WPCNR THE REAL DEAL By The Wedding Jeannie, Jeannie Uyanik of Cap and Gown Weddings. July 19, 2008: In this heat, there are a few golden rules that are useful to keeping hair looking sharp, clean and as if it has just been coiffed.  Copious amounts of hairspray aside, while different hair secrets are more well known than others, we wanted to share a few of our biggest tips for making sure that your hair do is an asset and not a liability the day of your big event.

The Weddding Jeannie

Jeannie Uyanik

Wedding Planner to the World

WPCNR COLUMNISTA

on Avoiding Hairy Situations for Your Hair

Finding the perfect hairdresser takes some work.  If you have someone that you see regularly for cuts and color, don’t just assume that they will be able to create a wow look for your special occasion.  I love the person that blow dries my hair once a week, but even I learned the hard way that being lazy did not pay off when I needed something amazing for a gala.  Big surprise, I looked exactly like I look every week. 

If you have a look in mind, but you are not sure how its best executed, start with pictures – as many as you can find.  Take them to your trusted professional stylist and start there, but if it does not make you go “that’s it!” then walk out the door and start over.  Finding a stylist who can do what you want and make you feel like a million bucks is not rocket science, but it does require persistence.  Too many people settle because it’s easier and for an event like a wedding, that’s a waste of time and an expensive photographer.

The first question to answer is whether or not you want your hair done at a salon or if you are willing to pay for a professional to come to you. The pricing difference can be more than 300% so it’s a question that depends both on budget and the location of your venue.  Most brides are shocked at how expensive it can be for a hair stylist to come to them, particularly when travel of more than 30 minutes from the salon on a Saturday is required. 

 An average price for special occasion styling at a salon is about $65-85 for non-brides and $150-250 for brides.  Keep in mind that Saturday’s are a salons highest traffic days, and if a stylist leaves his/her chair to come to you, then they are not only loosing revenue for the time that they are with you but also for the time that it takes them to come and go.  When a professional stylist has to leave their business for half a day to do your hair, it will easily cost a good salon $1500 for a 4 hour period (do the math – ½ hour hair cut at $200 or a color at $300 and that adds up). 

And therein lies the logic for the premium that is imposed for off-site work.  The benefits of off site hair are clear; no travel for the bride, quiet and personalized environment in which to have a service, less stress for things like rain, humidity and getting your hair damaged.  The pluses for in-salon work abound as well though, including things like lower costs, more room for large groups (power outages at residences or hotel rooms where a lot of hair equipment is in play, is common), getting your hair shampooed by someone else and of course, less of a mess after the fact (a big concern if you are getting ready at home). 

Including wedding party preparation in the mix of hiring a hair stylist requires attention to what may seem like small details, but can throw schedules, pricing and preparation off.  Most hair stylists that are working off site (at a home, hotel or venue) expect that everyone but the bride will arrive with already dried hair.  The rationale is that if they have to do an up-do, that is the service. 

Adding in a 25 minute blowdry not only takes more time that most stylists don’t expect, but also is a second service if the bridesmaid or a female relative wants an elaborate up-do.  To avoid surprises, be very specific with your bridal party about what they want, and relay that in delay to your stylist.  This includes:

1)      The exact number of people who are having something done (i.e. 5 bridesmaids and two mothers).  Don’t throw someone into the mix the day of the wedding and expect everything to run on schedule; having a concrete list will allow you to be finished on time and allow the stylist not to feel rushed. 

2)      Length and texture of hair for each person having a service (i.e. shoulder length, very thick, very curly, etc).  This provides the stylist with a sense of how long each person will take and if they can allot more or less time to one service.

3)      Anticipated service (i.e. blow dry with hair pulled back, blow dry and up-do, simple bun, chignon, etc).  This will allow a stylist the ability to price accordingly and prepare for the right number of assistants that he/she will need to bring.

4)      Exactly when you need to be finished by (i.e. bride has to be done at 2pm, the rest of the bridal party must be finished by 3pm – and ALWAYS leave a window for things to take longer than they should).  This gives the stylist a deadline so that he or she can plan on the appropriate arrival time.  Don’t try and manage the process – they know their business and if they want to come at 9am instead of 10am, allow them to do so. 

And if you are doing services off-site, then make sure that you not only have ample space for everyone to sit and for the stylists to work, ensure that the power is ample for multiple hair dryers and curling irons, that the chairs on which everyone will be sitting are appropriate (that the backs are low enough) for the stylists to work with and that there are mirrors for every impromptu work station.

Beyond that, all the other big rules apply; never color within a week of an event, day old hair is always best for up do’s, carry a bottle of hair spray with you in case of fly aways, and if you are planning on wearing your hair down in heat like this, be ok with the fact that once you start dancing, its going to look a bit tired!