Wedding Hair Trial: On Broadway in Revere, MA

Today I had my first wedding hair trial.

At a bridal show.

Mom and I went to the bridal show at the Andover Country Club.  This was the same place that I got to bring Adam to last April, so I felt nostalgic when I walked in. :)

Mom and I arrived at almost exactly the same time, I signed in quickly, and we went in.  It looked like there were fewer vendors than usual, and not even as many people or tables as usual.  Or maybe I'm just used to them now.

We walked around and there weren't many vendors I needed to see!  Wedding dress, done.  Tuxes, done.  Wedding photos, done.  Flowers...well, pretty much done but I talked to them anyway.  We had some cheese and crackers, hit the mashed potato bar (not as amazing as those lobster mashed potatoes at the Methuen Golf Club last week, but chicken, onions and masala gravy are not bad either!) and had some bananas foster.  We made our rounds in about 20 minutes.  Which meant we had 2 hours before the raffles started.  Ouch.

As we met with the last vendor, Jenna with On Broadway Hair Salon, she asked if I knew how I wanted my hair yet.  And I said probably down and curled because I don't like it up.  She told me in February that's fine; I couldn't wear my hair down for the wedding if it was in the summer because it gets frizzy (I'll add that to my list of "pros" for having a winter wedding, heh).  But she said I should have the sides of my hair up in order to give my veil a "base" so it doesn't slide down.  I said I wasn't sure I needed that (and I don't like my sides of my hair up) since the tiara is on a headband, and she said, "Well, I'm doing wedding hair trials tonight, so if you want I can show you what I mean."

A wedding hair trial...at a bridal show?

I looked behind her and she had all sorts of hair styling equipment set up on a tray.  We had 2 hours to kill; we'd just be sitting anyway.  "Do you mind?"  I asked mom.  I knew it would end up taking at least an hour because my hair is so thick and fairly long.  She said she didn't, so I went for it!

I have to say, the back looks REALLY cool.  She pinned some curls up so they look like a cascade.  But the front...eh.  Like I said, I just really don't like my sides up.  And the curls are so tight that I feel like my hair looks really weighted down.  It doesn't help that it's a really formal hairstyle for a button down blouse, hehe.  But I decided to reserve judgement.

After winning nothing in the raffles because I didn't have Adam for a lucky charm (there were 5 $200 cash prizes, and two cash $500 prizes!!!) I went home and put on my whole wedding ensamble.  The dress, the tiara, the veil, the jewelry, and the gloves.  And I was THRILLED.  It was the first time I'd tried on everything together, and it was everything I hoped it would be.  I wasn't lamenting that I'm 20 pounds too heavy, I didn't feel unsure about my hair, I didn't feel like my jewelry clashed with my tiara.  I looked like a princess bride and it was amazing :)

So I learned that each detail really doesn't matter.  I have cheap jewelry, a cheap tiara, cheap gloves, the dress was on sale, and I didn't even wear the shoes.  You don't have to go all out, just pick pieces that you like and you think will work with the overall look, then choose the cheapest.  And as for the hairstyle, once the veil was on, you can't even see the hair style!  The weird little bumps on the sides are completely covered.  And, unfortunately, so are the amazing cascading curls in the back.  So don't worry too too much about the exact style either, if you're going to wear a veil. 

Feeling really good about how everything was falling into place, I took out all the bobby pins and fluffed up the curls slightly.  And I liked the look even better:

I plan to bring the pictures with me when I go to my own stylist to point out how large I like the curls, and to point out those bumps that I don't like, in case she can improve on it.  But even if she can't, I'm not worried about my wedding day hair style any more.  :)