My First Hair Trial

MR. T:
THIS POST IS NOT FOR YOUR EYES SINCE YOU WANT TO BE SURPRISED ABOUT EVERYTHING ON THE DAY OF OUR WEDDING =]  AND YOU WILL CATCH GLIMPSES OF MY DRESS IF YOU READ FURTHER...YOU'RE WARNED!


Those of you following me on Twitter may have already seen this, but I had my first hair trial the other week.  I settled on who is doing my hair for the day of the wedding, and we got together to practice since I really had no clue what I wanted to do.
A close family friend will be coming over to my parents' house on the morning of the wedding to do my hair, along with my mom and Mr. T's mom.  The girls have all decided to do their own hair/help each other with their hair.

I've known Theresa for ages, she actually used to babysit me when I was younger.  I ran into her one night downtown and we talked and it was decided!  She's actually going to do my hair for free as part of my wedding gift, and wouldn't take anything for my hair trial either when I went over to her house.
I brought along some of the hair inspiration pictures I've been gathering.  I had narrowed it down to two styles.  One was a low updo, and the other was a half-up updo.

I told her I either wanted something similar to the first one, or I wanted it EXACTLY like the second picture.  I decided for the first time around to do the low updo, because I just really wasn't sure what I wanted.  And obviously I was being wishy-washy because somewhere in the conversation we lost each other and she went ahead with the half updo.  And I'm really glad she did, because I absolutely loved it!  When it was done and we were looking at it, she even said if we wanted to run back to my house on the way to the reception, she would pin up all the hair into a low updo for me and it would only take about 10 minutes.

I get to be a two-hairstyle bride! How exciting?!  This way I can leave my hair down for the ceremony and wear my veil, and then it will be up off my shoulders for the rest of the night and I won't be too hot and worrying about the curls falling out.

Now for the pictures...

 Unfortunately, you don't get to see the front of it, because I don't have a picture of it.  It was after a long night in Chicago, I didn't have any makeup on, and my face and I were fighting.

I don't remember if I told you all or not, but I got a perm about a month ago because I was sick of my half curly hair and wanted a change.  It looks absolutely adorable now and I don't have to put any time into it, but Theresa said they must have left the solution in for too long because my hair is beyond unhealthy now!  So she sent me home with some good shampoo and conditioner and orders to get my hair trimmed and a good deep conditioner at a salon.  This way my hair will hold a curl better and look healthier and shinier on the day of the wedding.  So now I've got some work to do between now and then.

But I'm glad I went ahead and did this trial, because now I know for sure what I want.  All I have to figure out now is what I'm planning on doing with my makeup.  I'm really leaning towards having it done at a salon, because I really want eyelashes applied for the day and I'm horrible at doing them myself.  So we'll see what I decide on that. 
I would definitely recommend a hair trial though if you're stuck between a couple different ideas and you can afford to do it.  It will also give you a feel for how it will hold up throughout the day.

Have any of you done a hair trial before your wedding day??  What are your thoughts on it?

DIY: Hair Flower, Version 2.0

Version 1.0 

Even though I said I was very happy with the way it turned out...turns out I'm not.  It just didn't really lay the way I wanted it to.

So when I was in Joann's looking for something non-wedding related, I decided to pick up a little more white material and give it another go.  Here's what I came up with.

Much better!  I like that it's more structured and actually looks like a flower, instead of being floofy flower-like flower.  I can't show you a picture of it in my hair yet because I have to find a clip to sew it onto, but what I can do is show you how I made it.  Even better right??

Step-by-step Tutorial

1.  Cut out five petal shapes for the base layer from satin.

I know there are only two here, but I promise I do know how to count...just go with me on this.

2.  Thread a simple running stitch through the bottom of each petal.

And yes, I used green embroidery floss because it was the only thing at my apartment and I was too antsy to wait til I got home.

3.  Gather the ends tight and tie it in a knot to give the petal some pucker.

4.  Hold each petal over a flame to seal the edges and let them shrink a little.  Unfortunately for me I didn't have a candle so I was using a lighter.  I couldn't take a picture for you because I was too busy burning my fingers.  But just make sure you don't hold it too close so that the fabric burns.

5.  Arrange all five petals in a circular shape and sew them together in the center.

You can see how the edges are "puckery" from the flame.

6.  Cut out five petal shapes from organza, a little bit smaller than the satin ones.  For these I didn't do the gathering at the bottom, I just held them to the flame to get some shape.

7.  Arrange the organza petals into a circular shape and sew them together in the middle.

8.  Place the organza flower over the satin base layer and sew them in place.

9.  Repeat this same process with another layer of satin, slightly smaller, and a smaller layer of organza over that.  I also added three additional petals under the base of it to fill it out a little more.

10.  For the center of the flower, I cut a long skinny strip of satin and burned the edges of it to give it shape.  Then I rolled it until I was happy with the way it looked and sewed it together.  I sewed a few small petals around the outside of it, and then sewed it to the flower.

11.  There are a few petals of netting at the base of the flower, and I may consider adding a couple more so you can see it better. 

12.  Attach to your choice of clip or comb, and enjoy!

And there you have a finished flower.

I paid just under $1.50 for the material for this flower.  I purchased 1/8 yard of both white satin and white organza.  The tulle netting I had left from the first go around.

I'm much happier with the way this flower turned out, and I'm considering making a smaller version of it for my flowergirl to wear on a headband.  Like I've said before, with this much time on my hands, I'm bound to redo a project or two until I'm 100% satisfied with it.

DIY: Hair Flower

I have been on a crafting roll lately and I have one more project to share with you!!  I made a hair flower to wear during the reception after I take off my veil.

This project was inspired by another Weddingbee creation...this time I used Miss Mascara's tutorial.

I forgot to take pictures along the way, but basically I followed her directions step by step.  The only thing I changed, was that I layered different types of material to get the look I wanted.

Here is my finished flower!! I used white satin, a wide tulle netting, white organza, and a pretty white lace.  I added green and white beads to the center of it, and sewed it onto a comb.
And here's what it looks like in my hair:

I need to play with it a little more to get it to lay the way that I want...but otherwise I'm very happy with the way it turned out!

Price Breakdown:

1/8 yard white netting: $0.16

1/8 yard white satin: $0.62

1/8 yard white organza: $0.62

1/8 yard white lace: $0.62

Hair comb: $1.29

Green beads: $1.29

White beads: $1.29

TOTAL: $5.89

So as you can see it was super cheap!! If I had these beads laying around the house it would have been even cheaper!! But now I'll just have to find something else to use them for =]

There is still enough left over from each fabric to make another hair flower, if I'm not totally happy with this one.

What are you guys doing?? Are you going the traditional veil route, or are you wearing something else in your hair??