Help! Wedding hair style

[veil]

I have been hunting and hunting to no avail, and have practiced every type of updo I can....and still no luck! Does anyone have experience in putting hair up in a half up style who could give me some instructions, or a good link? I want to have my hair half up, with the back in soft curls. The bit I am having trouble with is doing the bit on top. I want it to be soft, perhaps with some loops, but are having real difficulty being able to do this on myself. Any hairdressers or handy folks out there?
My hair is just past classic length, and I am finding it beyond impossible to style. I really don't want to end up wearing a hair style that I would normally wear around the house, so need something a bit special....Ideas and hints welcomed.

[Isilme]

maybe a herringbone braid made from half the hair?

[cindy58]

I found the book "Bridal Hair" at the library -- check and see if you can find it in your area. I think it has some nice styles in it. One of the styles reminds me of one of the "Titanic" styles that I liked -- plus, the styles don't look impossible to achieve.

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/boo...61528933&itm=1

As if I needed to say it here, don't forget special, beautiful hair accessories! Wouldn't it be nice to remember your special day if you choose to wear them again?

[KarenLynn]

I suck at doing soft updos too, but loops I could do. My first thought was to modify something I once did on my sister. I put all her hair in a ponytail first, but you could just do the top section. Then take one small chunk, twirl it, then make a loop and pin it with a bobby pin. Repeat with the rest of the ponytail, fanning the loops out to hide the elastic, and making one on top of the other to get more height. You could leave the ends hanging, curling them, or make even more loops with them. Is it making any sense? I don't have any pictures of the 'do on my sister, but I could try to recreate it if you're interested.

My next thought was something a little more elaborate. Divide the top section into three: front left, front right, and center. Do reverse rolls with the front sections, continuing them as rope braids. Secure with elastics. Make a three-strand (or other) braid with the center section, bun that. Take the rope braids and loop them around the bun, the left one counterclockwise and the right one clockwise. Secure with pins. The ends of the braids (which got *really* thin on me, at least) can be left hanging, curled to blend with the rest. I could get some pictures of that too, if it sounds like something you'd care to try.

[aries]

KarenLynn, I don't know about Veil but I would love to see both of these styles. I am also on the hunt for a wedding hairdo, but my hair isn't near as long as Veils. Still from the sounds of what you have explained I could achieve similar looks but would like to see pics to make sure I have it correct in my mind. I did get some sparkly rhinestone, tiny hairclips, combs and pins from a kiosk in the mall.

I am more of a braider than an updo person and there are a ton of braids that would look beautiful for a wedding. Do you have anything that you are wearing in your hair? Also the style of gown has a lot to do with what kind of look you would want for your hair. If my hair were long enough I would do the rosette braid, a loose french twist or a 3 strand peripheral lace overhand. There are some gorgeous braids out there to look at so I guss it comes down to what you want. Soft curl up do/cascade, severe look or sof braided look. More info. would be great as far as what you are looking for.

Ciny58, I really want to see that book. I am going to the bookstore this weekend to see if there are any there to look through.

[veil]

I would love to see pics of what you have described Karenlynn! The bit I have trouble with the loops is getting them to stay put, my hair seems to not want to be pinned when I do this, any tips on how to get the pins to hold the hair better?
The dress is strapless, with a fitting bodice that sits over a full skirt, in deep crimson. I would love to do a braided style, but I simply cant do them well on my own head! The part I really need help with is doing those pesky loops, and where to position them.

[KarenLynn]

I'll try to get them up within the next day, then. My hair is wet right now.

What I do with the loops is twirl the hair before looping it and then putting the bobby pin across the whole thing close to where it crosses itself. (Did that make sense? ) They're not big loops, mind you. Regular bobby pins usually do the trick fine for me. Maybe crossing two of them would hold better? I could try how that works too, see if I notice any difference.

Your dress sounds lovely. I'm a sucker for strapless dresses with full skirts.

[Ursula]

Most of what is seen as "wedding styles" are very heavily held with styling products - gels, mousse, hair-spray. You would not want this for every day, but for your wedding, where you will be running all over town, dancing, and generally stressed, you want your hair to stay put.

