I would strongly recommend the salon for the hair. They use hair products specifically designed for the humid climate. I did my own hair for the trash-the-dress using my the products we brought with us and it lasted about 30 minutes before falling apart. My sister did my make up. Alex does seem to be the only stylist at the salon so you have to book appoitments one after another for everyone. She also did an amazing job styling my mother in law and my mom. For your wedding day, you get 20% on all their services. It was $160 for all three of us end of Sept 2011 (my mother was not official, they worked on her while I was blow-drying mine for about 30 minutes). Carolina can make the appointment once you get there or you can make it yourself 1-2 days before. This is what i did. They also do a trial run the day before or whenever you schedule (inlcuded in the wedding price). Also worth mentioning - I had certain ideas on how I wanted to get my hair done and they said they couldn't do it that way because it was too short (the stylist back home thought it would work great). In any case, the salon offered a different style doing it up during our trial discussion and basically said that either they do it their way and guarantee it or I do on my own. i was not thrilled with the style they offered but after sleeping on it for a night and with my mom's push decided to go ahead. I didn't like it at all all the way until they put the veil in, then it suddenly made sense and ultimately it turned out to be great! Everybody said i looked amazing, I felt great, the pictures look great and the hair stayed in place for 2 days. I liked it so much, didn't want to take it down. I was very happy overall and would definately recommend the service. Good luck with your wedding!