’m not looking to destroy anyone’s business or get this stylist in trouble. I just feel uncomfortable knowing that an unlicensed stylist was apparently sent alone to perform a full-price professional bridal service, and I feel like the licensing board is probably the appropriate place to determine whether that was allowed.

So I’m genuinely looking for outside opinions:

Would you ask the company for a full refund in this situation?
Would you report the licensing situation to the state board?
Am I being reasonable in feeling like the $300 hair refund alone doesn’t really address what happened?

I’d especially love to hear from licensed hairstylists/cosmetologists, salon or bridal beauty business owners, and other brides.

I really am trying to be fair here because the owner has been kind and has taken responsibility. At the same time, I can’t shake the feeling that I paid a professional company specifically so something like this wouldn’t happen.