Maybe separate out your "bang" hair, do the rest of your front hair back with a barrette, then section the front "bang" hair, smooth each section, apply gel, brush forward, fold back and pin, so that you are crating volume when you brush forward, and pin it back with the roots being gelled forward/ up?

(I have no idea if the way I wrote that makes sense anywhere but in my head.)

You might also look up styles for Gibsons and pompadours, that involves creating front volume and height, with long hair.

But a lot of what is thought of as "wedding" styles depends on shorter hair - particularly on having layers in the front, which are curled and stacked for volume. Usually with lots of work with hot straightening or curling irons involved.

An alternative might be what I had done for my brother's wedding. My front hair was slicked back with gel, and all the hair was put in two ponytails on the back of my head, one above the other. The ponytails were sectioned, each section was combed smooth and gelled, and then looped repeatedly, with each loop bobby pinned in place to form a curl. The result was a large bun that was a mass of curls, and it was very stable, reasonably comfortable, and involved no heat styling or anything damaging. The stylist assured me it would last at least three days, and I believe it would have, except that I took it out because I did not want to try to get through airport security on my flight home with over eighty metal bobbypins on my head to set off the metal detectors.

(That stylist was wonderful. My brother made the appointment for me, at the hotel where he was staying, and when I got into town, I stopped in to confirm it. When I went in the next day for the style, the stylist said she had seen me the day before, and had hoped I was the style she had scheduled, because she loved this style but rarely had clients with hair long enough to do it.)

It did take a good shampooing to get all the gel out, but that is not damaging, when it is a special occasion rather than every day.

You could probably use the same concept for a half-up - put your front hair in a ponytail, gel and loop the length of the ponytail as described, then style the back hair loose.

[veil]

Thanks for that. I think that may have been half the problem, not using any product. I will get some hairspray and gel and see how that works for me. God, you can tell I have been product free for a long time cant you, I didn't even think to use them!

[cindy58]

Your dress does sound wonderful. I like color. Check out the Classic Retro Updo -- maybe that might help with your loops.

http://www.network54.com/Forum/24246...sic+Retro+Updo

[veil]

Hey that looks like a great way of doing the loops! The trouble with hair at my length, is there seems to be just too much hair to loop up, but that way would condense the hair into easier portions. Will give it a go, thanks!

[Ursula]

That is basically how the curls were done for the updo I described, only the sections that were looped were smaller, and the loops were smaller, no more than 1" diameter. And there were many, many more loops.

[KarenLynn]

This is the first 'do I thought of, the loopy one. All pictures are clickable thumbnails.

Start with a half-up ponytail. I used a white elastic just so it would show up in the pictures.



Isolate a small chunk of hair from the ponytail and twirl it.



Loop it around your finger, and hold it down while putting a bobby pin across it at the base. (I can make screencaps of that, but not this minute. Tomorrow.)



A few loops along, ends still hanging down. These will be used up to form more loops.



A bit further along. The first layer of loops were made longer, with shorter ones on top letting them show. The elastic wouldn't really be noticeable if it weren't white.



Semi-finished style. I ran out of bobby pins, and of patience. This style can be made much neater on someone else’s head. Short bobby pins makes it look much less like a pin cushion. I didn't use any product, but my hair isn't super clean either right now. With all the layers of pins, though, this is moving nowhere.

The other style will be in the next post.

[KarenLynn]

Here's the braided style, again with clickable thumbnails.

Divide hair into front left, front right, and center sections. Make reverse rolls with the sides, continue as rope braids. Do a regular 3-strand (or any other kind of) braid with the center section.



1. Back view.
2. Partial side view.

Bun the center braid.



3. Side view, showing right reverse roll and bunned 3-strand braid.
4. Back view of the same.



4. Front view. I used a center parting, but a side parting should work just as well.

Now take the rope braids, wrapping the left one counterclockwise around the braided bun. Pin in a few places, let the ends hang. In retrospect, I’d have removed the elastic. Repeat with the right rope braid, only wrapping it clockwise.



5. Voila. Finished style.

[spidermom]

Oh how exciting - I wish I could come by and practice some braiding - there's this lovely technique called the perimeter braid which could be done on only half, then brought together in back, the ends either curled and left free or coiled and pinned, ribbon woven through, maybe flowers also or instead. So many lovely possibilities.