How Should I Style My Hair for My Wedding?

This is frequently as important as choosing the dress for some brides: How should I style my hair for my wedding? There are so many choices, from upsweeps, curly, straight, with or without a veil, flowers in your hair and much more, so it's tough to know how to choose a hairstyle.

One of the first things to consider is that the pictures from your wedding will be treasured for years to come, and it might be best to pick a style that makes you look most like, well, like you. Plus, you want a style for your hair in which you will be comfortable that is going to hold up to the wedding, the reception, dancing and more. Let's look at some other things to consider when choosing what style you should have for your hair on your wedding day.

Choose a Wedding Hairstyle for the Seasons

If your wedding is going to be during the summer, and you'll be wearing a summer dress for warmer temperatures, some of the best hairstyles for your wedding day would be the classic upsweeps, because these hair styles keep your hair out of your face and off your neck, so that should you perspire in the heat of the day, your hair will not get wet and stick to your face or shoulders and neck.

For winter and fall weddings, long and loose hair, sculpted curls that cascade down your back, or full and thick hairstyles are acceptable without too much worry.

Choose a Wedding Hairstyle to Match Your Dress

After considering the seasons, your wedding dress will likely match somewhat with the season of your wedding too, such as sleeveless summer wedding dresses with cleavage showing, or shorter skirts, while winter wedding dresses might have long sleeves and full, long skirts. The point is, wedding dresses are as unique as brides are, and well they should be, so the hairstyle you select for your wedding day should match your dress style.

If your wedding dress is less formal, then your hairstyle can be more playful and fun, while the more formal or fancy wedding dresses might require a more elegant or subdued hairstyle. For a casual wedding, wearing dress clothes but not necessarily a formal or classic wedding style dress, you might just want to wear your hair the way you would normally wear it on a special occasion, which has the advantage of being more comfortable for you.

Choose a Wedding Hairstyle to Match Headgear

If you are wearing a veil in a formal wedding, you will want a style that easily accommodates putting the veil on but will also look good when the veil is removed for the reception without having to style your hair again.

In a situation like this, an upsweep that knots in the back or toward the back of the head, leaving the front area where the veil will attach is a great choice. If you want to wear your hair down, clips that pull your hair back and attach on the crown or back of the head, letting the curls or locks spill down the back can still work for this type of wedding hairstyle for the veil.

Some brides like to wear flowers in their hair, either sprinkled into the locks or worn at your ear. Small baby's breath flowers look fantastic in an upswept curly hairstyle on darker or red hair, while brightly colored small spring flowers look fantastic in lighter colored hair. For flowers worn at the ear, pulling the hair back and knotting it at the crown or back of the head or neck keeps the hair pulled back to let the flower show.

Some brides like to wear a tiara or wedding style decorative headband. If you intend to wear a headband or tiara, these tend to look best when hair is worn down or loose, but they can look okay with hair pulled back or in an upsweep too. Keep in mind though, when wearing a tiara or headband in your wedding hairstyle, the tiara or headband probably is part of the hairstyle itself, so you may need to wear the tiara or headband to your reception.

Practice Wedding Hairstyle before the Wedding

The best way to pick a hairstyle after you have determined all these factors is then to have your hair styled in that manner prior to the wedding and wear it that way for a day. This will allow you to look at yourself in the mirror, become comfortable with the style, see how well the style holds up to activity (if it can make it through a day of normal activity, it's probably going to look great after dancing at the reception!), and this way you can choose a style you know is going to be comfortable and look good on you.

Good luck and congratulations on your upcoming wedding. Remember, no matter what hairstyle you choose, every bride will look beautiful to her future spouse when she stands and shares her vows.