Gen Z Brides vs Millennial Brides Why Your Booking Strategy Needs to Change as a wedding beauty pro

The bride sitting in your chair today is a Gen Z bride with massive trust issues. And there is a major shift happening for booking brides marketing to brides the content you're creating for her. And I want you to be prepared if you've been feeling like I've never had to do so much work just to book one bride. Brides are so slow to book this year compared to last year. Brides are getting cold feet and not committing. They constantly want to do trials with me before booking or we actually decided to go a different direction because you're out of our budget. And I know you've probably heard we don't want to start until 9am starting. So I don't think this will work. So let's talk about the Gen Z Bride of Today versus the Millennial bride. What's working to book today's bride versus outdated strategies and some hybrid methods to start getting you booked faster. Let's start with our lovely Gen Z Bride of today. She was born between 1997 and 2012. Her age range is from 13 to 28 years old, so she is likely in the age range of getting married between 25 and 35. She's somebody that grew up with TikTok, grew up with Amazon, grew up in the Google world. They're now growing up in a ChatGPT world aka information is her fingertips with a I can get it here in an hour mentality AKA they want everything Amazon fast. And I can almost guarantee you that During COVID between 2020 and around 2024, she was likely a bridesmaid in a wedding and she likely had a traumatic experience with somebody in our industry leading to all these major trust issues that they currently have with the bridal hair, bridal makeup industry. She probably had to get up at 5am she probably had a style or a makeup look that looked nothing like her inspiration photos leading to her maybe not even wanting to be in photos fixing her hair or fixing her own makeup leading to her losing dress for those now let's talk about the Millennial bride. She was born between 1981 and 1996. Her age range today is between 29 and 44. So she's been the bride that you've been servicing for probably the last few years. Probably like the last 5ish years. Typically brides are getting married between the ages of 25 and 35. So the bride you're dealing with now in your inbox is going to be a mix of Gen Z as well as Millennial. So when you're marketing, booking Creating content for these brides, you want to make sure that you have a hybrid method so that way you're marketing and booking for your millen to feel confident and comfortable as well as your Gen Z new bride. Now let's get into some buying mindset, some booking strategies, what's outdated, what's working, what's not. Your Gen Z bride is research heavy. She is hyper aware and she is hyper skeptical. Again, she's got trust issues. She prioritizes authenticity, not perfection. Because of the rise of TikTok, when you go over on TikTok, nothing is curated. They are so over that curated. Everything is perfect because they know that it's not. They want real, raw, authentic. They want to feel like they're on a FaceTime call with you. They want to feel like they're in the room with you when they're watching your content. She wants to vibe with you, not just book with you. She's going to book with you based on how your brand feels, not just how it looks. She's like, okay, you look professional and cute, but like okay, what's your vibe? What is the vibe that you're bringing to my wedding day versus the millennial bride that you've been servicing around these past five years? Her buying mindset is planned focus. She's more detail oriented, she's more budget aware. She's definitely somebody who prioritizes that professionalism. She wants to hire the absolute expert, the perfectly curated, the expert, the authority. She wants to feel taken care of stress free. She's somebody who likely books based on trust as well as thoroughness. Think about the past couple years. Think about COVID times, how they were booking, then prioritizing those details. You were using words like stress free. That's something that's going to work with her versus your Gen Z bride. That's not going to cut it. And the takeaway here for you. When you're looking at the buying mindset of a Gen Z versus a millennial, what is it going to really take her to move the needle for her to actually book with you, your millennial bride? You could post pretty photos and just showcase your talent, your pretty, your pretty makeup, not ever really showing your face, maybe showing it here and there, maybe on your website. But you could get away with still booking yourself out by posting just pretty hair and talent on your Instagram versus with your Gen Z bride. That is not going to work at all. She wants to know the vibe that you're bringing. She wants to see those tutorials. She wants to see the consultations with your client. She wants to know how your brand feels, what your brand values are, what you're bringing to the table. Who's actually coming into her house, indoor hotel on the wedding day. She wants to know you. So if you've ever been afraid of popping open the camera, filming yourself talking to camera, you're going to want to practice that moving forward because that's what your Gen Z bride needs. Now let's talk about even more about how she shops and how she's kind of showing up online. The bride you've been servicing, the millennial bride, she's someone who values guidance, expertise over trends. She's somebody who actually will read your website and those long testimonials. She's most likely to use email to fill out your entire inquiry form, maybe likely even wants to book a call with you. And she typically needs multiple touch points before converting into a book ride. So that's kind of like her shopping process. Now, our Gen Z ride Y, she's totally different. She is obsessed with social proof. And I'm not just talking those long testimonials because she has the shortest attention span. So she is not reading anything that's not short and concise. She wants something again that is more real and raw and authentic. So something that's going to relate to her more when she's in that shopping process is going to be something more like a screenshot of a text from a bride that you got, a real bride actually talking. The kind of content that like when you hand your bride the mirror and you get the reaction, that's the kind of testimonial that she wants because it's