Dread extension advice for brides

Part II of my series on dready weddings is a guest blog from none other than Ms. Siouxzi Rodeman, steampunk bride and fake dread aficionado.

First, ask yourself…
What makes you feel amazing or really brings out the sparkle in you?
How far do you want to take your “offbeat” look?
What do you want to think 30 years from now when you see your wedding pictures.

Likely one wouldn't be thinking about dreads if they didn't feel spectacular in them to begin with. But your wedhead should be something that really turns the beauty of you up to 11. When I do hair for people, even if it is wild colors, I aim to make it as realistic as possible. When you go see a magician, you don't want to know the secret of the trick, at least not during it. You want the pleasure of enjoying the show in all your innocence. If you saw the stage hand release the dove a little part of you would be disappointed. For me, fakehair is the same way.

Saying all that, here are my best suggestions.

Skinny Vs. Fat
Big fat dreads really are fun but they are harder to work with especially if you want to do anything beyond ponytail(s) or a simple tie back behind the head look. I say go for skinny dreads. They are easier to style and move more naturally when down.

Curly Vs. Straight
Straight is great but they've been around and around and around. A great look that is slowly making its way into dread styles are curly dreads. I adore curly dreads. Thin dreads which are made and boiled or steamed while wrapped around a small wooden or metal dowel make fantastic spiral dreads. Have the maker use different sized dowels to make the spirals for an even more natural look. Romantic and yet still tough, they have wonderful movement, bounce, flow and break up the never ending fall of straight dreads. For those who want dreads but fear the worst from their family, thin curly dreads in natural colors are the perfect compromise.

How to choose colors and materials
I definitely suggest using a base color that matches your hair, and accent with your wedding colors or at least a color that compliments your wedding colors. You don't have to be limited but you don't want to clash with everything around you either. A great trick — do the last few rows underneath in your unnatural colors. You could leave your dreads down for the ceremony and pull them up for the reception, or even vice verse.

Tubular crin and ribbons are popular for ravers, gravers and all sorts of ers in between, but be thoughtful when combining different materials and colors. A cook doesn't use every spice in the rack to make a great soup.

Most dread extensions will be made of synthetic (human hair doesn't dread well) or wool. Be careful using wool though, they smell like sheep when wet… not the best scent on the day you say I do.

Before You Dread!
Have any bleaching, dying, cutting, etc done before you get dreads or any extensions put in. In fact, ideally you should bleach or dye at least 3 -7 days before putting in extensions. Especially for dreads as they are heavy and this gives your poor scalp a break before the real stress. I suggest having your dreads or extensions put in about a week before your wedding. You need time to get used to the weight. They need time to settle and find their natural fall and part on your head. It's a pretty tight timeline to do fakehair well for a wedding. And remember, it will take most pros 5-8 hours to put in a full head of extensions. So that day is pretty much booked .

Cost
It costs a lot to look this cheap. Seriously. All extensions cost money and cheap dreads put in poorly can cost more than good ones in the long run! This is the time to pay good money for your hair. If wed-dreads are right for you, get good recommendations from people you know or see who have them well done. Look at their portfolios and get an estimate from them as early as possible so you can budget for it. Well-done extensions can last between 4-8 weeks depending on what type they are and how your hair grows. Poorly done ones can rip your hair out within a few days and can leave you with a mess which could take even years to fix.

I can't afford that!
There are a few temporary one day dread methods which could be used. These eliminate the cost of installing fake hair for your wedding. However these methods often take many practice rounds to figure out how to make the look work for you and they really limit style options. These temporary methods are generally done by the wearer. Honestly most brides have enough on their minds going into their wedding day already so I'm not sure that I would recommend these routes, not even my own Noh method. Even on a regular old club night I've gotten 1/2 through a Noh install to find it wasn't working and nearly gave up and stayed in instead. That's not really an option when it's your wedding day.