Wedding Beauty Trends: Makeup and Hair Comes the Bride
Long gone are the days when soon-to-be brides and bridal parties would arrive at a salon for a full menu of wedding prep beauty services. The traditional head-to-toe pampering event required accurate scheduling and time management on the part of salon team members to ensure all of the women would leave perfectly presentable for the wedding. To any observer, the girlie day of glamour often resembled an assembly line of beautification, with each woman moving from chair to chair throughout the salon service schedule. However, if the stylists did not manage the women and the pre-determined plan precisely, it could possibly lead to further delays with venue arrivals, wedding attire, and commencements of ceremonies.
In contrast to prior tradition, today’s bride and her party no longer need to drive to a salon for wedding prep services. The current trend has teams of stylists driving to the bride’s location instead, to perform wedding hair and makeup services for the bride and her bridal party. As such, many wedding venues in Indian River County (IRC)—such as hotels, B&Bs, as well as family homes—designate rooms or suites for brides and party members to have their hair styled and makeup applied on-site at the chosen location by a rotating team of talented professionals.
Among the predictions of top wedding hairstyles for 2024 made by experts at The Knot and Brides magazine, the list was varied and included: the sleek bun, Hollywood waves, high updos, top knots, tucked bangs, soft curls, and messy, twisted chignons with face-framing tendrils. However, the same experts agreed on what would be the most requested wedding makeup: heavy makeup would be out in favor of lighter, more natural-looking glamour.
To find out what is most requested at the local level in IRC, three salons offered their insight on current trends, based on what wedding hair and makeup requests they are receiving. At Divinity & Co. Bridal, Brittany Soriano, CEO and owner, and her team currently travel within Florida—as far north as Jacksonville and as far south as Miami—for bridal clients. With many years of industry experience, Soriano pointed out two things that are key to a successful salon-wedding client relationship: careful planning and communication.
“We often begin our relationship with a bridal client far in advance of the wedding date. This allows us to meet the bride to establish and maintain communication with them from the initial meeting, through a bridal trial of hair and makeup (which typically occurs four to six weeks before the wedding), and to the wedding day when we are on-site with them. Our team listens to the bride’s ideas, and if she’s unsure of what she wants, we help with suggestions for hairstyles and makeup that will work well with her hair, skin tone, and dress design,” Soriano said.
According to Soriano, there is also a noticeable trend in what brides want today versus just a few years ago, when popular wedding hair and makeup styles were quite different overall.
“A few years ago, the boho style was very popular with brides wearing messy buns, flowers in their hair, and heavier makeup to hide every flaw. Today, we are seeing brides prefer glamorous waves and classy, more timeless looks for their hair. With makeup, they want more soft and natural makeup overall. They still want to look like themselves, but just a more glammed-up version of themselves,” Soriano reported.
At Emboss Studios, Samantha Fowler, salon operator (and co-owner with her mother, Tammy Jones), coordinates various wedding prep beauty services with brides and her team of hair and makeup specialists, who travel both within and outside of IRC for bridal clients. When it comes to the styling requests her salon has received, Fowler reports that many brides are looking to capture the elegance of the past.
“In general, people are going for updos again, which is a classic look that always looks elegant. With trends in makeup requests, it’s all about brides wanting a youthful glow, with their natural skin not heavily covered up,” Fowler said.
Fowler also pointed out that she asks bridal clients to bring photos of the hairstyles they have in mind, because “not every hair is the same, and some won’t hold a desired style as well.” Bookings are usually six to nine months ahead, which allows her team to make any necessary hairstyle and makeup suggestions based on the style of wedding dress, so that the bride will look her best with complementary styling.
“Our number one goal with any client is to have them be a part of our family. Our team of 15 women works hard to grow relationships with our clients, with them trusting us and us trusting them. We like to make people feel at home with us, and allow them to feel comfortable in their own skin,” Fowler summarized.
In agreement with Fowler about wedding hair trends is Olga Pardo, CEO/lead stylist at Wild Tress Studio, who reported, “With hair, brides are requesting updos, French twist hybrids, and chignons. They want sleek and classic looks that are more editorial and clean. With makeup, brides want to be glamorous but still recognizable. They want us to pretty them up for their special day.”
With bridal trials scheduled four to six weeks before the wedding, Pardo believes this helps to alleviate stress for the bride by getting all and makeup decisions made well in advance. She said, “The last thing you want is a stressed-out bride, so we help alleviate some of her stress by staying in constant communication with her, along with making any suggestions along the way. Planning and staffing are where we excel, which benefits every client we meet.”
Pardo also pointed out, “This is the era of social media, and this generation is very aware of the importance of photos, especially when trying to replicate a look with hair and makeup. Our team makes sure that all hairstyles and makeup are camera-ready so all photos look perfect.”
When it comes to wedding hair and makeup, all brides want to look picture-perfect for their special day. Luckily, Indian River County offers a wide selection of salons to choose from to help ensure that every bride is as beautiful on the outside as she already is on the inside.
Photo courtesy of Brittany Soriano/Divinity & Co. Bridal
Photo courtesy of Brittany Soriano/Divinity & Co. Bridal
Photo courtesy of Samantha Fowler/Emboss Studios
Photo courtesy of Samantha Fowler/Emboss Studios
Photo courtesy of Eli Meyer Studio/Wild Tress Studio
Photo courtesy of Olga Pardo/Wild Tress Studio
