The Hair Dryer

A woman has been asked to be a bridesmaid in her friend’s wedding. The wedding is very formal and all the bridesmaids will be wearing long beige gowns. There have been a number of fittings for alterations.

After the last fitting, the bride and all the bridesmaids go out to lunch. While they are having lunch, they discuss some of the details about the wedding.

One of the bridesmaids says, “I love the dress. I think I am going to get my hair styled in an updo. Is that okay? I wore it that way for my sister’s wedding.”

The bride says, “I think that would be okay. I haven’t really thought about it.”

Another bridesmaid says, “It’s usually up to the bride how you want us to wear our hair. I’ve been in some weddings where we all had the same style and other weddings where it didn’t matter. It sometimes depends on the headpieces.”

Another bridesmaid says, “The dresses are very formal. I think we should try and wear our hair similarly. The same thing applies for make-up. The bridesmaids should look similar so the bride stands out.”

The bride says, “We are planning to have a hair stylist and beautician available before the wedding to style everyone’s hair and apply make-up before the pictures are taken, but we haven’t discussed the specifics. I will talk to them and get back to you.”

A few days later the bride sends an e-mail message to the bridesmaids that says, “Hi, I would like to thank you everyone for being available for last week’s fitting. I wanted to let you know that I had a chance to discuss some of the details of the wedding with the hair stylist and beautician.”

She continues, “I showed them pictures of the bridesmaid dresses and they said they would style everyone’s hair and make-up so you look similar. Attached are a few pictures to help show you what they had in mind. I think they look nice, but let me know if you have any suggestions.”

The pictures show that the hair will be styled so that it looks sleek and wavy and the make-up will look wedding-professional for a soft and formal look to go with the dress.

There are a number of positive e-mail messages in response to the pictures including one from the Maid of Honor who says, “Are they available on call? I need them for my next event!”

The Maid of Honor is a corporate trainer and depending on the type of training session, it is important to have your hair and make-up applied professionally as they are often conducted online or saved for future use.

As the wedding date gets closer, the bridesmaids receive additional information from the bride with details about the wedding. The wedding ceremony will take place in the evening, but the bridesmaids need to arrive early in the morning to allow enough time to get their hair styled and make-up applied before the group pictures are taken.

On the morning of the wedding day, the bridesmaids are instructed to go to a large conference room in the hotel where they are staying to get their hair styled. They are asked to go to the room after washing their hair so that it is damp.

When it is the woman’s turn to have her hair styled, she goes down to the conference room. The room has been converted into a small hair salon. She waves “Hi” to a few of the other bridesmaids who are sitting at the stations that have been set-up. Each station has a chair with a cart in front of it to hold hair supplies. There are also a few stylists standing behind each chair working to style their hair.

The woman is greeted by an attendant and asked to take a seat at one of the open chairs. She takes a seat and a few minutes later, a hair stylist approaches. The stylist carefully applies a headful of rollers to the woman’s hair.

When she is finished applying the rollers, the stylist asks her to follow her into an adjoining room. In the next room, there are a number of standing hair dryers that have been placed on top of a conference room table. The hair dryer has a large dome that is pulled down to cover your head to dry your hair.

The woman says, “I remember using this type of hair dryer as a child. It had a plastic dome cover that you could place over it to make it portable. We used it to play ‘beauty parlor’.”

The woman is asked to sit down in a chair that is facing backward from the table. The stylist adjusts the dome so that it can be pulled down to cover her hair, and adjusts the setting. The woman is offered water and a few magazines. The stylist says, “I will be back to check on you.”

After about 20 minutes, the stylist returns and lifts the dome from the woman’s head. She asks her if she is ok. The woman nods, “yes”. The stylist touches a few of the rollers, and says, “Just a few more minutes”. She pulls the dome back over her head. The woman continues to page through a magazine.

After another 10 minutes go by, the stylist returns, and lifts the dome from the woman’s head. She says, “We’re going to go back to the next room and I will finish styling your hair.”

The woman goes back into the adjoining room and takes a seat at the station. The stylist begins removing the rollers from her hair and uses her hands to smooth out her hair and create waves. A beaded ivory headband is carefully placed on top of her head.

The woman thanks the hair stylist and goes into another conference room to have her make-up applied. She takes a seat at one of the open chairs and waits for her turn.

The bridesmaid sitting next to her says, “I love your hair.”

The woman says, “I do, too. I wish I could have it styled this way every day.”

The woman waits to have her make-up applied. After her make-up is applied, she goes back to her room to change into her bridesmaid dress before meeting the group pictures.

As they begin to group together before the pictures are taken, they complement each other as each person arrives. When the bride arrives, they all rush around her to admire her dress. She laughs as says, “I never knew my friends looked so much alike. Thank you for being my bridesmaids.”

The pictures are taken and shortly after the wedding ceremony begins. After the wedding ceremony, the bridal party and guests enjoy a nice reception and dinner.

A few months later, the woman is at a beauty supply store and sees a display marked “Clearance”. She smiles to herself as she sees a standing hair dryer for sale. She considers purchasing it, but she knows she probably won’t use it.

She makes an appointment with one of her old hair stylists. She brings in one of the pictures from the wedding, and says, “I want you to see how my hair was styled at my friend’s wedding. They used a stand-up dryer.”

After her hair is cut, the hair stylist begins adding rollers to her head. The woman doesn’t think much of it as her stylist often styles her hair in different ways.

After she is done, the stylist leaves and returns pushing a stand-up dryer on wheels near the chair. She positions it so the dome-shaped dryer will cover the woman’s hair when it is pulled down.

The woman says, “What are you doing?”

The stylist says, “I’m using a stand-up dryer so we can achieve the look again.”

The woman says, “I didn’t know they still used them. I now seem to be seeing them everywhere.”

After she is done sitting under the dryer, the stylist finishes styling her hair. On her way home, she runs into an old friend who says, “I love your hair.”

The woman says, “Thank you. I just got my hair cut.”

As she continues walking home, she thinks about the dryer she had as a child and how it was used. A stand-up dryer tends to be used for special occasions when her hair needs extra styling.

Several months go by. A friend calls her for advice. Her daughter’s birthday is the following weekend, and the entertainment they scheduled is no longer available. She is not sure what to do.

They discuss a few options. The woman then suggests arranging for make-overs. She explains the set-up they had at her friend’s wedding and how they could do something similar. After a few calls are made, they find a hair stylist and beautician that are available to attend the party.

At the party, each of the girls has a lot of fun sitting under a standing hair dryer and getting a make-over. An introduction to a lifetime of special occasions.