How to Prepare Your Hair for the Wedding Day

If you've landed here with me, you're probably a bride or anticipating a big day that you get to be a part of. So first off, yay for weddings, yay for love, yay for celebrating! I truly love being in the wedding industry, it's full of joy and love - so you combine that with styling hair and I am IN! For reference, I've styled over 400 brides since 2012 as a bridal hair specialist - so I'm here with a good amount of experience and knowledge. Let's dive in!

I'm super excited to tackle my most asked question as a bridal hair specialist because chances are you're wondering the same thing! I hear the same question of "How should I prep my hair before a wedding day or professional styling service?" asked many different ways ("should my hair be clean or dirty for wedding day styling?" and "what products should I put in my hair (if anything)?"). I want to talk all things hair prep before your next professional styling appointment so we can ensure that your hair turns out just the way you imagined AND make sure it lasts all day long!

Let me give you my step-by-step preference for how your hair is prepped for wedding day styling. 

1. Wash your hair the day before the wedding (make it worth your while by washing it and following these steps before the rehearsal so you can rock your fresh locks to dinner!) - any more than one day dirty is unnecessary and actually can make styling more difficult. There is a big difference between having a little grit in your hair vs having oily hair. The oiliness prevents curls from holding as it almost blocks the heat from getting to each section. - and it's so difficult to achieve any volume in your hair when it's weighed down by oils at the roots. All in all, it's a much better bet to use texture sprays and products that can dirty your hair up if we need to, rather than your hair being too heavy to hold a style.

2. Blowing your hair out with a light amount of mousse gives your hair the perfect hold for the next day while also giving you some lift at your roots for volume! If you don't know how to (or simply don't like to) blow your hair out with a blow dryer and brush you can use a blow-dry brush for a single hand blowout. The main thing is making sure to blow dry up and away from your scalp for maximum lift at the roots.

3. Whether you choose to curl your hair or leave it smooth (not flat ironed - hair that's been previously straightened is not ideal for styling) for rehearsal - your hair will be soft and voluminous from the blowout and the mousse will give your hair memory for the wedding day style.  

4. This last one is VERY important - put dry shampoo at your roots BEFORE you go to bed. This prevents your hair from getting oily overnight from laying down and pressing your locks against your scalp (which is where the oils come from) - doing this and also blowing your hair out up and away from your roots will help to lift the hair off of your scalp which will also minimize oil at the roots. Another huge reason I like to have you do this at night is that it gives your hair time to soak up the powdery look that dry shampoo can give to your hair. When I first discovered the benefits of dry shampoo before bed I could NOT turn back!

**A note to my curly hair queens - decide beforehand if you want a style that utilizes your natural curl pattern (then come with your curls prepped how you usually do, but be sure your hair has ample time to dry completely) or if you're looking for something smoothed out (in which case you should blow it out smooth but NOT flat iron it so we can add some soft curls the morning of the wedding).

I hope this helps you better understand how to prep your hair for the wedding day! I know it can sound like a lot, but it truly doesn't take too much time - and the results are so worth it! For more tips and styling tricks follow me on Instagram @kjandhairspray <3

Follow these steps before your next event (or your big day) - your hair AND your stylist will thank you!