Preparing for your Wedding
Getting your hair in excellent condition is not something you think about one or two weeks before your wedding. You'd be crazy to think about this so close to the BIG day!
This is something you need to think about six to eight months ahead. First consider how you’ll wear your hair. The safest rule of thumb is to grow it out. You can always cut it close to your wedding day but if you don’t have the length to work with, and you want to wear it up, that could be a problem.
Look at the health and condition your hair is in and think about what you put into your body.
Eat right, the foods you eat affect your skin and hair. Salmon is rich in Omega 3 fatty acids, dark green vegetables such as broccoli, are a good source of Vitamin C and A and almonds provide zinc. They’ll all not only benefit the skin but your hair too. Secondly, make sure you are treating your hair with the right shampoo and conditioner. It shouldn’t leave a heavy residue in the hair. I would always go for something that is sulphate and paraben free, because I believe the less chemical in the hair, the better. And if you can get a shampoo with less chemicals but still give you those results then that’s the way to go.
Color your hair before the wedding? This is a crazy idea because most girls want to be the best they can be on their wedding day, not a totally different version. If you do, you’re going to look back at those photos and go, “That’s not how I see myself.” It’s like your school formal. Lots of girls pick formal dresses and then look back and go,“I probably should have gone a little bit more classic, more simple.” And it’s the same with wedding hair. I think it needs to be timeless and it has to be a good version of you. So if you always wear your hair down, wear your hair down for your wedding otherwise you won’t feel comfortable and you won’t look like you.
So, Color your hair before the wedding?... as far as color change goes, no. If you don’t like it, in many cases there’s no way to change it, and you’ll be stuck. You’ve got years after your wedding to try different things but when you’re going to be photographed by almost everybody you know, that’s when you want to be the absolute best you can be. If it’s something you’ve lived with for a long time, chances are, you know the colours that suit you. If you’ve picked your dress with a certain hair colour, if you go and change that, it’s going to change the way your dress ends up looking.
Clients have asked me about washing their hair before or the day of the wedding. It depends on your hair type. I always advise clients to wash hair the day before if it’s being styled. Simply because, if it’s too clean, it can be slippery and it may not hold in place. If you find that your hair is in need of shampoo on your wedding day, shampoo it with a Dry Shampoo and use a product that will give it texture and body, such as sea salt spray or a light-weight mousse. It will also give it grip.
For blondes, the big thing is maintaining your regrowth because you don’t want to see dark roots in your wedding photos. What I would suggest is having a glossing treatment a day or two before the wedding, something that makes the hair look and feel thicker, coats around each hair and makes the blow dry or style last longer on the day. Blondes usually lose shine, so by adding a glossing treatment, you can bring that back.
Brunettes need to be careful that the color’s not done too far away from their actual wedding. Don’t end up looking brassy or gingery on the day. Once again a toning product or a toner a couple of days before will make a big difference.
For redheads, the most important thing is to find the right red. It needs to be compatible with your hair and your skin tone. I also think most redheads tend to have slightly rougher textured hair so a glossing treatment is great – whether it includes a color or not – it will make the hair soft and easy to work with.
Don’t be scared of hair pieces because a lot of the time what you see in magazines or on celebrities is not all their own hair. So extensions and hairpieces are great. If you don’t have thick hair or the texture is not amazing, think about putting some pieces in to change it around because it will give you the thickness you want, the texture you want and it’s less to worry about. Consider the conditions you’re going to be in. If you're having an outdoor beachy wedding, having it all down and flowy is not going to work. If you don’t mind it being all over the place then go for it. If you’re wearing two dresses on the day, why not also change your hair? You’ve already blown 10s of 1000s of dollars, what’s a little bit more on your hairdresser? AFTER ALL, we're the ones making you look your best on the day you dreamed of.
