Booking hair stylist before hair trial?

I booked my hairstylist in August and won’t have my trial until this upcoming Monday. I hired her based off of her instagram photos and a personal reference from a good friend that’s used her previously.

That's how most people that I know have done it. You've seen her work and her reviews, you know she's capable of doing a good enough job to book her. The trial is about really nailing down your style. It would be extremely difficult to finalize a hair style 21 months in advance.

I booked mine already, but I won't do a trial until much closer to the wedding. I'm planning on extensions, and definitely don't want to buy those way in advance for trials. I chose my stylist based off reviews, photos of their work, and quality of their communication when I reached out to them.

I booked mine before my trial, but I had to bring my veil with me and any hair accessories I plained on using. I also showed her photos of my dress and the bridesmaids dresses so she could get an idea of what makeup would look good. I would definitely book her if you are happy with her, but the trial should be much closer to the wedding.

Most people put down the deposit right away and then do the trial 1-2 months before their wedding. If you're concerned, you could always do 2 trials! One before you officially book, and one that is actually a practice before the wedding. That's of course if you want to pay for 2

I did it the same way. My hair trial isn't until next Saturday, but I booked my hair stylist with the $100 deposit about two months ago.

I booked my HMUA in June for my Leap Day wedding but won't have my trial until the end of January. A lot of people do it this way!

I personally didn’t even do a hair trial. I think it’s a waste of money. If all of her work looks amazing online I would go for it. Then again I’m going with a super easy hairstyle, so I guess it depends on what you are wanting.

The salon/stylist I am testing out for my wedding didn't require a deposit to hold the date, but I think it's pretty common to hold your date pre-trial, because there is no point in spending money on a trial if the stylist won't be available on the date you need them.

If you are confident in her work and she has good reviews (I wouldn't rely on just seeing her portfolio on Instagram, because it could take her like 3-4 hours to do a "perfect" Instagram hairstyle whereas you don't have that time to spend on your wedding day just doing hair; or she could just be a miserable person and not good at taking suggestions from brides and just wants to do her own thing), then I'd feel ok putting down a $100 deposit to hold the date.