For a bride, getting your hair exactly right on your wedding day is essential

After all, it’s not just about how you look on the day – these are images and pictures that will be savoured for a lifetime.

Iconic bridal looks like Jennifer Aniston (with her blonde streaked hair perfectly pinned into her veil as she embraced Brad Pitt), Kate Middleton’s perfect and natural waves, Kim Kardashian’s sleek and chic long curls when she married Kanye and of course Princess Grace Kelly’s divine updo are all images that most of us can conjure up with ease.

Celebrity hair stylist Edward James has worked with some of the world’s most glamourous women including Cara Delavigne, Joanna Lumley and Sophie Dahl. Here he offers his top tops on getting the perfect look on the big day.

1)      When you have your wedding hair trial, make sure you have a photo of your dress so that the stylist can see how the hair will work with this. The neckline on the dress will decide on whether your hair will be best worn up, down or mid-way so that the dress design is not compromised. Also bring any hair accessories and jewellery that you will wear on the day so that they can be incorporated into the hair.

2)      Get your colour and condition perfect for the big day by working with your stylist on a plan.  If you are planning to grow

your hair or change the colour, it is best to allow as much time for this as possible.  You should work out roughly how many visits to the salon you will need (work with your stylist on this) before the big day). If you colour your hair, your last hair colour should be no later than 1 week before the big day.

3)      The use of gentle keratin hair treatments such as the British Blowdry or Brazillian Blowdry will improve the condition of your hair also and mean that you do not have to heat style your hair as much in the run up to the wedding.  We also recommend a split-end prevention treatment, which essentially protects the ends of the hair for 6-8 weeks and will help you to reach your goal of longer hair faster.  If you colour your hair frequently, the Olaplex treatment is excellent as strengthening the hair during the colouring process also, particularly for blondes.

4)      Use home treatments once a week to maintain the condition of your hair. Longer hair will benefit from the use of leave in oils such as Aveda Dry Remedy oil and also give your scalp a treatment by rubbing coconut oil in the night before shampooing. This will ensure there is no dreaded dandruff on the big day.

5)      If possible shampoo your hair the night before your wedding day and avoid conditioner as it will weigh the hair down.  If you cannot face the thought of not washing your hair on the day, try to wash and dry it as early as possible in the morning so that as much of the moisture in the hair has dried off before being styled.

Edward James

 

If you are planning to style your own hair or your bridesmaids make sure you do a practice run so that you know what time you will need to prepare the hair.  If you are not particularly used to styling your hair, keep the look simple and not too fussy. Make sure you use good products that will provide hold such hair mousse and setting gels. Our favourite at the moment is Aveda Thickening Tonic which provides hold and body. If you are planning to wear some flowers in your hair, ask the florist to wire the flowers to make it easy to fix them into your finished look.  If your hair drops a little do not worry, but make sure that if you are wearing your hair with a wave to keep it tighter when styling as it is likely to drop out later in the day.

Edward James’s career spans 18 years in the industry. Whilst working with Nicky Clarke as the General Manager, his raw talent was recognized early on he moved to Gina Conway as style director. In 2011, after working with the iconic Aveda brand for 8 years, Edward James went on to open his first Edward James Aveda Salon & Spa in South West London. The second Edward James Salon & Spa was launched in 2014.  Hair stylist du jour, Edward James is fast becoming the nation’s hairdresser sweetheart, with a cult celebrity following.  He says, “our philosophy always remains the same, to create beautiful manageable bespoke hair for each of our clients." says Edward, "And or team is always striving to create new and innovating ways to enable our clients to be the best and most polished versions of themselves”