Should You Book a Second Bridal Hair and Makeup Trial? A Real Denver Wedding Story

Hello friends!

Let's talk about something nobody tells you before your first bridal trial: it doesn't have to be the answer. It's a draft.

I get so many brides who walk out of their first trial feeling like they have to commit — like changing their mind means they're being difficult, or that they've already used up their one shot to figure out their look. That's not how this works. In my experience, the first trial is where we learn your hair, your face, what you love, what you don't. Most times, you just tell me what you want to tweak and we make it happen, but sometimes, you want to try something totally different.

Sara is the perfect example.

Trial one: a beautiful half-up look that wasn't quite it

Sara came to her first trial and we did a half-up style — soft, romantic, technically lovely. But something wasn't clicking for her. She didn't love it enough to picture herself in it on the actual day. So she did the thing most brides are afraid to do: she asked for a second trial.

Trial two: the low bun that WAS it!

At the second trial, we tried a low bun. The second we finished, I could tell — this was it. It sat perfectly with the neckline of her dress, it felt like her, and it gave her that calm, put-together, "I know exactly who I am" energy for her wedding day at Spruce Mountain Ranch. That low bun ended up being one of my favorite looks from her whole gallery.

This is the part I want every bride reading this to hear: asking for a second trial isn't high-maintenance. It's how you get it right. Your first trial is information, not a verdict.

Getting a 12-person bridal party ready — without the chaos

Sara's day wasn't small. We're talking 22 services and 4 artists on-site to get Sara and her whole crew — 12 women total — ready before she walked down the aisle. That's a lot of moving parts, and it's exactly the kind of day that can spiral into stress if the team running it isn't organized.

It didn't. Everyone was ready, everyone looked like themselves, and Sara still had time to breathe before her ceremony, and made a KILLER playlist. She said it best in her review afterward: "My girlfriends and I all looked amazing, and she finished on time, which was no easy feat since there were 12 of us! She was very communicative and transparent throughout the whole process. I couldn't have been happier with my experience!"

That's the goal every time. Not just good hair and makeup — a morning that stays calm even when the guest list is long.

It wasn't just her look that was hers — it was the whole day

Sara and Michael also wove a ketubah signing and pieces of Jewish tradition into their ceremony at Spruce Mountain Ranch — not as a formal, buttoned-up religious service, but as part of a day that still felt editorial, relaxed, and completely theirs. Sara and Michael are runners-she ran the Boston Marathon 3 months earlier…so running shoes were a must! That's the same instinct that led her back for a second trial: she knew what she wanted her day to feel like, and she wasn't going to settle until it did.

Your first trial is a starting point, not a commitment

If you walked out of your trial feeling like it was fine but not quite right — say something. Ask for another look. That's not you being high-maintenance. That's you making sure you recognize yourself when you see your photos in twenty years.