My bridal dress has long sleeves so I’m not going to have the traditional mehndi all the way upto my elbows etc, I was thinking more contemporary Arabic style mehndi just on the backs of my hands and a very simple design for feet. Obviously, if I speak to salons/mehndi artists and say I’m the bride, even though I’m not asking for traditional ‘bridal’ mehndi, they’ll still charge me extra simply for being the bride. So, I’m going to tell them it’s just party mehndi 
and hopefully they’ll give me a good price. Now the issue is, I’ve enquired at a number of salons in my area, with party mehndi starting from £5, whereas their ‘bridal’ is from £100! So, there’s not really an issue of who I should book in terms of price, as they’re all quite cheap and similar for the party mehndi. So what do I base my decision on? Obviously, I want to give a design to them and have them do the exact one on me, but how do I make sure they’re capable of it? Ask to see their portfolio? What if there’s nothing that I really love and they say they can do any design? Do I trust them?
The other thing is, obviously I want a really beautiful dark colour, NOT pale orange, but in the portfolio pictures they show me, it’s only of when the mehndi is freshly applied, there are not many pictures of the exact colour of mehndi a few days later. If I ask them, they’re all going to say “yeah, our mehndi leaves a lovely dark brown colour” but how do I know if that’s true?
And how many days before my wedding should I have the mehndi done?
Oh, and if anyone can give me specific recommendations of anyone in Slough/Berkshire/West London then I’d really appreciate it!
Thanks girls 
What to ask for when looking for mehndi artists?
Get a triallllll
Re: What to ask for when looking for mehndi artists?
How much would a trial cost?
What to ask for when looking for mehndi artists?
Mine was 10£ for a full arm. So party mehndi. Depends what you want though I guess. Make sure you get some mehndi on each patch of skin you intend to get your bridal mehndi as the colour comes out dif on dif bits of skin. Eg palm, arm, back of hand etc. also make sure the artist is uses the mehndi they would use for bridal cause I know some use different for casual mehndi. This way you can make a fair judgement.
Re: What to ask for when looking for mehndi artists?
Which salons are you planning to use? Are they well established salons?I had such a mad rush when it was my wedding for mehndi..simply because i hadn't booked a mehndi artist because i thought i could just walk into some salon and get it done! BIG MISTAKE! firstly me and my mum didn't want to risk the colour of the mehndi - we didn't have enough time to get a trial done so we weren't just gonna gamble! secondly when we asked for their portfolio they would say we can do any design which made us uneasy, when we asked again if they have any pictures, some said yeah we do and they just showed us photo's that were clearly out of a magazine as there were numbers on the pages!! some sent us emails and the mehndi was atrocious! i was very nearly close to giving up and going with some salon mehndi but last minute my cousin knew someone who done my mehndi..while it wasn't what i wanted it was still beautiful and the colour payout was amazing!
always ask for a real portfolio
if you can, get a trial done or get someone else to get a trial done for you if you won't have time for the mehndi to wear off
judge them by price as well - all the decent mehndi artists aren't cheap - the salons that were quoting £85/100 were pure rubbish and would have made gandh on my hands!
What to ask for when looking for mehndi artists?
Getting someone else to get the trial should be a last resort and you can't test the colour in this way. As the colour of mehndi is different on everyone. Would be fine for seeing the design etc though.
Re: What to ask for when looking for mehndi artists?
Getting someone else to get the trial should be a last resort and you can't test the colour in this way. As the colour of mehndi is different on everyone. Would be fine for seeing the design etc though.
Oh yeah silly me that's what I meant - get someone to get a trial of the design. And for colour just get a spot of mehndi on each place to get a colour sample :) I can't recommend anyone in slough but the girl that done my mehndi was in London around wembley area! She charged £180 for arms hands and little pattern on the feet!
Re: What to ask for when looking for mehndi artists?
Definitely have a trial - I don't think you need them to do the whole design (just thinking in case they start quoting crazy prices for the trial) just get them to replicate a small part of your chosen design to prove they've got the skills and to make sure the colour comes out the way you want it to.
When I got married I found someone who did mehndi part-time, I met her after she'd finished her (non-beauty-related) day job and had a trial design done by her sat in the back of my car! She didn't charge me for the trial and her work was really good despite the conditions she was working under - needless to say I booked her straight away after that!
Get a trial, of the design u want. Having done mehndi for 12+ years I can tell u that there will always be a touch of your own artist in the design but as long as thw lines are neat, the color is good and she listens. It is all good. Do a trial on the arm and ask her to bring thw mehndi she is gonna use on the big day. Usually non chemical mixed henna will take upto 36 hours for the real color. Make sure your skin doesn't itch. Slight tingling is ok.
Also best way to determine if a design is good is after u wash it. Wet mehndi designs look much better than dry designs but if done neatly and artisticly the washed ones should make you for wow.