short, quick, to the point, it's actually real in the moment and you can't edit it. She favors UGC user generated content over on TikTok versus more of like those branded campaigns with celebrities. She doesn't trust that she's somebody who values more real and raw TikTok style storytelling, something that shows the emotions that makes her feel something versus like a piece of content that's like three tips to prep your bridal hair or three tips to prep your skin. No, that's not going to resonate with her. Where your millennial bride likes email communication, your Gen Z bride absolutely hates it. Okay, she is a DM first, a WhatsApp, a texter. She doesn't really like the email. Okay. And again, she has that low attention span, shorter than a goldfish. Okay, she needs quick trust building or she's scrolling on. And the quickest way to Build trust is with video content. So if you are somebody who's still posting photos that's resonating, maybe you still with some older millennial brides, you need to start prioritizing video. And the takeaway I want you to have when we're looking at the new booking process for your Gen Z brides, you want to make sure you're focusing on storytelling. Every single photo and video inside of your camera roll that you have of a bride has a story behind it. You need to be sharing that story. Every time she sits in your chair, there is a story to be told. She is telling you exactly what you can be putting in a caption in a carousel post in a video that's going to connect with the future bride of yours watching it on the other side of the screen. So if you're still using those fluffy captions that you could get away with in years past, they're not going to cut it anymore. And another thing, you you need to be flexible with your DM communication. Your Gen Z bride is not likely checking her email every single day. It's probably more on like a once a week of basis. So even though she is filling out your inquiry form, something you're going to want to make sure you're doing is that she's filling out your inquiry form. Go over on Instagram or go over to WhatsApp and text her something where she's going to get an instant notification and say hey, I saw your inquiry come through. I just want to make sure it didn't go to your spam. And I'm so excited to let you know that I'm available on your day. So go ahead and get all the details, it's over in your inbox and load me up with any questions while while we're here. That's going to make sure that she's actually going over to your inbox. Another thing that I really need you to take away from this. Your millennial bride really prioritized phone calls. She really prioritized email. Your Gen Z bride does not. So if you are still using the outdated strategies of forcing everybody on a phone call, girly pop, I'm so sorry, that is not going to work with this bride today. This is where you're going to want to make sure you are being flexible and not so hard and firm on your boundaries. Yes, boundaries are in place for a reason. But make sure you are flexible. Your Gen Z bride with her trust issues needs that. Now let's talk about where they're actually hang out. Ms. Millennial Bride when she's looking for wedding vendors, when she's researching for her wedding inspiration, she was hanging out and still hanging out on the wedding vendor sites. Think like Zola the Knot Wedding Wire. She's hanging out on Pinterest, curating the perfect wedding. She's hanging out on Instagram. She's likely moved over to TikTok too. Things that she was likely searching for was like best bridal hairstylist near me, top rated makeup artist near me, top rated makeup artist in Houston. Best bridal hairstyles for oval face, stuff that was like pretty fluffy and more like best of versus your Gen Z bride. She's hanging out over on TikTok Instagram Reels. She's still over on Pinterest, but she is not hanging out on those wedding vendor sites. She's more vibes over information and you can't get the vibes on a static wedding vendor website that just kind of ranks everybody. That's not the vibe for her. Things that she's likely searching up is going to be something along the lines of like natural wedding makeup for the summer wedding, hair inspiration for short hair, how to take great content on your wedding day. Again, more of the vibes she doesn't really care about. Best of so how this is actually important for you. By knowing exactly where she's hanging out, you want to make sure you're hanging out there. So if you are somebody who is still paying hundreds and hundreds of dollars per month to be on Zola Wedding Wire, than not moving forward for today's Bride and Beyond, she's not going to be hanging out there. So it's going to be a disservice for you to not prioritize your Instagram real content or creating a presence over on TikTok. All right, so we know where she's hanging out, how she likes to shop, a little bit behind her buying process. Now let's talk about what's actually converting your Gen Z br into a book bride and how you can actually increase the trust in her eyes to make her want to book you faster. But first, let's talk about the millennial bride and things that you're probably doing now that's actually converting her, which I fear are some outdated strategies. Things that are more likely to convert your millennial bride is going to be things like prep guides showcasing award badges that you have from Zola Best of the Knot, having something on your website like a downloadable free skincare prep guide, or selling a $7 hair prep guide that she can download Super Detailed, long winded frequently asked questions that you're putting in your email responses that you have on your website that are in your contract. Things that are more likely to build trust with your millennial bride are going to be things like being featured in a magazine. Having super long testimonials that are like paragraphs on paragraphs on paragraphs. Having those value breakdowns of like what's included. Talking to her in terms of like why you're worth it, having that clarity and control. Almost talking to her as like you're the professional up here and she's the peer down here. She kind of likes somebody more who' like in that authority role again, that more expert status. And those are things that are really going to build trust in her eyes. Think of like when you go to get your hair done, you know how there's like the owner, then you have like junior stylist and people kind of below her. Your