Michelle Wight Makeup Artistry

I’m not normally a big review person, but my interaction with Michelle Wight has me so taken aback I feel strongly that I need to warn others. I am getting married next summer on Friday, July 3, and felt that I’d feel most secure in my hair and makeup stylist selection if I could do a trial before signing a contract. I initially asked Michelle’s team if I could do a trial before booking, and they said no, so I looked elsewhere. They reached back out to me a few weeks later, and when I reiterated that I wanted a trial before booking, they offered for me to pay the typical trial fee ($800) and if I went with them for my wedding, they’d apply that fee to my total contract cost. The only way for me to do a trial with the same artist that I’d have on my wedding was to book with Michelle herself, so I did so even though that put me at the top of my budget for hair and makeup. I knew how much the total contract would be because she had a very detailed service menu online including costs of extra stylists, early morning fees, travel fees, everything. During the trial, Michelle mentioned that she was planning to offer trials before booking contracts in general this year, so my experience was one that she was planning to offer to others in the future. After I did my trial, and indicated I would like to book with her, she sent me a contract that included an $800 surprise fee because my wedding was “on a holiday weekend”. There are a few issues with this, including that my wedding is not actually on a weekend, but most importantly, no one informed me in any email or any contract I had already signed (I signed a contract before my trial) that this fee existed OR that this fee would apply to me. I reached out to Michelle and gave her the benefit of the doubt that this must be an honest mistake. Michelle however doubled down and reiterated that even though I was not informed ahead of time about the existence of this fee, and even though she allowed me to become financially invested in booking with her (out $800 if I don't book with her),AND even though they should have this process worked out already as they planned to offer it to others, I still had to pay the surprise holiday weekend fee if I booked with them. On top of this, Michelle's team did not forward her any of my inspiration descriptions or photos even though I sent them over a week ahead of time, which resulted in much less time taken to discuss a plan for my hair and makeup. In addition, their website listed much more lax policies around travel than on their contract, which I would have missed if I was not reading closely. Not informing me about the holiday "weekend" fee was either by accident or on purpose. If it was by accident, Michelle's company appears unwilling to accept fault for their actions and do the right thing (not charge me for surprise fees they forgot to tell me about). If it was on purpose, then their actions do not indicate that they operate with much integrity at all. Overall I was left feeling totally scammed, and want to help others avoid going through the same heartache. In summary, Michelle surprised me with $800 of hidden fees after I became significantly financially invested in working with her, and refused to remove the fee despite acknowledging that I was never told about it ahead of time.