Wedding, Mehndi party or large event?

The average time a professional henna artist takes is approx 3-5 minutes per design. My fastest speed is 2-3 minutes each. For a large wedding or mehndi party I need to speed through and get as many ladies done as possible. But I prefer not to work this fast for more than 3 hours.

REMEMBER – it’s taken me years and years of professional practice to get this super-fast AND be able to do detailed fine designs precisely.

It’s not as easy as I make it look

DO THE MATHS….

If it takes me roughly 2-3 minutes to do each design, then I can do roughly 20 quick designs in an hour. With each hand ready to do one after the other like a conveyor belt.

But, if all those ladies want both hands done, then that number halves. And if each lady wants all four sides then it’s even more time…..do you see how it works?

If you have 50 guests and they each want all four sides done, you’ll need to hire artists for a combined total of 12 hours!! But the other artists will need to be as fast as me!

So, think about this when you book artists. Some guests will be disappointed unless you book a generous amount of time. Especially if more detailed designs are wanted.

NOTE: I also need to add a traditional lemon and sugar seal to each design after it has dried. This ensures it stays on the skin for as long as possible, and protects it from smudging. An extra minute must be factored in for this too.

Doing these designs super-fast will mean I won’t have any time to interact and chat while working, which is part of the experience at a celebration or event. It also means guests must be queuing up one-after-the-other. So, it all depends on your event.

For smaller weddings I do prefer to make it an experience for guests, spending 3-4 minutes on each design, including seal and glitter decoration.
My therapy background means I am very calming for those who’ve never had henna before and may be anxious – and I love chatting to people!
I am popular with mixed-heritage marriages and events that want to try something different.
I will bring colourful material to decorate my table, cake-making fine glitter for selfie pics of your design, a special henna seal to protect your designs, bindi’s to choose from – and I love to wear a beautiful salwar kameez or lengha.

It’s all part of the package

What designs can I do quickly?

For large weddings and similar events with many people, I only do my own freestyle designs that I can do quickly – it’s a much fairer way to work, so everyone is happy.

This time includes a quick traditional spray henna seal of lemon and sugar over the design to protect it and stop it flaking off if the venue is very hot or humid. Once your design has dried (5-10 mins) guests come back for a seal and then you are good to go, forget about it and enjoy the wedding party.

Every artist has their own signature quick designs.  Here are mine:

To be honest having both sides of hands, or even two hands at a large party or event is not ideal logistically. As you must keep natural henna on for a minimum of 4-5 hours to develop properly, you need to think of the logistics of putting coats on, greeting people, dancing etc, not to mention going to the toilet! You want to enjoy the party, not worry about ruining your henna. My time includes my own henna seal to keep your design protected and make sure it stays on a long time.

So 1 or 2 quick strips each, like those above, are best for large events. Whereas a party at home, where you can relax, makes more sense for more complex and larger designs, and easier to keep your henna design (mehndi) safe from smudging.

So, what else can be done in 1 hour?

Basically, the less people involved, the more detailed the designs can be. Here are photos showing what can be done in 1 hour. See, these designs are more detailed. Click on images to see larger.

Of course, I don’t expect you to know how time-consuming it is to do a very detailed design with straight lines – especially when I make it look so easy. But it is I assure you straight lines and patterns need much more concentration and a slow steady hand (otherwise wonky lines will look terrible and ruin the design). The same with very fine and detailed designs like the palm designs above. All this takes more time.
Note: A wedding Mehndi (arms and hands covered with detail) takes 4-6 hours!

Email me to discuss your needs in detail – TheHennaLadyBristol@icloud.com