Bridal Stress Leading to Hair Loss

I met with a bride the other day who broke my heart. We sat down for our veil styling consultation, and I was struck by how stunning she was. 

And yet, I could tell that she was NOT okay.

From the outside, she had it all together. She had a wonderful, supporting fiancé whom she loved, and she was planning the most exciting day of her life. Her WEDDING day!

With coffee in hand, we sat down to discuss her vision for her big day. She began to open up about what she was going through...

• The pressure of wedding planning was too much for her
• Nothing was going the way that she had planned it to
• Her venue was having issues
• Her family all had their own opinions about the wedding
• She felt as if it were all up to her to fix.

To her horror, her hair had even begun to fall out. Literally, every day more handfuls of it would just fall out. She had bald patches on her scalp now.

My heart broke listening to her. She just wanted a beautiful, elegant wedding ceremony and reception that would reflect the love that she and her fiancé had for one another. She had waited a long time for “Mr. Right”, and she wanted to look her very best and to BE her very best on this day where all eyes would be on her. 

She did not put it in so many words, but I could kind of read between the lines.

She felt inadequate to plan this big event, and she certainly did not feel beautiful given the state of her thinning hair. This was NOT how she envisioned walking down the aisle.

I felt absolutely silly talking about wedding veils and designs after a confession like hers.

What could I possibly say? I just listened and nodded. I told her that I understood why she would be feeling overwhelmed and stressed. Why she would be worrying about making all of the details look perfect. And why she would be hoping that her wedding day would live up to the expectations of family, friends, and even her own expectations of creating that ideal fairy tale moment that she had been looking forward to for so long. I didn’t have any magic words.

Our conversation did not suddenly cure her anxiety. But what I was able to do was to offer her a small ray of hope that there were other women and brides out there who also dealt with those same feelings of being overwhelmed. I told her that I myself have had issues with anxiety for most of my life. 

The engagement period is commonly know as one of the MOST stressful periods of a person’s life, so her worries were not weird.

I reassured her that at least when it came to planning and designing her wedding veil, that I would be able to offer her a stress-free experience. Her veil would help her to walk down the aisle feeling beautiful and confident, and we would work together to discuss a way that her veil would stay put in her hair (despite the hair loss).

And more important than all of this was the fact that she was marrying a man that she deeply loved and respected, and that he loved her just as she was, hair or no hair. 20 years from now, she would laugh over all the things that went wrong on her wedding day. What would really matter was the quality of her relationship with her future husband.

      And guess what – just 3 months later, she did wear her custom veil and she was radiantly beautiful. She later reached out to me letting me know that her veil was just perfect for her and that it was the perfect finishing touch for her wedding day. It gave her that extra boost of confidence walking down the aisle. She was now a married woman with the craziness of that season of life behind her. Thankfully, it also resulted in her hair growing back in.

My Bride with Alopecia 

Alopecia is a medical condition that results in hair loss, and it can have various causes. For most of my alopecia brides, they still want to be able to wear a wedding veil and to feel like a true bride. That is why I love coming up with creative solutions to ensure they feel like a bride.

Dealing with hair loss can be a sensitive issue, and individuals may have different reactions and emotions related to it. I have also worked with a handful of brides who are completely confident with their hair loss and just want a solution to wear a veil for their wedding day.

Some thinning hair bridal veil hacks we have discovered:

1. Veil attached to headband

2. Veil attached to hair crown

3. Wedding Wings instead of a traditional veil

My Bride with Cancer 

I have also worked with brides who have had hair loss due to cancer treatment. The chemo was so harsh on her her hair, but she was grateful to have her life.

We designed a hair "buff" (also know as a stretch headband) with an attached veil. This worked well for her since most of her hair loss was at the front part of her head (not the back). 

Brides Deserve to Feel Beautiful

     Your story may not be as dramatic as this, but I am beginning to realize that many women feel this way. Is it wrong to want to look pretty and to want all the details to be perfect for your wedding? Absolutely not! I love designing accessories and wedding veils that fit my brides’ personalities and that highlight their beauty. In fact, it is the core of my whole business. Your beauty and inner worth deserve to be recognized, especially on your wedding day.

     But I also think that we can put too much pressure on ourselves to be the perfect “fairly tale princess” in our story-book ending. Your wedding is just 1 day, and what really matters is the life that you will build together.