When Elliot Simmons accompanied his fiancée to her hair and makeup trial three weeks before their wedding, he was impressed — so much so that he decided to book services for himself, too.
Simmons, 32, a YouTube creator based in Lombard, Ill., was feeling a little anxious about the wedding, which took place last December in Oak Park, Ill.
“I was never nervous about getting married to my wife,” Simmons said. “The nerve-racking part was that there were 150 people” in attendance, in addition to the fact that he still plans to post wedding content to his channel.
Getting his hair trimmed, moisturizing his face and applying a little airbrushing — a long-lasting makeup technique that sprays a mist of liquid foundation, blush or other products —alleviated some of the stress. “I felt complete,” he said.
While many brides traditionally spend the lead-up to their wedding ceremony sitting through hours of hair and makeup, grooms have typically decompressed in other ways, like shooting pool or sharing a drink with close friends and family. But now, some grooms are opting to join the pre-wedding grooming ranks.
The Bridal Beauty Team, which is based in Chicago and worked with Simmons and his wife, Abigaíl Piñón, reported receiving about 75 percent more requests this year for groom hair and makeup than in 2025. “It kind of exploded,” said Kate Johnson, the founder, attributing demand largely to social media and high-definition photography. The most popular services for men, she added, include spray tans, hair styling, eyebrow, neck and beard trimming, and makeup or airbrushing, which can be more subtle than makeup. They charge between $65 and $120 per person for their services.
Tomasz Niemczyk, the founder of ModeNYC Studio, a barbershop in Manhattan, has seen an uptick in groom and groomsmen requests. He said that many of his clients invest in wedding preparation like skin care and trial grooming appointments, and some men also request full-body waxing, manicures and pedicures. Niemczyk’s fees typically start at $300 to $400-plus per person for an on-site wedding day hair touch-up, shave and facial waxing.
Another growing sector is the use of personal stylists. “There’s still a misconception that styling the groom is secondary,” said Beckie Klein, a founder of Beckie+Martina, a personal styling firm in Manhattan that specializes in men. She said she worked with a groom in Manhattan in January who “didn’t want to be a supporting cast.” Klein, whose fees range from $5,000 to over $10,500, added, “He was like, ‘we are doing this together, and I want to match the fabulousness of my bride.’”
Joseph Buduo, 29, who is from Boston and a branch manager for a waterworks utility company, didn’t think he needed a stylist for his wedding last October in Thompson, Conn. But he changed his mind when he met Lee Alexander, a stylist and the owner of A Touch of Class Formal Wear, a suit shop and custom tailoring business with locations in Putnam, Conn., and Milford, Mass.
“Right off the bat, he was super energetic,” Buduo said of Alexander. “He steered me in the right direction” on color, fit and material, adding that the styling process was included in the $1,300 he paid for his tuxedo. “We loved him so much that we invited him and his wife to the wedding,” Buduo said.
Beyond style support, some men desire more comprehensive assistance. That’s why Redens Desrosiers, a 37-year-old photographer who married in Newark, N.J., in April 2025, hired Muyiwa Omisore, the owner of Groom Concierge in Piscataway, N.J., which assists grooms with travel itineraries, groomsmen coordination and more.
“As grooms, we always put ourselves last,” said Desrosiers, adding that Omisore helped him feel “totally present” at his wedding. For $1,600, Omisore’s services included planning Desrosiers’s bachelor party in Belize, scheduling regular check-in calls and providing wedding-day assistance.
Though never a groom himself, Omisore, who has been in 33 wedding parties, noticed that the wedding planner “is worried about the ceremony, the reception, the D.J., the food — they don’t have a lot of capacity for the groom.” Since starting his business in 2016, he has worked with 43 grooms. His fees typically range from $600 to $4,000 per individual.
“A lot of men don’t like asking for help,” Omisore said. “So if you’re asking somebody for help on one of the best days of your life, it’s showing that you’re vulnerable.”
This sea change has landed in therapists’ offices, too. Grooms are looking to talk about their feelings and to design the wedding around them, “since it’s been so historically bride-centric,” said Megan Goldberg, a licensed clinical social worker in Washington, D.C. Goldberg said she and her colleagues see this type of premarital counseling for men as an emerging niche. The private practice clinician works with grooms-to-be on everything from body image and self-confidence issues to nerves about public speaking and parents’ overdrinking.
“Men in the past have just been quiet,” at least when it comes to weddings, she said. Now, she said, grooms are speaking up.
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