Your bridal hairstyle shouldn’t be chosen in isolation.
Your dress, neckline, veil, earrings, headpiece, and other jewellery all affect how the finished look comes together – which is why one of the most useful things you can do before your bridal hair and makeup preview is to decide what you’re actually planning to wear.
I’ve had brides arrive with a photograph of a hairstyle they love, only for us to discover that it completely hides the beautiful earrings they’ve bought, doesn’t work with their veil, or leaves nowhere sensible to secure an important piece of jewellery.
None of these things are a disaster, but they’re much easier to work out before the wedding morning.
Start with the whole look, not just the hair
Pinterest and Instagram make it very easy to fall in love with a hairstyle in isolation.
But the question isn’t simply:
“Do I like this hair?”
It’s:
“Do I like this hair with my dress, my jewellery, my veil and my face?”
A beautiful hairstyle can feel completely different once you add everything else you’re wearing.
That’s why, at CJC, we look at the whole picture when we’re designing your bridal hair and makeup.
Think about your earrings
If you’ve chosen statement earrings, you probably want people to see them.
That doesn’t automatically mean you need an up do. Hair can be swept behind the ears, worn to one side or styled in a way that reveals the jewellery without having everything pinned up.
Equally, if your earrings are delicate and understated, you may decide you don’t need to design the entire hairstyle around them.
It’s about deciding what you want to be noticed.
Consider your dress and neckline too
Jewellery isn’t the only consideration.
Your dress neckline and the shape of the dress around your shoulders can make a big difference to whether hair looks better up, down, swept to one side, or somewhere in between.
If your dress has beautiful detailing across the back or shoulders, you may not want to cover all of it with long hair.
On the other hand, soft hair around the shoulders might be exactly what makes a simpler dress feel right for you.
There aren’t rules here. We’re looking for balance.
What about a veil?
If you’re wearing a veil, tell your hairstylist at your preview.
Ideally, bring it with you – or at least bring photographs and details of how it attaches.
We need to know where it’s going to sit, how heavy it is, and how we’re going to secure it without compromising the hairstyle.
It’s also worth thinking beyond the ceremony, because if you’re planning to remove your veil later, we want the hairstyle underneath to still look beautiful once it’s gone.
Tiaras, headbands and bridal hair accessories
The same applies to tiaras, combs, pins, headbands and other hair accessories – bring them to your bridal hair and makeup preview whenever possible.
We can experiment with placement and work out whether your original hairstyle idea still works or whether a slight change makes everything sit more naturally.
Sometimes an accessory becomes the focal point of the hairstyle… sometimes it just needs to disappear beautifully into it.
Indian and multicultural bridal jewellery needs extra planning
This becomes particularly important for Indian and multicultural weddings.
Traditional bridal jewellery can be an integral part of the hairstyle rather than simply something you put on afterwards.
Headpieces may need to be positioned and secured into the hair, and the amount, weight and placement of the jewellery can influence what hairstyles are realistically going to work.
There may also be several completely different outfits and jewellery combinations across the celebrations.
For these weddings, we’ll often design the hair and makeup around each complete look.
A vibrant traditional outfit with elaborate jewellery may call for something very different from the hairstyle and makeup you choose later with a white wedding dress.
And if you’re changing looks during the same day, we also need to consider how quickly one hairstyle can realistically become the next.
Should your jewellery influence your makeup?
Sometimes.
If you’re wearing lots of colour, particularly for an Indian or multicultural ceremony, we may bring some of those tones into the makeup or use them as inspiration.
But that doesn’t mean your eye shadow needs to precisely match your earrings.
Again, we’re looking at the complete picture.
Your makeup needs to work with your skin, features, outfit, jewellery and the way you actually like to look.
What should you bring to your bridal hair and makeup preview?
Ideally, bring as much information about your finished wedding look as possible.
That might include your veil, hair accessories and jewellery, along with photographs of your dress and any inspiration you’ve collected for your hair and makeup.
If you can’t physically bring something, photographs are absolutely fine.
The more we can see, the easier it is to design something that works with everything else, rather than creating beautiful hair and then discovering it fights with half the things you’re planning to wear.
Your bridal look should feel like one look
Ultimately, that’s what we’re trying to achieve.
Your hair shouldn’t be competing with your jewellery.
Your makeup shouldn’t be competing with your dress.
And you shouldn’t feel as though you’ve assembled five beautiful things individually and simply hoped they’ll work when you put them all together.
Hair, makeup, dress, jewellery and accessories should feel like parts of the same look.
And when they do, you stop noticing all the individual elements.
You just see you, looking rather fabulous and about to get married.
Planning your wedding hair and makeup? CJC Hair & Makeup has been looking after brides and bridal parties since 2010. Bring your ideas, your accessories and even the things you’re not quite sure about to your preview, and we’ll help you bring the whole look together.
