How to make it as a wedding hair stylist
Want to launch your bridal hair business in time for this year’s wedding season? Or are you keen to attract more brides to your salon? Victoria Panting, a Sales Technical Education Consultant for Salon Success, is also a freelance bridal stylist. Here, she gives her advice for building up your wedding hair business and making sure things go smoothly on the big day.
1. Use social media to promote your wedding hair salon
Wedding hair is big business, so make sure you stand out from the crowd by promoting yourself effectively. “If you want to do more bridal hair make it really clear and apparent that it’s something that you specialise in,” says Victoria.
“Use your social media channels to help you grow your business. Practise, take pictures, post a lot and be actively promoting yourself as a bridal stylist. Even if you are working within a salon you are still your own business as well. Really push and promote yourself.”
“Think about how you can build up a bridal package which includes having you wash and dry the client’s hair the day before in a way that’s going to work better for you.”
2. Keep up with the wedding trends
Messy buns, loose bridal updos… an easy way to win potential bridal clients is to stay on top of all the wedding hair trends. “Spend time researching, buy magazines and see what’s trending,” says Victoria.
In 2020, she predicts a lot of softer, romantic styles. “Everything is very soft, very natural, very undone, maybe a bit boho-ish again. I feel a lot of people now are more open to having a half up half down style.”
She says it’s about a bride looking the best version of herself on her big day — not trying out a new style for the sake of it. “You don’t want to look at those pictures in 20 years’ time and think, ‘Why did I wear my hair like that when that doesn’t represent me at all.’”
3. Always do a trial… but not the full end look
A trial is a vital part of any bridal hair package, but you shouldn’t focus too much on getting the style exactly right ahead of time. Victoria says, “I’m a little bit superstitious so I will never do a complete trial. If you get it exactly how the bride wants to see their hair and they love it, you’ll have a lot of pressure on the day to replicate it... and you’ll never be able to repeat it exactly the same.”
Instead, she recommends doing a rough version using the right hair styling products, taking pictures and suggesting any tweaks that can be made. “Say: ‘we can make this a little bit bigger’, ‘I can make this a little bit tighter’, ‘we can leave that hair out’… but don’t put the hair exactly how it’s going to be.”
4. Create bridal packages
Ensuring hair is in its best possible condition for you to style on the day will make things a whole lot easier, so consider that when coming up with your bridal hair package. “Think about how you can build up a bridal package which includes having you wash and dry the client’s hair the day before in a way that’s going to work better for you,” says Victoria.
“So when you come to style it, it’s how you want it to be. Prep yourself in a way that is going to be less stressful on the day. There’s enough stress without having the hair too greasy to style, or a mark because the hair’s been left in a ponytail. Or they’ve straightened their hair and now it won’t go curly with your curling tongs. If you get the prep right your day is going to be a lot easier.”
