THE 411 OF CHOOSING A WEDDING HAIRSTYLE!

Welcome to the month of September! This month as I promised, is dedicated to all things weddings (hair wise that is!) and to start off the month, I would like to go through things to consider before a bride chooses a hairstyle for herself or for her bridesmaids.

The first consideration should be FACE SHAPES. What is the shape of your face and what style will best highlight your face features. Generally there are 5 shapes of faces; round, square, heart, long and oval.

Ladies with Round faces have to beware of the following; styles that will create volume around their faces, styles with blunt cuts and all one length like bobs or curly short hair. They should rather aim to minimized volume around their face by having tapered bangs or hair in layers. If you fall under this category and want to opt for a curly Brazilian weave on your wedding day, its better if the weave flows past your shoulders in soft curls.

With a Square face, you should avoid styles that will highlight your strong, angular jaw line which is characteristic of a square face. Curls will work best for your shape of face, sleek short styles like a cropped choppy cut will work for you also, but blunt cuts are a no-no!

Heart shaped faces usually have the chin as the focal point and thus you should avoid drawing attention to the chin but rather draw attention to the eyes or cheek bone! A side swept bang will work perfectly with this face shape.

If you have a Long face, avoid styles that will drag down your face and make it even longer like straight, sleek long hair! Too Adam’s Family ‘Motisiaish’, rather go for styles that will add width to your face like curly hair and the full fringe featured on this blog recently!

An Oval face is most versatile in terms of styling but to achieve the most flattering look you can pick out your best features and highlight them, you could highlight your bone structure with a nice updo or you might want to draw attention to your eyes with a soft bang.

Once you have your face shape figured out, give yourself time to experiment on different hair styles while considering the following;

YOUR WEDDING DRESS; The wedding dress style you choose will definitely influence your hair style choice; are you going modern or contemporary? Or is your dress more like a ball gown or is it vintage? Your hairstyle should suit the era your wedding dress is channeling. Just Imagine a bride wearing a vintage wedding dress with all the delicate lace and maybe a corset and then spotting a hairstyle like Beyonce in her 'Run the World' Video!               

She would just ending up confusing people, its either you are in 2011 or in the 1920’s where soft pin curls would accompany such a dress!

THE THEME OF YOUR WEDDING; This should also influence your hair style except you do not have a theme. Some brides may want a Winter Wonderland theme and then have beach waves as their hairstyle on their wedding day!!lol Or in Naija, gum on their scalp some crazy fake looking lace wig!! Your hair style should follow through with the theme of your wedding.

THE LONGEVITY OF THE STYLE; Will your hairstyle hold up through out the wedding while you dance to P Square or Neaot C? Think about that especially with our type of weather in Naija! Some styles are not just for our weather for example, loose curls may just fall flat half way through the day, you need a good stylist who will use the right products like hair sprays to keep your curls in place. That’s why I do not blame most brides here for opting for an updo because not only is it elegant but also it stays in place through out the buggying!

But in choosing a hair style that will last don’t just be boring, choose a style with a WOW FACTOR! Some kind of pizzaz! Something different and interesting that suits you or an interesting hair piece with bling! Don’t just settle for any old style your stylist conjures up.

Speaking of Stylists, my last point is, PRACTICE YOUR STYLE IN ADVANCE!! My aunt told me recently that she was stuck in a crowded salon the day before her wedding (that was before brides hired glam squads) and she ended up not even getting it done and settled for any old style on her wedding day! Moral of the story? Get yourself together! Arrange for a good stylist well in advance of your wedding day, make sure you find time to meet up with him at least twice before the wedding! The first time to discuss the style options and practice them and the second time closer to the day to perfect the style. I do not know how some brides wait till the day of the wedding to deliberate on a style and then waste time doing trial and error and end up running an hour late to Church! Totally uncalled for! Luckily for me, I was brave enough to handle my wedding hair style myself so I had all the time to practice and eventually pulled it of! I will share with you all the Youtube Channel I got my wedding hairstyle from in a future post!

Oh and if you pick a natural sistah as a bridesmaid. allow her to rock her natural hair and express her personality will ya!

Those are the pointers I have for now, my next post will be wedding hairstyle No-No’s! Can’t wait! Hope you all enjoyed this post and do not hesitate to come at me with your comments, questions and ideas! Thanks for stopping by!!

Dabs

 *photo credit; essencemagazine.com