Help- wedding updos?

[Freija]

I'm off to my cousin's wedding on Saturday! After a panicked shopping trip over the weekend I have a gorgeous, flowy silk dress (dark purple) and a little beaded cardigan, but am utterly lost as to what to do with my hair! It looks miles better in an updo, and I'd like a slightly messy one at that, but I'm lousy at styling hair. Mine is shoulder-length and wavy/curly with a straight top and awkward layers, the shortest of which is at ear-length, so getting anything to stay put is a nightmare. I also need to be able to fix it myself, as I will be travelling by train on the day of the wedding and getting ready there.

All and any advice would be greatly welcomed- please? ^^;

[Janka]

In the articles section, there are many beautiful updos. Have a look there for inspiration.
It also depends whether you want something very elegant or girlie-like. Elegant would be a low chignon on one side, that would match your silk dress very well. Comb your hair into a low ponytail on left or right and make two or three loops with the hair, fixing it with underneath. You could also add a nice flower or other decoration. You can fix the shorter layers on the opposite side of your chignon either "invisibly" with pins matching your hair color and trying to hide them under the longer layers or use decorated pins matching your dress. I saw a todo video somewhere, I bet your favorite searching machine can help you with that ;-)
The other possibility is to take advantage of your layers to make your hair look a little girlie-like and romantic with hair strands flying around your face. Just make a rather messy knot and let the layers just surround your face. You could enhance your curls with an electric curler (for this one occasion, it should not hurt your hair too much). This yould be a contrast to your elegant dress and expressing what you are - a young woman. Girlie hair standing for young, long dress standing for woman ;-)
Either way, you'll have to try the styles at home to see what you like more and get a bit of routine. Be prepared for worst case if you're too nervous to make it right - buy a nice claw/clips/pins to help you keep your hair looking tidy even without a real "hair style".
For the last wedding I visited, I was able to do a nice chinese bun to match my kimono dress with nice hair sticks. I only had to practice three times until I could do it. And the day of the wedding, I managed it on the first take!
I hope I could help you. Enjoy trying new styles and have fun at the wedding!
J.

[Deborah]

What about a nice French twist? At your length a French twist is actually pretty easy, as you won't have excess length fighting to escape from the twist. If you have not done this before, there are several places on this site where the how-to is explained. With a little practice this particular updo is quick and easy and can look quite elegant.

[Vitalai]

I just read this thread (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=12905) and I think this style is just gorgeous. You could also try this with regular braids, and I'm interested to see how one using herringbone braids would look like.

You could also do half-up, half-down styles, which I think would be nice to show off your waves. Some suggestions are this (http://www.dressytresses.com/hair/gallery/instruct/lc-twist/), this (http://www.dressytresses.com/hair/gallery/pics/long/L003/), and this one (http://www.dressytresses.com/hair/gallery/instruct/barrette-fold/). I really like this one (http://www.dressytresses.com/hair/gallery/pics/long/L005/), too. I've seen it on a wedding website, and the bride had wavy hair. It looked beautiful.

I'm addicted to the show Gossip Girl :o and I love the hair worn here (http://www.imdb.com/media/rm720081920/tt0397442). I believe there's a youtube tutorial floating around somewhere.

I hope that helps! :)

[Elphie]

I really like the four strand one, vitalai!