Written by Allison Duncan
From breakup bangs to back-to-school trims, a change in coiffure has lengthy been a visible shorthand to acknowledge main milestones. The newest in a lifetime of momentous haircuts? The mid-wedding chop, a hair transformation that celebrates the beginning of a brand new chapter as a partner.
“There’s a wealthy historical past of hair reflecting relationship standing,” stated Rachael Gibson, a hair historian based mostly in London, including that in lots of cultures and religions, particular cuts and types could sign that somebody is off the market. “Some Orthodox Jewish girls shave their heads the day after their wedding ceremony in step with custom,” she stated, “whereas in lots of African cultures, the selection of braiding and styling methods is used to visually convey marital standing.”
On TikTok, video clips of daring brides chopping their locks within the time between their wedding ceremony ceremonies and receptions have amassed greater than 1.6 million views. Some consultants say the marriage chop is a well-liked new spin on the “re-examination.”
“The wedding ceremony day lower is a extra trendy proposition and, not like the favored pattern for becoming a unique costume for the night proceedings, seems like extra of a symbolic gesture than a method assertion,” Gibson stated. “There’s one thing significant about entering into your new life with a brand new picture, actually chopping off what went earlier than and beginning afresh.”
Courtney Sneddon, 26, a private assistant based mostly in Edinburgh, Scotland, let her hair develop for 2 years in anticipation of her wedding ceremony in November. “I used to be counting right down to after I might lower it off for my honeymoon,” she stated. However when Sneddon’s hairstylist, Christopher Laird, provided a mid-wedding lower as an alternative, she thought, “Why not?” Sneddon added: “It was both this or one other costume, and since I wished a lower anyway, it was a straightforward choice.”
Whereas friends loved dessert, Sneddon sneaked away with Laird, who lower and styled her lengthy, straight hair right into a comfortable and wavy collarbone-length bob in simply 20 minutes. “The very first thing she did after we lower it was head to the dance flooring and headbang,” Laird recalled. “She felt wonderful, fierce and actually liberated.”
Olivia Lopez, 26, a labor and supply nurse in Edmond, Oklahoma, opted to vary each her outfit and her hair for her wedding ceremony final August. Lopez stole away for a couple of minutes throughout dinner, swapping her costume for a white sequin jumpsuit and her lengthy ponytail for a wavy, shoulder-length bob.
“My husband knew I used to be becoming a unique outfit for the reception however had no concept I deliberate to cut my hair off, too,” stated Lopez, including that her husband, Luis Lopez, 28, who oversees alumni engagement and fundraising for Oklahoma Christian College, was shocked by her transformation. “I used to be utterly caught off guard,” he stated. “Olivia regarded beautiful. It was such a memorable second.”
Ali Lewis Passink, 38, works remotely as a senior non-public consumer adviser for the style retailer Moda Operandi in Charleston, South Carolina, gave her now husband, Lyle, 42, who works in produce distribution, a heads-up about her preplanned plans for a marriage chop a couple of weeks earlier than their October 2018 nuptials in Charleston. “I’m virtually sure his response was ‘Sounds cool, no matter,’” stated Passink, who enlisted hairstylist Patrick Navarro to rework her full chignon into a brief bob within the quarter-hour between the ceremony and seated dinner.
Not solely did Angela Gulick let her husband, Chase, each 27, know she had a marriage chop in thoughts, however she requested him to chop her hair himself throughout their wedding ceremony, on Dec. 31. “I stunned him with scissors,” stated Gulick, a photographer based mostly in Clyde, Ohio. “He was speechless and stated he would have been much less stunned had I given him a pet that day.”
The lower ended up crooked, she stated, however not sufficient to be noticeable to friends. (Her hairstylist evened issues out throughout an appointment the week after.) Gulick donated 11 inches of hair to Wigs for Children, a corporation that creates free wigs for younger most cancers sufferers.
“I felt stunning by half of my wedding ceremony day with my lengthy locks and in addition felt stunning as we rang within the New Yr as Mr. and Mrs. with a brief, enjoyable and utterly completely different look,” she stated.
Brides who’re torn between lengthy and quick hairstyles “can have one of the best of each worlds” by selecting a mid-wedding chop, stated Alexandra Macon, founding father of wedding ceremony e-commerce platform Over the Moon.
To make sure a seamless course of, keep away from utilizing an excessive amount of hair spray or different product for the primary model so the hair is primed for a dry lower, stated Alex Brown, a star hairstylist in Chicago.
However Julia Gambell, a salon proprietor in Philadelphia, cautioned {that a} mid-wedding chop could not come out good. “Identical to an athlete performs finest on their dwelling area, stylists do finest on the house turf within the salon,” she stated.
A haircut reveal, in Macon’s opinion, can be an effective way to maintain friends entertained throughout the reception. “The marriage chop is a daring, double-tap-worthy second that everybody shall be speaking about and can most definitely have enjoyable capturing for social media.”
Bianca Corridor, a wedding ceremony planner with Estera Occasions in Chicago, agreed. “Let friends surprise the place the bride is,” she stated. “Flip up the music, go out mini espresso martinis and have the photographer prepared for the grand entrance.”
Jessica Marie Del Borrello, 30, a hair stylist in Western Australia, described chopping her hair quick throughout her wedding ceremony as “one of the best choice” she had made. “My solely remorse,” she stated, “will not be going shorter.”
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