June through September in this valley books out further than people expect. Here is the actual sequence.
Twelve to nine months out
Hold the date. This is the only step that is genuinely urgent, because a single-chair studio can take one wedding per day. If your date is a Saturday in July, earlier is better.
Six months out
If you are planning a significant color change for the wedding — going substantially lighter, growing out a correction, adding extensions — this is when it starts. Big changes need runway. Extensions in particular need a consult, an order lead time, an install, and at least one move-up before you would want to be photographed in them.
Three months out
Settle the direction. Bring photos. Also bring the dress neckline, because hair is designed against a neckline and a style that works with a high collar can look wrong with a strapless gown.
Four to eight weeks out: the trial
One hour, in salon. It settles three things that cannot be settled any other way:
- Whether the style holds on your hair, not on the hair in the photo.
- How long it actually takes, which sets the day-of schedule.
- What it looks like from behind, in a photograph. Mirrors lie about the back of your head.
Bring the veil, the earrings, and the hair accessory if there is one. A veil comb changes where a style can be pinned.
Two to three weeks out: color
This is the single most common mistake. Color for a wedding should be finished two to three weeks before, not the week of. The tone settles, and more importantly, if something is not right there is time to adjust it calmly. A gloss the week before is fine and is often exactly right. A first-ever balayage six days out is a gamble with no upside.
The week of
Do not clarify, do not experiment, do not let anyone talk you into a trim from someone new. Wash the day before rather than the morning of — day-two hair holds a style considerably better than freshly washed hair.
The day
On-site, up to six bridesmaids alongside the bride, touch-ups included. Travel is covered within fifty miles of Bozeman, which reaches most of the valley and the Big Sky corridor. Past six hours on site, it is $100 an hour. Build the schedule backward from photos, not from the ceremony — the photographer usually wants you ready well before you think.