The trick is deciding which two functions get a professional and which three you handle yourself.
The sister of the bride has the hardest brief at an Indian wedding. Five outfits, five looks, a fraction of the budget, and she is usually the one running the sangeet.
Book a professional for two functions, not five. Usually the sangeet and the wedding day. Do the rest yourself. Two good looks beat five rushed ones, and the artist will do a better job when she is not doing four other faces in the same hour.
Learn one eye look properly and repeat it. Repetition is invisible in photographs; a badly done new look is not. Buy one good base product that matches your neck, not your hand. Set it. Most self-done makeup fails because it is never set, not because it is wrongly applied. Blotting paper in the bag. You will be dancing.
Nothing new in the last two weeks. Same rule as the bride. Threading five days before your first function. Remove makeup every single night, even after the late ones. This is what decides whether you break out by the wedding day.
Two professional bookings, not five. One eye look, learnt properly, repeated. Makeup off every night, however late.
Two is usually the right answer — the sangeet and the wedding day. Doing the others yourself with one well-practised look is better value and often looks better than five rushed sittings.
Set the base properly, use waterproof eye products, and blot rather than adding powder through the night.