The perfect nuptials begin with careful planning, a fairy-tale dress and the right hairstyle to top it off. Because let’s face it, no matter how flawless everything else is, if you’re sporting the latest look in bowl cuts, nothing else is going to matter.
To avoid a catastrophic hair event, a good rule of thumb is to choose your stylist wisely and plan your wedding hair well in advance.
Fortunately, most salons do a trial run anywhere from two to four weeks (sometimes longer) before the wedding to ensure that the bride gets the look she desires, and these days it seems as though the look everyone is going for is romance.
“We are seeing a lot of vintage hair and more romantic styles,” said Jessica Sassu, owner of Jessica’s Color Room salon in Middletown.
According to Sassu, many brides are coming in looking for soft curls along with half-up, half-down hairstyles. “We are also doing a lot of waterfall braids with some of the hair down and curled.”
It’s not uncommon to find prospective brides growing out their hair months before their wedding day to afford some flexibility. But even if they don’t, there are still plenty of options.
“We see every kind of hair,” Sassu said, “but if they have short hair, we can put in extensions. They can be curled or used for filler. When you put hair up, [extensions] make it look thicker.”
Sassu also said that this year, hair accessories are on the rise. “From flowers to tiaras, clips and ribbons, we are seeing a lot of decorative hair pieces.”
Both the royal wedding in 2011 and the increasing popularity of television shows like “Downton Abbey” have inspired many brides to return to a softer, more retro look in both attire and hairstyles.
“Braids are big,” said Jay Roberts, owner of Blades Salon & Spa in Wethersfield. “We see a lot of girls looking for something romantic and not perfectly coiffed hair.”
Instead, Roberts said, brides are taking ideas of the past and modernizing them. “You’re seeing a retro vibe, a very soft bouffant look, very ‘Mad Men’-like, with a contemporary twist. It’s not so big like it used to be, but more sophisticated, not bumped up.”
And although many prospective brides bring in pictures of how they’d like their hair styled, he cautions that it’s really about what looks good on them and if the style goes well with the dress.
“It’s easy to pick a style from a magazine,” said Roberts, “but if the girl doesn’t have the hair, it can mean hair extensions, a haircut or color. A lot of times, they can bring in a picture, but it doesn’t mean that it’s going to work for them.”
For that reason, Roberts recommends that brides schedule a consultation to discuss different options as an important first step.
In the end, he believes that it comes down to what each individual bride is looking for and what works best with her hair, dress and personal style.
“You want to think about what you can do to accentuate a woman on that day,” Roberts said. “It’s all about her face, the glow; she’s marrying the person she loves. It’s not so much the hair … we want to see the bride herself and not everything on her that day.”
Sarah Lemire 