If you are a bride planning your wedding, then you already know there are so many decisions to be made and details to think about. We may be a bit biased but we think that shopping for your wedding dress is one of the more fun tasks when it comes to planning a wedding. Along with choosing your wedding dress and bridal accessories like jewelry and a wedding veil, you will also want to think about your wedding day hair and makeup. In particular, we get asked often from brides on how to choose a bridal hairstyle based on their wedding dress.
Today we are taking a slight detour away from wedding dress shopping advice and are going to be talking about wedding day hairstyles and how that might relate to your wedding dress. Should you style your hair on wedding day based on your wedding dress neckline? We’ll share all the tips and insight you need to know about how to determine your hair for wedding day based on the neckline of your wedding dress.
Video: Choosing Wedding Hair Based on Your Dress Neckline
If you are bride who has found their dream wedding dress and now you are ready to decide on your wedding day hair and makeup, don't miss this week's advice post all about choosing wedding hair based on your dress neckline.
There Are No Rules
Our bridal consultants at Lovella get asked all sorts of questions by brides during their wedding dress shopping appointments. Typically they relate to finding their dream wedding dress, but we are also asked for more general bridal styling tips as everyone wants to look their best on wedding day. We are often asked about how to complete a bridal look after deciding on the perfect wedding dress, and that includes bridal accessories and how a bride might want to style her hair on wedding day.
If you have been following our advice for some time, then you already know that we think there are no rules when it comes to bridal fashion. As long as a bride feels confident and beautiful on wedding day, they should choose the bridal fashion that is best for them. As there is no set formula for which dress looks best on a particular body type, and no set style of dress for a certain type of wedding, the same applies to wedding day hairstyles. Your wedding dress does not necessarily need to dictate how you wear your hair on wedding day. Brides need to do what works for them and makes them feel comfortable and confident on the big day.
Do A Trial Run
When thinking about your wedding day hairstyle, it can be hard to narrow down on a particular style. Perhaps you are someone who styles your hair a certain way every day. Or maybe you are a person who is more laidback and doesn’t do much to your hair on a daily basis. Whatever your style, you will have to determine what you want to look like on wedding day. Do you want to go ultra glam with a fancy bridal updo? Or do you want to be a bit more casual and leave your hair down with maybe some loose waves?
On your wedding day, you want to look and feel your best, but you also still want to look like yourself. You have to do what feels best for you and what you think looks best for you. This is where a wedding hair and makeup trial comes in. We can not encourage this more. Once you decide who will be doing your hair and makeup on wedding day, schedule a trial run. Even if you decide to do your own wedding day hair, do a practice run. Make sure you get the style down and take pictures after the trial. See how the hairstyle holds up through an entire day - wedding days are long! Make sure you like how the hairstyle looks in person, from all angles, but also make sure you like how it looks in photos because the photos are what is going to last after wedding day is over.
A bridal hairstyle trial is especially important if you are thinking of a style that you typically do not wear. If you are a person who wears their hair down everyday, it might be a bit of a shock on wedding day if you go with a full updo formal hairstyle. Try it out before wedding day to make sure it feels like you and that you like how it looks. Don’t feel pressured to choose a certain hairstyle just because it’s wedding day.
Dress Necklines
Once you pick out your wedding dress, you may have a lot of different people offering advice on how to accessorize and style your wedding day look. It’s certainly okay to ask for opinions but don’t let them overwhelm you. Your bridal hairstylist is going to have seen a lot of different brides and can offer you suggestions, but you ultimately have to be the one to make the decision based on what you feel is best and depending on the look and vibe you want on wedding day.
If you choose a dress that has a low or open back, you might be told to wear your hair up so that you can show it off. The same goes for a style that might show off your collarbone. But at the end of the day, if you don’t like how you look with a particular hairstyle, then don’t choose that for your wedding day. If you don’t like how you look with a formal up do, try a half up style or wear your hair down in pretty waves or maybe a fancy braid. You don’t want to feel uncomfortable on wedding day. And while the day itself is important, you want to make all those memories and have the best day, your wedding day photos and video are what will last long after the day so you need to ensure you love how you look in those photos that will get framed and hung in your home and passed down to future generations.
Frame Your Face
Our main piece of advice when thinking about your wedding day hairstyle is to go with a hairstyle you love, that makes you feel beautiful and don’t think about the dress too much. If you feel confident and beautiful on wedding day, that feeling is going to be evident to your wedding guests and will show in your wedding photos. But if you choose a style based on what you “should wear” and you don’t like how it looks, that is also going to show.
If you want to bring more of the attention up to your face or neckline, there are a few things you can do to draw the eye in. There are some general proportions we recommend in regard to bridal jewelry, but again, there are no set rules. These are just general guides that we find work for a lot of brides and a lot of different dress styles. In general, a beautiful earring that dangles down will frame your face and a headpiece like a crown or headband can also help draw the eye up to your face.
Find Your Vibe
Another important factor that can help you decide on your wedding day hairstyle is to think about the sort of style and vibe you are going for. In general, wedding day style can be soft and romantic, sultry and sexy, or sleek and classic. Of course there are variations here, but these general categories apply to most brides. It might be helpful to look at celebrity weddings or wedding blogs and see what kind of vibe you get from a certain hairstyle for inspiration.
If you want to be sultry and sexy, then maybe you're going for something that’s really loose and flowy. If you are more traditional, maybe it’s a sleek bun or chignon. You can even take a more classic hairstyle and soften it with some loose pieces that frame your face for a more relaxed but still put together look. It’s all very individual to how it feels for you and this is where a hair trial is going to be so helpful in making a final decision.
More Helpful Bridal Fashion Advice
We hope you have found this advice helpful when it comes to deciding on your wedding day hairstyle and how that relates to your wedding dress. For even more helpful advice when it comes to shopping for your dream wedding dress and finding your bridal style, be sure to check out our past posts:
- How To Decide on Wedding Day Makeup & Hair
- How To Accessorize & Style Your Wedding Dress
- How to Choose the Right Wedding Veil
About Lovella
If you're shopping for your perfect wedding dress, come visit us at Lovella Bridal in Glendale, CA. We carry wedding dresses in all sizes and styles, including plus-size bridal gowns and a full selection of veils and accessories. Lovella Bridal is the premier, luxury bridal wedding dress shopping boutique located in Los Angeles, California. Lovella features couture, feminine, modern and chic bridal gowns in all sizes from the best wedding dress designers. Schedule an appointment to find the wedding dress of your dreams at Lovella Bridal. We can't wait to help you!
About Wedding Fashion Expert
Our wedding dress shopping tips and advice are from Nayri, Lovella's own, in-house wedding fashion expert. Nayri is truly the expert when it comes to bridal fashion and wedding style. As the Wedding Fashion Expert, Nayri is the top bridal fashion stylist and the best-selling author of the book "I'm Getting Married And I Have Nothing To Wear," the ultimate guide to helping brides find their wedding day style and their perfect wedding dress. You can subscribe to her YouTube channel or listen to her podcast for more helpful and practical advice on wedding dress shopping.
