Old, new, borrowed…bronzed
Every bride wants to look back on her wedding day pictures and see a radiant beauty staring back at her. Weddings are big business for the beauty industry, with every bride wanting perfect nails, make-up, hair and skin. The biggest faux pas is for the bride to clash with the dress (or the groom) in a shade or oompa-loompa orange, so for many years pre-wedding spray tanning was a no-no.
This all changed with the evolution of natural-looking subtle tans in shades that complement the skin tone. With the vast array of tanning products on the professional market, salons and spas can help bridal clients and the rest of the bridal party, including the grooms, achieve radiant, bronzed skin.
Marriage marketing
Weddings are popular at any time of year, but wedding season is often associated with the start of spring. Gemma Jones, brand manager at Bliss, which distributes tanning brand Whitetobrown, suggests ensuring your treatment menu and marketing is geared towards potential bridal clients from April. “Group packages are a fun way to maximise your tanning treatments so that the whole bridal party can enjoy some pamper time together,” she says. “For large bookings, it’s nice to introduce some kind of offer, such as the bride goes free, to help your promotion go well.”
Nicky Matthews, founder of Sienna X agrees that discount prices for group bookings will help get bridal parties over your threshold. She also advises linking up with other local businesses, such as florists, hairdressers and wedding dress shops to cross-refer bridal clients.
Likewise, Wendy George, brand manager of Crazy Angel, says salons and spas should target specific bridal publications, Facebook pages and forums with their tanning packages, as well as publishing them on their treatment list and company website.
Samantha Sweet, director of Sweet Squared, which distributes Morrocan Tan, agrees that using social media is a good way to reach out to a high number of people with your marketing but warns not to forget your existing client base.
Tanning trials
Tanning trials are highly recommended for a bride-to-be to ensure they get the right look. Crazy Angel, Fake Bake and Morrocan Tan all advise offering a trial run two to three weeks before the wedding day.
The trial also allows you to build a relationship with your client so you both understand what colour they are trying to achieve. “My top tip would be to advise the bride to take pictures on the trial day to work out their preferred colour,” says St Tropez celebrity tanner and skin finishing expert Jules Heptonstall.
Shelley Henderson, tanning expert for Kissed by Mii agrees, adding, “See how the colour takes to the client’s skin and determine how many days before the wedding is ideal for the bride to have her tan.”
Professional spray tanning is generally very difficult to get wrong, if it’s being carried out by someone who has been trained in it and who is using a high quality product, says Sweet. However, she warns to err on the side of caution if a bride hasn’t come in for a trial. “Always use the lightest option. A bride generally doesn’t want to have a darker tan – they just want to have a glow,” she says.
“The practice appointment will eliminate the possibility of anything going wrong, which is why this step is so essential for spa owners,” adds Matthews.
However, if a bride turns up to your salon in despair with a streaky tan, George from Crazy Angel recommends advising them to apply lemon juice after a shower to the offending area. “The acidity will help remove the tan and they should use a dry towel to gently rub the colour away”, she says.
Bridal packages
Having a variety of packages to suit different budgets and needs is important to entice brides to use your business. The golden rule is to make the bride feel special.
“A glass of bubbly while she waits for her treatment can often do the trick, and a promotional offer for her and her bridal party could lead to further sales,” says Laura Maginess, marketing executive of Fake Bake.
Kissed by Mii, distributed by Gerrard International, is set to launch a tan specifically targeting the bridal market this spring. “It will be similar to the existing range but offer a lighter tan to clients,” says brand manager Mary-Tabitha Wilkin.
Henderson suggests offering a bridal package such as a beauty bundle where nails, make-up and tanning are all included. “Services at a discounted price guarantee business for you and it makes things simple for the bride. You could also offer the option to pay in instalments.”
Fake Bake Beauty Boutique in Glasgow has seen a rise in demand for bridal tans, with many brides now opting for hand-applied tans, while spray tans remain more popular with the rest of the bridal party. The boutique created its Luxurious Professional Self-Tan, which incorporates a preparation treatment where the therapist applies a Gold Pomegranate and Passion Fruit Body Polish, followed by its Gold Silky Solution, to nourish dry areas. The treatment is completed with the application of Gold Tanning Formula for a smooth and even tan in six to eight hours.
Brides and bridal parties are ideal clients to retail to, especially with products that will be of benefit on the morning of the wedding. Heptonstall suggests St Tropez’s Skin Illuminators as a great way of enhancing radiance and achieving a light reflective glow as well as the appearance of longer, slimmer limbs. He says, “Apply it to the areas of the body and face that naturally protrude, such as the cheekbones, brow line, cupids bow, décolletage and shoulders, to highlight.”
Wedding party
Getting the bridal party involved in a tanning package makes good business sense, with all the brands agreeing that tanning parties are a brilliant way to treat the bride before her big day, especially as part of a hen do.
“Multi-book packages are ideal for wedding parties. So include options for the bride, bridesmaid and mother of the bride, with a selection of packages and tiered savings,” says Henderson. “For example, the larger the party the greater the saving.”
Lisa Barnett, brand manager of Urban Tan, also recommends creating a bespoke, tailored option for each member of the bridal party so it suits their skin tone.
While you may already have the female market covered, don’t forget about the groom and groomsmen. Male treatments are on the rise, and spray tanning in particular has seen huge growth among Britain’s young men. Recent research by analyst Mintel showed that 27% of men aged 16-24 have used fake tan in the last year.
Whitetobrown advises using a product that promotes a natural-looking colour, and conditions, as male skin tends to be drier. “All Whitetobrown tanning solutions have added aloe vera and vitamin E,” says Jones.
Urban Tan is also keen to target the growing male market and offers its salon accounts unscented or Cool Cucumber Homme Aroma, as an option for men. Barnett says: “Men are typically getting into the tanning trend as they also want to glow in their wedding pictures. Males are less embarrassed nowadays about getting sunless tanning treatments.”
Au Natural
Spray tanning is popular among brides who want an instant glow, but sunbed tanning can help achieve a natural tan before the big day.
Gary Lipman, chairman of The Sunbed Association, advises that the bride and her bridal party “plan their UV tan”. He says, “It takes time to build up a tan; certainly a few weeks should be allowed with a maximum of two or three sessions a week. If the bride is booking a course of treatments such as facials prior to the wedding, a sunbed session is an ideal add-on, as long as the treatment is compatible with UV exposure.”
UV tanning can also help achieve a base tan before the honeymoon. Lipman adds, “One of main reasons people use a sunbed is it reduces the risk of burning once arriving in a sunny destination. It is still important to wear sun cream once on holiday, though.”
For businesses that offer a sunbed service, the UV brands advise to target male clients too. Hollie Bennet, marketing manager for Cyrano, says that UV is just as popular with males as with females. “It has always been seen as a ladies’ pleasure but this isn’t the case. Men enjoy UV tanning just as much as they want to look and feel good,” she says.