fake hair = romance March 31, 2008

As with (I imagine) most brides, what to do with my hair for my wedding was a huge issue. We (my mom and sometimes even my dad) started figuring it out around the same time we started shopping for a dress, which was immediately.

My hair has never been one to hold curl. The only updos I’ve liked on myself have been performed by my childhood hairstylist. We’re talking major hairspray and bobby pins. I didn’t want to be in the chair all day when I got married, or have to worry about my hairdo falling out before I even walked down the aisle. I’m also a short-hair kind of girl, and growing it out past my chin is a major, fugly CHORE.

So of course we enlisted an expert. My mom started getting her hair done by Starlyn when she moved to North Carolina in 1979. She did my hair until I went to college (and sometimes after that, too).

There was the first haircut ever:

The first perm:

and senior prom (photos courtesy of my engagement scrapbook):

There was one way to guarantee I was going to look good, and to look how I wanted on my wedding day. And that was if Starlyn did my hair.

Train and I got married in northern Virginia. Starlyn lived near my hometown near Raleigh, NC. My mom took a chance and asked her if she would come and do my hair. Starlyn was so touched, she said yes. (Bonus! She could do my mom’s hair too!)

A plan was formed. I didn’t have a set hairstyle in mind, but I knew I wanted it up. My hair was pretty short:

wedding dress shopping, June 2002

and I knew (grumble, grumble) that I would have to grow it out, and I better start now. Luckily, Starlyn knew how I felt about it (and was also realistic about the fact that my hair would only grow so much in a year), and suggested we try out some hairpieces.

So my dad cut off a few sample strands for color matching from hopefully inconspicuous places:

We put them in separate bunches:

And took them to Starlyn:

(Step 4 - eight months later when she is getting ready for your bridal portrait, give your stylist a heart attack when she discovers missing chunks of hair)

Starlyn sent my hair off for some hairpiece samples that would match the color. She wasn’t very thrilled with what she got back from the company. She suggested we hit the mall and go to the HairUWear kiosk and see what we could find.

Not only did I find a fancy looking styled hair clip to attach to a ponytail, I also found a fake-hair scrunchy to use on my ever-lengthening but still scraggly-looking ponytail for everyday. It was awesome, and Starlyn was thrilled.

Now I just had to sit back and let my hair grow:

February

at a gown fitting

March

with bridesmaid LittleSister and maid of honor Dr. P before I made them spend a Saturday night tying ribbons on favors

Starlyn loved the piece we had picked and gave me highlights so that my hair color would match the piece even more. That’s the only time I’ve ever colored my hair, and she used a cap (where they use a hook to dig strands of hair out through tiny holes in the cap) instead of foil, and holy crap that was torture.

At some point I decided to grow out my bangs. I finished college in December of 2002 and started working full-time in February of 2003. I think that had something to do with it, I must have thought I looked young or unprofessional with bangs, which I had had since…well, since birth, it seems like. Anyway, that just added a whole level of insanity to this process.

In April it was time for my bridal portrait session. My dad and I went to Starlyn’s shop to get my hair done that morning.

Then it was more waiting, and growing:

at my first bridal shower, May 2003

at my fourth bridal shower, June 2003

the week before the wedding, getting our marriage license

By now Project Anti-Bangs was almost complete.

And finally, it was time to get married.

Starlyn taking a break from the pool to adjust my headpiece

I loved my fake hair and I am so glad Starlyn was able to do it.

And almost as importantly, it was time to get home from the honeymoon and get my hair cut. I begged Starlyn or Dr. P’s sister Jackie to cut my hair that night after the reception, but neither one would agree. Which is why my drivers’ license photo looks like this, because I got it the day after returning from our cruise to reflect my new name:

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