Post Wedding Hair Chop

Woman who is chopping her long hair off
Photo: Depositphotos
Q: I’ve already seen several women who cut their hair short immediately after getting married. Why are they doing this? They want to have beautiful long hair for the wedding and then they happily cut it all off. Is the post wedding chop a short of tradition?
 
A: Most girls have a certain, very specific image of themselves on their wedding day in their mind. The dazzlingly beautiful white wedding dress, the perfect venue and setting… And of course her hair styled in some sort of elaborate long and other-worldly stunning hairstyle. This is the tradition thing you’re talking about.
 
Wedding, hair and beauty industry magazines have type casted a bride to look a certain way, and society has lapped that image up with relish. When most women get engaged, they start growing their hair vigorously for it to be long enough by the time that they get married.
 
Brides-to-be try everything to make their hair grow faster, longer and stronger, ranging from following old wives’ tales to buying expensive products to help their hair grow. The number of women that follow this path is astonishing when you take into account how little women actually really like their hair long. Most people hate spending hours on blow-drying or straightening their long hair just to get ready for a dinner or night out.
 
They struggle to justify the maintenance costs involved in coloring, after care and styling products needed to keep long hair looking healthy and happy. And most women also don’t have the time to style their long tresses every morning, which means that they end up tying their hair back more often than not, which is often not a very professional or attractive look.
 
But we want to be a picture perfect bride, so we stick to our guns and keep our long tresses, even though we secretly resent the fact that it takes hours to wash, dry and style. Strangers and friends alike complement women on their long hair when it is nicely blow-dried and straightened, which only reinforces the need to keep the length. But the resentment keeps on building up inside every time that all those long strands have to be washed and combed out.
 
At long last the wedding day arrives, and the bride looks like the perfect image that has been created by the multi-billion dollar beauty and wedding industry: The blushing bride with perfect airbrushed make-up, long, loosely curled hair styled into a half-up style and flawlessly manicured nails. Granted, this image makes for great compliments and even better wedding pictures. And most importantly, it takes your fiancé’s breath away to see you all dolled up like this. Smiles all around.
 
But do you know what happens the moment that the wedding is over? She hacks off her hair, due to months of frustration with too long hair that is expensive to maintain and almost impossible to manage and style on your own on a daily basis. The incentive is fulfilled; she’s had her perfect day with her perfect hair, dress, nails and make-up. But it’s exhausting, if not impossible to look that way every day.
 
Most women prefer an attractive, manageable style that is easily maintained and affordable. Something that will make them look good every day, without having to spend hours on their hair.
 
©Hairfinder.com
 
See also:
 
Wedding hairstyles
 
Reasons to get a short haircut
 
How to find your best hair length