millennial bride is likely somebody who grew up in that era where she was like so excited that she got the owner versus your Gen Z bride can kind of care less. So the outdated things that are kind of not worth your time anymore. I feel like moving forward for your Gen Z bride is these super text heavy reviews, frequently asked questions, contracts. Of course you want to make sure that you have all of your non negotiables in there, but really make sure that you're adding in graphics because remember, she has a really short attention span and no, she's not reading all of that. The prep guides, the award badges, they're not really giving vibes. Authenticity, real and raw feeling who you are behind the brand. It's kind of like putting a wall between you and her. Almost like you're up here and she's down here. Again, think of that like professional and peer. So when it comes to booking your Gen Z bride, here are some things that are going to build the trust so you can start booking her faster. The kind of content that's going to convert her more is going to be more behind the scenes transformations, trial day stories, wedding day story bride text screenshots. She wants to hear your story. She wants to feel herself in your story. She wants to get to know you. You can no longer hide behind a screen. You need to start showing up as yourself how you are on the wedding day. Your story. How did you get to being a bridal hairstylist or a bridal makeup artist? She wants to feel who you are beyond just the brand. She wants you showing your struggles so she can relate to that. It's not relatable if you're just showing the pretty hair and the pretty makeup. And she doesn't ever get to know you or your story. She wants to see your client stories. She wants to hear the story that happened in the chair. How did you get from that before photo all the way to the transformation photo? What happened there? What happened to the consult? How she going to feel when she's a bride sitting in your chair? She wants to hear all of that. She doesn't just want to see the after photos, she wants to see the before with the transformation. She wants to see the behind the scenes. She wants to see the vlog styles. This is the type of content that's going to connect with her as a human. She wants to feel emotionally seen and safe inside of your content. Another massive thing that's really going to help convert your Gen Z brides is flexibility over hard boundaries. So for example, trials before booking. If you are somebody who keeps seeing in your inbox that brides want to do a trial before booking, it's because they've lost trust with our industry because they've been a bridesmaid, they've had a traumatic experience and they don't want to commit to booking when they're not exactly sure if it's going to work for them. So if your content isn't really doing that heavy lifting there and again, truly showing your vibes, who you are, what you bring, the transformations, exactly how you're making your clients feel, you're going to get a lot more of brides wanting to do trials before booking with you. And personally, when I started out with my journey, I was somebody who was a hard no on these. But as time went on I realized, hey, if this is just going to help my bride feel 100% comfortable and and safe, why not do it? And if you do wind up doing a trial before booking, what you're going to want to do in that situation is you're going to want to make sure you get her into your chair for a trial within that week. Because that way if you do have other requests, at least you have her in that week and you always let her know like, hey, it is a first come first serve. So somebody else wants the date. I can't hold it with the trial. But also the goal is once she's at the trial, you're making sure that you're booking her then and there, she's not leaving and going home and then you're sending her the book booking stuff. You're making sure that she Books then and there for you 100 of the time. Every time I did a trial before booking, I always book the bride. Another thing that's really going to scare off your Gen Z bride and not convert her into a wedding booking is when you are again not flexible with your boundaries but like how you're communicating it. So if within that first email you have a wall of text and it is contract heavy language, these are my non negotiables that's likely going to scare her off because those are the vibes of like you just pissed off your teacher or something. She wants to know the vibes of you. So in your email language you want to make sure that you're talking to her as like you just met her in person. And I highly doubt if you just met her in person you're going to be saying here's my non negotiables for booking. Once you sign this contract, you cannot take anybody off ever, even in debt. Like you're not going to be saying that convenience is going to be among one of the best and fastest ways to start booking your Gen Z brides. She wants faster responses. She wants clear pricing available. She doesn't want it hidden behind the wall of me needing to email you. She wants a booking process in the DMs or texting her. She's somebody who's on TikTok shop, she's somebody who's on Amazon, they click a button and it's here within an hour. She doesn't want to have to go through all of these steps just to find out exactly how much you charge. Some ways that you can get faster responses and not feel tied to your inbox is you want to make sure that you have a CRM. The CRM that I use is Subsado and with Dubsado you can set up workflows that when somebody fills out your inquiry form, they get an automated email letting them know that yes, I received your inquiry and here's the next day that you'll likely hear from me. Even something just as clear and simple like that is really going to help set you apart in her eyes and help you to book her faster. And if you're like, okay Marissa, I know I got to start getting in the DMs but what are some DMs that I can send her? I have an entire mini training in my booked and profitable playbook that I go over DM scripts, Instagram stories that you can post and start seeing inquiries and caption call to actions that are actually going to get hurt in your inbox. It's linked down below for you. Try it out so you can start getting bookings for today's bride. And let me know down below. What outdated strategy are you canceling and what new strategy are you starting? And I'll see you in the next one. Bye.