May Day!: Perfectly Coiffed

After my head was full of preliminary curls, it was time for all my bridesmaids to get glammed up! Because she would be doing my makeup, Sister Goodlaff was first in the chair.

Just like their dresses, I let each girl choose her own hairstyle, and true to form, all of my bridesmaids had completely different hair.  Sister Goodlaff went with a '60's-inspired French Twist, with a few fun curls for a pop, which suited her dress perfectly.

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow!

Finally! 

Wedding day may have been the happiest day of my life so far, but last Saturday was probably the second happiest day of my life.  Why, you may ask?

POST. WEDDING. CHOP.

Chop, chop, choppity chop!  It was time for all of the hair I'd been growing out for over a year to go!

Before:

Order in the Court

Because Miss Goodlaff's hair trial is about to begin!

Friday was a really busy day for the Goodlaffs, but it was especially busy for me.  Our marriage license has been procured, and our flowers are finalized and ready to be ordered. And finally, after months of growing out my hair and looking at inspiration pictures, I had my hair trial. 

I decided pretty early on that I wanted an updo, and fell in love with the soft, romantic side chignon.

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 In November TLC ran a short series, Wedding Day Makeover, and my desired wedding day hairstyle was set in stone when I saw Veronica's chosen hairstlye.  I DVR-ed the episode (still have it, too) and took pictures from the TV screen, that is how dedicated I am to this one have-to-have-it hairstyle. After my screen to camera pictures turned out crappy, I googled it, and lo and behold, Veronica's photographer, Stephen Knuth had posted pictures of her wedding on his blog.

So here is my be-all, end-all wedding hair inspiration:

How My Hair Flower Garden Does Grow...

Last Friday was a red letter day in the productivity department at Chez Goodlaff. I managed to, within the space of three hours, craft a new hair flower, make a rough draft of my veil, and finish my wedding day necklace.  I was like the Energizer Bunny of wedding crafts--and I liked it!

I have so, so much to share with you, but one thing at a time, eh?

If you've been paying attention, you're probably asking yourself, "Miss Goodlaff has made yet another hair flower?  When will it end?"

Right now, my friends, right now.  See, I've finally got it right. 

After finishing several of the chiffon hair flowers, first in blue, then in white, I still wasn't completely sold on the look.  The edges of my chiffon flowers frayed and made the overall look messy, instead of light and fluffy.  

I found myself looking at flowers like these:

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Chop, Chop

I wish that the much-vaunted Post Wedding Chop could, in my case, become a Pre-Wedding Chop.  I mean, yes, I have been growing my hair out for almost a year so that it will be conducive to perfect wedding day hair.  But right now?  I hate every inch of it that extends past the tops of my shoulders. 

See, I am not, nor was I ever meant to be, a long-hair kinda girl.  In fifth grade, my hair was halfway down my back, and I used to get golf ball -sized knots at the base of my head. The long hair was a gigantic pain in the ass, so one day my mom took me to the salon and we had it all cut off.  I remember sitting in the chair, telling the stylist to take it up to my shoulders; she was horrified, as was the lady sitting in the next chair over--"but your hair's so pretty. You shouldn't cut it off," they said.  Yeah, but you don't have to live with it, I thought--chop, chop.

Up until a few years ago, my hair stayed varying degrees of short, usually somewhere below my jaw, but no more than an inch below my shoulder (and that was pushing it). 

Like so:

But my hair isn't short anymore:

Hair Fascinator 2.0

You know what I hate? Deceptively easy online tutorials--they get me into all kinds of trouble. 

I've blogged before about the DIY Chiffon and Tulle flower from Project Wedding, and how my flower and their flower didn't quite look like they were cut from the same cloth (heh). Let's refresh, shall we?

 Original, then mine in two different fabrics

I know I've done this project before, but the other day I decided I would make my own veil and realized I would be needing a fascinator.  The two flowers I've already made are in the wrong color.  It would appear that I am a glutton for punishment, because I decided to go for round two and try making the flower again.  This time, I documented the process of following this tutorial.