Gimme some hair

All images copyright Filip Welna.

To follow on from the makeup person I used, I thought I'd mention my hairdresser in case anyone was interested. I left hair until far too close, and all the mobile hairdressers I could find (that I liked) were booked out. In desperation I called Peggy Sue's. Not only did she agree to do it, she didn't freak out at the sentence "By the way, the Best Woman has an undercut." Now, mobile wedding hair is not her usual thing, so I don't want to promise that she'll do yours or anything. But she did mine, and the Maid of Honour's and the Best (wo)Man's and I was pretty stoked.

Also, she texted me the morning of the wedding to ask if there was any last-minute errands she could run for me (how nice is that?), and was an all-round fun person to have with us on the day.


This isn't the best photo of the Best (wo)Man's hair, but the only I could find that didn't show her face. BwM has, as mentioned above, a pretty severe undercut. On the left side of her face is a beautiful 1940s victory roll, and all her hair was swept round to trail down on the right-hand side, showing off the undercut at the back on the left. It was gorgeous.

For the Maid of Honour I gave Bee this picture for inspiration. Bee likes nothing more than big hair. Oh, so big.


This doesn't even begin to show it. Well, kind of. Look at where her shoulders are, and where her hair ends. Her hair was as tall as her face was long. It was Elvira-esque. It was a beehive. It cracked me up every time I looked at it. People came up to me after the wedding and said "You look great and all, but her hair - my god! That's a feat of architecture!" Was it exactly what she or I would have chosen? No, but I didn't ask for a redo because it was wild and silly and it looked amazing. Once in a lifetime hair.

Mine? She just made mine as big as was humanly possible, given I have thin, fine limp hair. She did a great job. C'mon, you've seen it in the other photos.

Voila. Practice veil. Made with patterned broadcloth instead of silk. The actual veil will be fuller, but I kind of messed up all the cutting on the practice version (this is why we make a practice version, people).

After much messing around, I discovered/ decided:
i) blusher + bow + veil is too much. So long, blusher.
ii) the best bubble veil is 20 inches long, with the folded edge cut to a curved corner.

Excuse my slightly blotchy skin and damp hair. That photo was actually taken the morning after my hen's night, so frankly I think I'm looking pretty damn fine, circumstances considered.

Struggling to find a hair person

While makeup people abound, it seems like it's really hard to find a hair stylist to come out and fix us up all pretty like.

What's with that?

Etsy finds: vintage wedding veils

Cute little 50s cage veil, from 13 Bees Vintage. There seems to be a tear in the netting, but you could use your mad DIY skillz to replace the net. I like how flat this sits on the head, and the fact it doesn't rely on a comb to keep it in place.


A beautiful Victorian-era bridal veil with a little pair of lovebirds on the back. Modern veils are so sheer and diaphanous that the weight (and consequent drape) of this lace veil make it a really unique choice. Considering its age the colour has held up well, too. No overt yellowing. At the aptly named Antique Lace Place.


Surprisingly modern looking, this little vintage floral headpiece is made (in part) of pipecleaners! How rad! Totally mouldable to the shape of your head (or hairstyle). Available at Dakota Vintage.

Choosing the bridal accessories that go round your face.

Volume or length? Volume or length? Hmmm...
From the fabulous Okinawa_Soba's photostream. Seriously, go check it out. There's some awesome non-wedding stuff in there.

You know, veil, earrings, hairstyle, that kinda thing.

I'm not 100% necessarily convinced by all this 'how to dress to suit your proportions and colours' stuff, but these blog posts do seem remarkably thorough (and explain what to do when, like me, your features are squashed into the middle of your face, leaving vast deserty expanses of chin and forehead. Seriously, my forehead is outright Elizabethan*).

First, you wanna work out what your basic face shape is.
But, it's not that simple. 'Cause you got to work out whether your features are actually where they should be, or if you would have been a natural beauty in Elizabeth I's court. So, facial proportions need to be considered.

Now you can consider an appropriately flattering hairstyle, and earrings to suit your face shape.

