Bridal Hair Stylist Goes Above
and Beyond the Call of Duty
By Perriann
Rodriguez
You are locked in your seat on the most famous roller
coaster in the world, the Cyclone in Brooklyn, New York.
Your fiancé is right next to you, both of you dressed
in wedding attire. As you go up the steep climb the preacher,
who is seated behind you, begins reading your vows. At
the pinnacle of the climb, you are pronounced Mr. and
Mrs., only to let out a loud scream as you plummet almost
60 miles per hour at a 60 degree incline. On the second
time around, your hair stylist, who is seated next to
the preacher, reaches over and fixes a few hairs that
have fallen out of place in your fancy bridal updo…
Okay, so the hair stylist didn’t actually sit behind
you next to the preacher, but other than a few other minor
details this is a true story for Gretchen Maurer, an on-location
wedding day hair and make-up specialist. She has been
taken to many places throughout New England from Connecticut
to Pennsylvania, Newport, Rhode Island, Manhattan and
New York State with her bridal clients, including many
different venues such as the Cyclone roller coaster, Bed
& Breakfast Inns, small homes, even elaborate country
clubs.
There are many important qualities that a top wedding
hair stylist must have in order to have a thriving bridal
beauty business which includes satisfied bridal clients.
These include being flexible, being able to determine
face shape and designing a hair style to suit, knowing
the latest trends and fashions, continuous training and
education in formal hair styling, being on-time and also
having the ability to assess a women’s overall image
Maurer began doing bridal hair right in hairdressing
school in the early 80’s. “I loved the sculpturing, balance
and texture that bridal hair design challenges me with,”
she says. “The key to being successful in the bridal business,”
says Maurer “is the ability to read a woman’s style and
face shape so that I can design a balanced look for the
total image and balance the bride from head to toe.” Maurer
first looks at pictures of the bride’s dress, considers
the time of day of the wedding, then she moves on to face
shape, ethnic heritage, personal image, hair type and
length, headpiece and puts it all together in a fabulous
bridal hair style designed specifically for each individual
bride.
Face shape knowledge is very important for a hair stylist.
Maurer says, “I have a new bride coming up who has a heart
shape face. This means a broad forehead and temple area
with a small chin. Plus she is very petite. So a low chignon
in the back is a perfect balance for her.” Maurer adds,
“Height will come from her tiara and veil.” Face shape
is used in the hair style selection process since one
style may look great on someone who has an oval face,
but simply awful on someone with a square face. This is
also an important factor for brides who bring in hair
style photos they like from magazines. Some stylists will
simply create the hair style for you, disregarding the
fact that the photo, for example, may show a model with
a heart face shape, and you may have a round face shape.
Maurer recommends that her clients bring in sample photos
of hair styles that they like, along with any other photos
such as photos of brides dresses, headpieces, tiaras,
etc. so that she can get an overall sense of the brides
likes and dislikes. From there she can design a hair style
that suits the bride’s overall image. Staying in tune
with fashion trends and styles that her clients like is
very important in the overall bridal look.
The age of the bride is also very important in the design
of the bridal style. A bridal hair style will be very
different for women in their 30’s or 40’s compared to
women in their 20’s. Maurer says, “I have a freelance
team of hair stylists that I work with and I always try
to give the younger bridesmaids to the younger hair stylists.”
Maurer has expanded her bridal business beyond the salon
in her website, www.weddinghair.com by offering a broad
spectrum of wedding hairstyles designs and hair lengths
and textures that the bride can pick out and order a hair
kit. The hair kit is simply the hairstyle photographed
step by step with directions and many after shots. Some
brides will try to do the hairstyle themselves, some will
have a friend or family member do it and some will take
the hair kit to the salon and have a professional stylist
do the wedding hair style. Maurer says, “Brides, for the
most part have never been a bride. They need help choosing
a look and www.weddinghair.com is designed to do just
that. The hairstyles represent a broad spectrum of designs
and hair lengths and textures. My articles also provide
useful information. It is a one of its kind website.”
In short, selecting your wedding hair stylist is an
important part of creating your overall wedding look.
Gretchen Maurer, and her website www.weddinghair.com ,
gives us insight into what a successful wedding hair stylist
goes thru for each bridal client and what you should look
for in selecting your stylist.
Gretchen Maurer is the author of The Business of Bridal
Beauty, published by Milady Publishing. She is creator
and owner of www.weddinghair.com Maurer’s articles and
hairstyles have been published in numerous publications
and web sites including The Knot, www.NewYorkMetroWeddings.com
, Modern Bride, Modern Salon, Passion, American Salon,
WeddingBells, Bridal Star Hairstyles and Teen Star Hairstyles.
Brides Magazine has awarded www.weddinghair.com as the
“Best Beauty Web Site”
Author Perriann Rodriguez is the founder of Hair Resources,
http://www.hairresources.com/ and http://www.hairresources.net/ , a global
website for current hair styles, hair extension info,
beauty salons and everything else related to hair. She
has published the number one best selling E-book, 2005’s
Most Popular Hair Extensions, and also the E-Magazine,
Wedding Hair Styles. Rodriguez is listed in the United
States Register of American Writers and the 2004 Who’s
Who of Business and Professionals.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/
