#23: A hairy situation

Yup, the big day is finally here! Well, not THE big day. But there is something important happening later this evening: my wedding hair trial.

This post will cover a few hair-related topics:

• My ridiculously large hair budget (and hair insecurities)
• Inspiration photos
• "Indie guilt" and balls, of course

There are 2 things that I believe make or break the outer beauty of a woman: hair and skin. Why? Because if you have a pretty face with lots of bad acne, or nice facial features and crazy-bag-lady hair and two mysterious bald spots, trust me...no one will notice the positive. 

My hair is my worst feature. If I threw my pride and values out the window to have plastic surgery on any part of my body, I'd skip the liposuction and boob job, and instead opt for some kind of hair transplant. You see, I don't have much hair, and the hair that I do have is fine and frizzy. It's a source of major insecurity for me; throughout my childhood and adulthood people have poked fun at my thin hair. :(

So. Even though we're on a tight budget ($10k in NYC, which probably equals, like, $7k in other areas), I will be forking over about $300 for the hair trial, day-of styling, and chignon hair piece all together. People, this is a lot for a cheap-o like me. (Oh, the "indie guilt"! But I'll get to that later.)

So at my hair trial this evening, I will experiment with a messy side chignon, inspired by American Idol runner-up Katharine McPhee:

                                              Image from here

To give the hairstyle some interest and fun, I might try to incorporate a braid on the opposite side of the chignon, like what Nicole Richie does here:

                                              Image from here

Now here is where the "indie guilt" comes in. First, a definition: indie guilt is when a girl who prides herself in being an independent, down-to-earth, non-traditional bride feels guilty for "selling out" to the big bad wedding industry, which seeks to harp on womens' insecurities in order to run away with their wallets. The wedding industry has somehow managed to brainwash us into thinking that if we don't look like this, or buy that, color-coordinate these, or spend this amount, our big day will be a tacky mess, and all the love that is shared between us and our groom just ain't enough to make the event special.

Yeah. Barf.

So I wanted much of my wedding to have a real home-made flavor to it. I didn't want there to be a big fuss over the bride nor her generic decor choices. But when I was brainstorming for ways to get red carpet hair without a red carpet price tag (or attitude), all I could come up with was this:

       Image from HairUWear, maker of the surprisingly cool Jessica Simpson hair extension line

My mom and sister were NOT big fans of this idea. But the big lesson I learned from their adamant objection is this: even though I, as a self-proclaimed indie bride, hate to admit it, I will be sorely disappointed if my hair looks as crappy as it always does.

Now here's where the balls come in. I will honor my commitment to being a brave bride by being true to my values no matter what the price. My values include being budget-conscious, but they also include giving myself a gift on my special day - the gift of freedom to walk around confidently, not wondering what the person behind me is thinking about my visible scalp. It's the gift of peace of mind. And to me, THAT is worth $300.

(Oh, and I get to keep the hair piece that my hairdresser is giving me. Yay!)