What to Expect at Your Bridal Hair Trial
You found your elopement/wedding day hairstylist that’s a good fit for you and now you’re ready for your bridal hair trial! Yay!! This is exciting!! You get to see how the hairstyle you have in mind will look on you. So, what’s going to happen once you get to your appointment? Let’s discuss!
in depth Consultation
First things first, take a deep breath and exhale because you are in good hands! You have thoroughly researched this person and picked the best bridal hair stylist for you in your area. Hopefully you have shown your wedding day hairstylist your inspiration photos before your appointment. If not, no worries! Show your hairstylist the top three inspiration hairstyles that you love. This is the time to talk about what you do and do not like about each style: Are you loving the volume you see in the crown and the voluminous braid that is going into a low bun, but you don’t like how much hair is left out in the front or you don’t want any volume? Share that with your hairstylist. At this point, your hairstylist is creating a vision in their mind of what to do with your hair during this bridal hair trial. They will also feel your hair to get an idea of what your hair can or can’t do. If you’ve had past hairstyling traumas or never had your hair professionally styled then this is a good time to let your bridal hairstylist know. It’s ok and normal to feel nervous. Talking through these feelings and fears can help your stylist know what to avoid and what to emphasize. I offer my brides non judgemental listening to learn what they have struggled with over the years with their hair. This helps me understand how best to help and encourage them when it comes to working with their hair.
Hairstyling Session
Now it’s time for the fun part: the collaborative creative process! This may include curling your hair, braiding it, teasing it or sectioning your hair depending on the style you chose. This is the prep portion of the process that will help hold and support your hairstyle. It may look a bit weird at this point and you may begin questioning your choices of who you selected! Lol! You have to trust the styling process. As your bridal hairstylist works, they will ask you questions along the way to get your input: do you want some of your face framing pieces left out? How do you feel about this volume? Are you ok if we do a tighter curl instead of a looser wave? Be honest!! I cannot stress this enough! Share your true feelings. This gives them the opportunity to adjust different parts along the way. Please be realistic and also open to the suggestions of your wedding hairstylist. They are there to support you and your hair vision. They want you to love your hair! As the styling portion of your bridal hair trial comes towards the end, how is the style feeling in your hair? Is it too tight? Is a hairpin poking you? Does it feel comfortable? Remember that you will wear this hairstyle for numerous hours. If it’s not comfortable now, it’s going to be raging later in the day. Beauty does not have to be painful, despite what you’ve heard. Especially on your elopement or wedding day.
Accessorize
Now that styling is complete, try on your wedding hair accessories too! If you’re going to wear a veil, what does your veil look like with the hairstyle? Play around with the location of the veil. You may have planned for the veil to sit on top of your low bun, but after exploring placement options, you realize you like it at the crown of your head. If you plan to wear fresh flowers in your hairstyle, bring some with you to your trial. Do you like the way the fresh flowers look on top of your bun? You may discover that you want more flowers throughout your hairstyle or you may learn that you like a minimalist look with little to no flowers. Trying a jeweled hair comb, floral hair pins, bridal hair vines, etc are all encouraged during your bridal hair trial. Have fun exploring your options! This is my favorite part of the bridal hair trial. I have floral, jeweled, and pearl hair combs and hair pins, bridal headbands, sample veils, and clip on bridal earrings for my brides to experiment with at their appointment. Many of my brides bring real flowers to place in their hair also. It’s such a fun time!
Document
Finally, it’s time for pictures!! You will want some pictures to be able to see how your hair looks from all angles or to share with your friends and family. Your wedding hairstylist is going to take pictures to have a visual reference of how your hair should look for your wedding day. This makes sure everyone is on one accord at the end. If you decide to change anything on the wedding day, you have the pictures to show what parts you want to change. I always take pictures of my brides’ hairstyles from every angle and send them some of the pictures via text. This way, I know what the game plan is and we can look at the pictures together on her wedding day to make sure she is still ok with that hairstyle.
Wear It
After you’ve had your hair styled and taken pictures, it’s time to wear your hair out into the world! If you plan on having an outdoor ceremony/reception, you need to spend some time outdoors with your hairstyle to see how the weather affects it. Yes, this may sound scary because you don’t want to mess it up. But this is the only way to know if your hair will actually hold up well throughout the day. If you’re an avid dancer and plan on getting it in on the dance floor, then you need to do just that with your newly styled hair. Walk around, hug people, lean back in chairs, etc. Test this hair out!! Whatever the results are at the end of the day, take pictures and send them to your stylist so things can be adjusted for wedding day if necessary. Trust me on this. ;)
So how do you feel? You probably feel more prepared for what will happen at your bridal hair trial. If you have any questions or worries, let your stylist know, they are there to help you along the way! For brides who are reading this and feel like I may be a good fit as their bridal hairstylist, please reach out! I am open to travel outside of North Carolina!