Hair seems to be one of those things we only think about when we have to. I know the only reason I’m thinking about it right now is because my fun and flirty hairstyle is quickly turning into a Monkees-esque horror. I really need to do something about that. But until I do, hair is going to be on my mind in a major way.
So how do those of us with busy lifestyles choose a do to compliment our overall wedding look? By not waiting until the last minute, of course! If you’ve never thought about your ultimate wedding hairstyle, you’re going to want to start mulling that over six months before the wedding. This can be a good time to meet with your stylist to discuss headpieces and hairdo options. If you’re absolutely stymied, make a list of your beauty icons and then ask your stylist for advice.
Guides like the The Perfect Wedding Series for Hair DVDs can help you learn the secrets of gorgeous wedding hair.
Browse the multitude of online wedding hair galleries and then consider: The mood of your wedding, the style of your dress, the length and type of your hair, the shape of your face, and your relative up-do comfort level. Some people don’t mind being stabbed with bobby pins. You may not want to have to worry about your elaborate twist coming undone. Personally, I get migraines when my hair is pulled back too tightly. These things matter. No matter how beautiful you look, discomfort will interfere with your nuptial joy.
Condition, condition, condition. But not right before your hair trial run, photo session, or ceremony. Deep condition all you like until a week before these events. Shampoo the day before, but don’t wash your hair on the day your locks are being styled. A little natural oil will help your hair stay in place. I would suggest that you also refrain from changing your base style or your haircolor before the wedding. You may not like the results and your hair will be immortalized in your wedding photos.
Above all, be realistic. If your everyday hair is a mass of tightly packed curls, work with that. If your hair is straight as a pin, find a style that will make the most of it. Use what you’ve got, ladies! You’ll feel more confident when the you walking down the aisle is the real you.
Above style by Ooh-La-La-Beaute
Hee! This is good advice I should have listened to, though my hair turned out nice in the end.
Basically, I woke up on my wedding day and suddenly realized that while I’d picked up a number of thingamabobs and doodads to use in my hair on the big day, I hadn’t actually decided which I was using or how!
Luckily I spent the last few days before my wedding and most of my wedding day in this strangely Zen state of absolute calm and contentment. And no, it was not pharmacuetically created! LOL!
In the end, I took a large white snood and put most of my long, painfully straight hair in that, added a silver-grey woven straw bow at the top, and made two small braids in the front that I looped under my ears and tucked into the barette that held the bow in place. It was actually a variation on a hairstyle Queen Victoria wore frequently in her younger days. I’d done the style before without all the accessories for some historical re-enactment events I’d been to, so I knew it would work and look nice on me. That helped!
Of course, if I could have achieved a cascade of gorgeous curls like the one above, I might have put more thought into my hair before the big day! Hee!
Anyone who knows me will tell you that my hair is my security blanket, my attitude barometer, and a constant source of frustration for me. I had a trial run for my wedding hair and HATED IT! It was tight, cutesey and very severe… I looked like an aging debutante wannabe. I was disgusted and very afraid. Then I talked with the hairdresser and said ‘I want it like everyday (down, wavy, center-parted), but fancier. MOre curls, more something. But it’s going to be down. Got it?’. He did a beautiful job on the 2nd try. YAY! Flash-forward to the wedding day – HUMID AS HELL, and nothing he did to my mop would keep a curl. I resigned myself to the thought that my hair would be substandard and oh, well. At the hall, while getting dressed, my hairdresser (yes, I brought him with me and you should do the same) pinned just the sides up so I could finish getting ready and I said, ‘can you do this prettier?’ He did, and it was beautiful. We both won – I got hair that was down and comfortable, HE got hair off my face. It was fabulous and I loved it. My advice: Be yourself, be comfortable, be the person you want to be… and bring your hairdresser to the wedding. Amen.
Way to exert your individuality, ladies!
I completely want my hair as in the picture here. Which will make my mom, the hairdresser sad, but really, stick a couple of barettes in it, and we’ll call it done. I’m wearing a long lace veil anyways, so it’s not even going to be all that visible.
I’ve got hair that gets nicely wavy when longer, so I’m in the process of growing it back out. And then I’m just going to pull it up off my face with a lovely barette I already had that I’m attaching the veil to and call it done.
I am so not the primping type. I know I’ll wear makeup, but I have months to figure that out 🙂
I need more ideas!!I have blessedly manageable hair that will do most anything I want it to, but I just don’t know what I want yet! Up? Down? Curls? San curl? Any opinions ladies who’ve already been there? What works/doesn’t? My hair is wavy and mid length and any suggestions welcomed!
Hee! The Monkees! I looked in the mirror this morning and thought, “Great. A bunch of nuns somewhere are trying to solve me.” Growing out short hair sucks. Start early, kids!
This is the eternal struggle. I prefer to have my hair somewhere between chin- and shoulder-length, because it’s fine and straight, and anything longer looks limp and blah. My wedding is over a year away, so I’m still debating what to do with it. I did something like this for my sister’s wedding last summer:
http://www.weddinghair.com/html04/mh/mh04.html
Unfortunately the “up” portion looked way more like a bouffant. Not attractive. But the style in that photo is quite cute.
Thanks for all the links, NtB!!
I’m growing my hair out too, and it sucks. It’s neither fish nor fowl nor good red herring. Plus, my color has grown out and I can see some grey! So I’m in agony: the wedding is less than a month away and I’m torn between coloring it now or sticking it out another two weeks. I hate the grey.
So many of us are growing out our hair. Weird!