Kathrin Pützer

A mobile bridal stylist for hair and makeup

Kathrin Pützer is a mobile hairdresser and makeup artist based in Zürich Altstetten who styles brides across German-speaking Switzerland. Her wedding page says she works about 35 weddings a year and styled her first bride in Switzerland in 2006. She is a trained hairdresser (gelernte Coiffeuse), and her homepage also lists a teaching diploma for upper secondary and vocational education and work as a lecturer. For a bride who wants both hair and makeup from one person, with published prices and a trial that is documented in detail, the wedding page sets out the offer in unusual detail and links to an English version.

Her stated aim is natural bridal styling. In her own words on the wedding page: «Ich werde Sie nicht verändern sondern das Beste aus Ihnen heraus holen», I will not change you but bring out the best in you. It matters to her that the bride, her partner and the guests still recognize her, and she wants to make up brides naturally but specially for the day, never painted over. Her motto: stay yourself, with that certain something for the wedding day.

Prices

The price overview on the wedding page is short and clear, and all prices exclude travel costs.

• Hair and makeup, CHF 600, with the styling at her premises in Zürich Altstetten.
• Hair and makeup, CHF 690, with the styling on the wedding day at the address of the bride's choice.
• Bridal party guest, from CHF 95, hair or makeup on the wedding day, without a trial.
• Bridal party guest, from CHF 190, hair and makeup on the wedding day.

Every bridal styling includes the trial. On the wedding day, individual false lashes are included on request, as is a goodie bag with the lip product she used, a lip brush, decanted powder and a powder brush for touch-ups. Before the appointments, the bride receives an overview of how to prepare her skin, her hair and the space where the styling will take place.

The trial

The trial should take place 1 to 3 months before the wedding, at her premises in Zürich Altstetten, and usually takes 2 to 3 hours. The bride may bring one companion. Before the first appointment, Kathrin asks for photos of the wedding dress, the jewelry, the planned flowers and the color palette, if they exist. She advises on which makeup and hairstyle suit the bride's face shape, dress and style, whether romantic, elegant, vintage, boho or classic, and on request advises on hair accessories or flowers and will contact the florist directly.

At the end she takes photos of the hair and makeup and sends them to the bride afterward. She records the individual steps and key information in writing and in pictures so she arrives prepared on the wedding day. She suggests the bride plans something for after the trial, to see how the styling holds, and send any requests for changes afterward.

One point she makes on the page is specific and useful: most hairstyle pictures online are photographed from behind, and she advises during the trial on how the style should run so that it also suits the bride from the front and the side.

The wedding morning

Kathrin writes that her experience has made her fast, so neither the trial nor the wedding-day styling takes hours on end; on average she needs 2 to 3 hours per appointment to create the makeup and matching hairstyle. She travels on the wedding morning to a place of the bride's choosing in Zürich, Aargau, Schaffhausen, Zug, Lucerne, Thurgau, Bern and Basel, and will also do the makeup and hair of female guests and of the groom on request. She can fit in 1 to 2 further guests herself, or brings in help from her trained stylist team, which, as she puts it, means everyone can sleep longer.

What her clients say

The page carries a long list of client messages, all in German. Several mention how long the styling lasted. One bride, Khylee, writes that at 5 in the morning after a wild party she still looked well made up and not a single strand had come loose. Another, Ramona, writes that her hairstyle held when a helicopter took off beside the couple after a surprise flight. Fabienne says her hairstyle survived a storm on a boat and the makeup still looked new the next morning. Others mention her calm, supportive manner, her organization, and the emergency kit with powder and decanted lipstick. These are the business's own selected testimonials, so read them as a sense of her style rather than an independent rating.

Beyond weddings

Kathrin also runs do-it-yourself makeup and hairstyling courses, including courses for teenagers, for mature skin, subtle makeup for men, and for crossdressers and transgender clients, and makeup courses for bachelorette parties. For professionals she offers diploma courses, further training and workshops for hairdressers and makeup artists, including a Bridal Hairstyle Masterclass, and she sells learning videos on event, bridal and children's hairstyles in an online shop.

Booking and contact

Wedding inquiries start through the contact form, and she asks couples to answer her questions by email first; the form says an automated message with a few short questions follows within minutes, after which she replies personally. A couple unsure whether she is the right fit can send back the questionnaire and book a phone call. Contact is by email at info@kathrin-puetzer.ch or by phone, Signal or Telegram on 076 41 77 241.

What the page does not settle

Travel costs are excluded from all prices, and the page does not say how they are calculated, so a couple should ask for the travel charge to their address with the quote. The page does not say what the prices for the groom are, or how early a wedding-morning start can be. It does not list the members of her stylist team. The English version is linked from the wedding page, but the page does not say in so many words that she works in English, so a couple should confirm the language they want to use for the trial and the day.

Who it suits

Kathrin Pützer suits a bride marrying anywhere in the German-speaking cantons she names who wants a natural look, hair and makeup from one experienced person, and a trial that is photographed and written up. The published prices make budgeting simple for the bride, and the guest rates help with the rest of the party.

The caveats are the unquoted travel costs and the lack of detail on her team. A couple planning from abroad should plan to be in Zürich for a trial 1 to 3 months before the date and ask for a written quote that includes travel.