Made-to-order
Those three lovely little words every bride longs to hear when it comes to making her wedding day the most memorable day of her life. If you offer, or are thinking of offering bridal hair, beware: a one-size-fits-all approach won’t work for you here. It’s crucial you incorporate a personalised approach to your bridal offerings, so each bride feels listened to and catered for. Here’s my six top tips on how:
PORTFOLIO-A-GO-GO:
First things first: make sure your portfolio and social media have the wedding ‘WOW’ factor – this will give brides-to-be an insight into the kind of styles you have created for previous clients. While their look will undoubtedly be bespoke to their needs, style, and dress, it helps brides to see a visual representation of what you’re capable of and what you can offer.
ONE-SIZE-DOES-NOT-FIT-ALL:
Features, hair texture, face shape, dress: these are all individual to your client and need to be acknowledged at the consultation so your bride-to-be knows you have their best interests at heart. Make it clear what will and won’t work for them based on your knowledge within this arena. It pays to be upfront from the offset so they know they’re in safe hands.
DRESS TO IMPRESS:
Ask for pictures of your bride’s dress so you can discuss what you have worked on in the past and what will work for them. I always tell my brides that the dress really sets the wedding day hair scene: a round neck dress, for example, will work well with a clean classic chignon, while a more boho, relaxed bride with a simple silk dress would suit a textured braid. While these rules aren’t set in stone, your bride-to-be will trust you know what will work best for them.
LISTEN AND LEARN:
While I love to talk and put my brides-to-be at ease, it’s essential that you learn how to truly listen to your bridal clients. Attention to detail is key; you need to take into account your bride’s dress, jewellery, make-up and theme on the day to create a truly beautiful and bespoke style that works in line with this. Listen to their words as well as their body language.
Get a feel for them as a person and understand what they truly want, even if they find it hard to communicate initially. Making them feel relaxed and able to trust you is key, as you’ll get to truly know them as a person.
PINTEREST IS YOUR FRIEND: Pinterest plays a key part in any bridal consultation, both for the trial and on the ‘big day’ itself. We never work without it as it gives both parties a visual representation of what they can expect, so there are no surprises on the day. Words can get lost in translation, so ensure you’re always on the same page with mood boards, colour swatches and images of the dress. This will let you truly impress.
STRONGER TOGETHER:
As bridal artists, we know we’re good at what we do. This isn’t ego – we have to be good to facilitate the needs of a client on what is arguably the most important day of their life. But what I’ve found with my experience in the bridal business, is that it really pays to make it a collaborative hair affair.
It’s not always about what we know best; I’ve had brides in the past who have come up with additional details to their hairstyle I hadn’t thought of, and vice-versa. Teamwork makes the wedding day dream work.
