Wedding Hair, Take Two

Over Christmas, my aunt mentioned that I should start looking into a hair salon for the wedding pretty soon. My cousin had several trial runs for her wedding style, and the whole process can take a while. Soon after this, one of my bridesmaids asked me to send her the salon information when I had it so that she could book an appointment, too. I realized it was probably time to start looking into this.

A quick Google search later, and I had some serious sticker shock. One salon offered packages starting at $850 and a la carte options, with a minimum of $320. Another salon advertised $95 per trial and $95 day-of. A third place didn't even list prices. These were the lowest prices these places advertised. Given the length of my hair, I was sure the cost would be higher than this.

A second, more in-depth search of the internet revealed that I had, indeed, found the lowest prices in my area. Many brides ended up paying far more (up to $1000). And they all thought this was reasonable!

Granted, I'm not one to spend a lot of money on my hair. I still balk at haircuts that cost more than $20, which is the main reason my hair gets so long. I take a lot of pride in it, but that's mostly my own doing rather than a salon's. For as long as it is, my hair is actually pretty low maintenance, mostly because I keep it braided so much of the time. These prices still seemed way too high for me to consider.

So I scratched the salon idea. I've been braiding my own hair since it was long enough to braid. I actually remember practicing with yarn when I was about six. I'd keep my eyes closed to get a better understanding for the feel of the process. When I was eight, I learned french and fishtail braids from the other girls at school. That was also the year I asked for an Addy American Girl doll. She had the longest hair, the better for me to practice on. By the time I hit middle school I was braiding my own hair almost every day, and in high school I was frequently experimenting with new things.

Since then I've learned about a lot of new braids. Waterfalls, feathers, laces, ladders, and more. There are online tutorials that make all of this look pretty simple. Pick up extra hair here, drop some hair there, don't pick up any at this point, and you get a really cool effect. I hadn't tried out new braids on my own head for years, but I had a few basic staples that already incorporated some of these techniques. It was time to start playing again.

Now that it's been a few weeks, I believe I've settled on the style I'm going to wear for my wedding. I haven't really perfected it yet; it never comes out exactly how I want it to. But it's getting closer. And I still have plenty of time to practice. I'm also hoping that I can use my bachelorette party to recruit at least on of my bridesmaids to help me with the trickier bits. If you're curious, it's going to be a variation on the style Daenerys Targaryan wears in the last episode of the first season. For more detail, you'll have to wait until the wedding.