Nine to twelve months out, hold the date
Rochester's wedding season clusters hard into June through October, and Saturday mornings in that window book out first. If you have a date, reserve your stylist before you finalize anything else about the beauty plan.
This is also the moment to decide whether you want hair done on-site at your venue or in the salon. On-site travel needs to be built into the booking from the start.
Six months out, start the color plan
If you want to be significantly lighter for the wedding, that's a multi-appointment process. Lifting several levels safely takes two or three sessions spaced six to eight weeks apart. Compressing that into one appointment is how hair gets damaged in the worst possible month.
Starting early also means you'll see the color in photographs before the day, which is when most people discover their target shade reads differently on camera than in the mirror.
Two to three months out, the trial
Bring your veil, your hair accessories, a photo of the dress neckline, and reference images of styles you like and styles you don't. The dislikes are genuinely as useful as the likes.
Come with hair washed the day before, not the morning of, day-old hair holds a style far better, and I want to see how yours behaves. We'll usually try two variations, photograph both from every angle, and note exactly what we did so the wedding morning is reproduction, not invention.
- Veil and any pins, combs, or clips you plan to wear
- Photo of the dress, especially the neckline and back
- Three or four reference images, plus a couple you dislike
- Hair washed the previous day, no heavy product
Two weeks out, the final color and cut
Schedule the last color appointment ten to fourteen days before the wedding. That's long enough for fresh color to settle and any toner to soften into its final tone, and short enough that roots stay clean.
Same window for a trim. A cut the week of the wedding leaves ends too blunt and springy to fall the way they did at the trial.
The wedding morning
Plan roughly 60 to 90 minutes for the bride and 30 to 45 minutes per member of the wedding party. Build in a buffer, someone is always late, and photographers usually arrive earlier than the schedule says.
Wash hair the day before, not that morning. Eat something before you sit down. Wear a button-front or zip top so nothing has to come off over a finished style. And if you're getting ready at a venue outside the city, confirm the room has real outlets and a window, hotel bathroom lighting is not photography lighting.