And, my personal favourite, how to choose a hat to flatter your face. I'm taking a wild guess and saying that the same principles can probable be adapted to choosing a veil?


* What? What is she on about? In the Elizabethan period a high forehead was considered aesthetically pleasing. So much so that women used to pluck their hairline, to create an even higher forehead.

Breakthrough!

Awesome, serious, hardcore bubble from Pearls Events, photographed by Amy Carroll

The modern name for those 60s style veils I like is a 'bubble veil', or, occasionally 'fountain veil'. Which made searching etsy a whoooole lot easier.

Only problem being I want a wee blusher to go over my face to start with, that can be pushed back over my already-huge veil afterwards. I haven't seen anything like this, and I can't tell if it's because noone's thought of it, it's gosh-darn ugly, or it's impossible engineering-wise. But I'm pretty tempted to find out by making my own veil. There's an excellent 'how to' here. My only additional tips are:
i) make one out of cheapy tulle first to get a feel for what you're doing and how it will look; and
ii) hairspray holds more than just hair in place. Use for maintaining super-volume on the day.

Veils

Image from Collylogic, of his or her fabulous parents. Note also the bride has short hair!

I haven't, I must admit, had much joy searching for a veil so far. HobNob do have some more unique things (including a rather fab thing that is sort of a cross between a small hat and a large headband), but everything is either too short and too flat, or too long and too flat. I have decided that what I want... is a sixties style veil. In the sixties veils were all about volume, and tended to be just past the shoulders. The veil was often attached to a pillbox hat for extra volume, but I don't think I'll go that far.

This site here has some simply gorgeous images showing off wedding dress, bouquet and veil styles for each decade of the 20th century. I highly recommend it if you want some ideas on how to get away from the same-old same-old (or if you're planning a vintage-y wedding). Simply dreamy.

Another pretty hat-thing - this time Edwardian

I think it's so, so beautiful, but a little too soft and romantic for what I think I'll eventually wear. Someone go grab it now!

I seriously hope

that when it's actually close enough in time for me to seriously consider the hat-thing I will wear on my head, that I can find something this fabulous. I don't really want to share where it is... but since I'm generous I did. Maybe it'll still be around in a year's time? (ha!)

You know how you get two-dress brides? I think I might be a multiple-hat bride. I'm going to work my way up from 'significant' headbands to hats for everyday wear, just to get used to them. At least, that's my justification for the navy straw pancake number that's sort of a hat attached to a headband that I'm about to buy on etsy.

Boring Sidney

Is it bad that I kind of adore this hat? It reminds me of the Sex & The City movie, where something like this goes on:

Carrie: How can he do this to me?! I wore a dead bird on my head for him!
Charlotte: Oh, is that a whole bird? I thought it was just kind of feathers...
Carrie: Mm-mm. Whole bird.

If Siamese doves aren't your thing, Boring Sidney do have other amazing fascinators. I particularly love the Lanvin.


Here's a Real Life Bride wearing the Lanvin and looking to die for! The rest of her photos are here. I particularly love what she's done with her hair. I reckon I could pull it off.

Wedding headbands

There's been quite a few posts recently on non-veil wedding headgear. I have to admit, I'm undecided on the whole veil thing. I think I'll wait to see what dress I get, and how I feel in one. But one thing I've noticed is that most veils, and most alternatives, are on combs. Being Short and Fine of hair, keeping a comb in will require painful styling. Which isn't really my bag. So I've been looking about for wedding head-stuff on a headband. And have been pleasantly surprised!

My absolute favourite of them all, from Belcanto

A stunning kind of astral spray, from Lulu Splendor

A pricier option, but it has a veil and some preppy charm, from Castle Bride (a non-etsy site).

A beautiful, minimalist, silver-dipped oak-leaf, from ThreeBirdsDesigns.

A pretty flapper-style bandeau, from HemsandBustles.

Bleached peacock feathers, very chic, from BethanyLorelle.

And some other options:

Vintage diamantes in a floral spray, from LaurelLime.
Big! And fluffy! With feathers! From HairFascinators.
A little bit of lace and a little bit of netting, from HemsandBustles again.