How to prepare for your bridal trial

Come as close to the day as you can

The trial is only as accurate as the conditions you bring to it. If your hair will be a different length or colour on the wedding day, the trial tells you less than it should.

So have your colour settled beforehand, come with your hair at roughly the length it will be, and if you are having lash or brow work on the day, have it done before the trial rather than after.

• Arrive with clean, dry, product-free hair, washed the day before rather than that morning
• Come with bare skin and no makeup, so we can see what we are actually working with
• Have your hair colour and any lash or brow work already done
• Choose a day when you can keep the look on for several hours afterwards

What to bring

• Photographs of looks you like, and just as importantly, looks you dislike
• A photograph of your outfit, or the outfit itself if that is practical
• Your veil, headpiece, hairpins or any hair jewellery you plan to wear
• The earrings and necklace you will wear, since they change how the hair should sit
• Any foundation or lipstick you already know suits you, or know does not
• A note of any allergy, sensitivity or reaction you have had to a product before

What to wear

Wear a top in a colour close to your outfit. White and ivory reflect light onto the face in a particular way, and makeup balanced against a black t-shirt can look quite different against a white saree.

Wear something that comes off without going over your head, so the look survives getting changed. A shirt or a zip-front top is ideal.

Say the awkward things out loud

The trial is the moment to be direct, and nobody is offended by it. If something feels too heavy, too dark, too much, or simply not like you, say so while we are still working, because that is precisely what the appointment is for.

It also helps to tell us the things that feel too small to mention: that you dislike your eyeliner thick, that you never wear a bold lip, that your mother has strong opinions, that you cry easily at weddings. All of it changes what we do.

• Where the wedding is, indoor or outdoor, and at what time of day
• How the venue will be lit, especially if the reception is in the evening
• Whether there is a photographer and videographer, since camera work needs a different finish
• Whether you are having a saree draped, and by whom
• Whether there is a homecoming, and if you want that look different

Judge it properly, not immediately

You will be looking at yourself in a mirror in our light, with the emotion of the moment attached. That is the worst possible condition for an objective decision.

So take the look home. Photograph yourself, in daylight and indoors, with flash and without, because flash is what most wedding photographs are made of. Wear it for several hours and see how it behaves as the day goes on and the humidity works on it.

Then tell us honestly what you thought. We would far rather adjust the plan now than have you quietly hoping it looks different on the day.

Before you leave the appointment

• Agree what stays and what changes, in words specific enough to act on
• Confirm the timings for the morning, including when we start and when you need to be finished
• Confirm how many others in the party are being done, and in what order
• Ask what you should do the night before, since it differs by hair type
• Make sure we have written the agreed look down, rather than trusting it to memory

If it was not right

Sometimes a first trial misses, and that is not a disaster. It is the entire reason the trial exists, and it is far better to discover it now.

Tell us what did not work, in as much detail as you can manage, and we will work from that. It is much easier to design a look from a clear description of what you did not like than from a polite thank you.