i have medium length, fine hair

I'd see what happens with your trial, and go from there! A good hair spray, setting mousse, and backcombing can help. Extensions can also help with fullness and curls!

Definitely get a trial and then leave it in for several hours afterwards... like leave it in the style from your trial for a while, to see how it holds up!

Extensions for the win. My hair is thick and to the middle of my back, and I STILL will get extensions for fullness the day of

I think it's possible to get the look even with fine hair! I agree with PPs to book a trial and see how it goes

Have your hair stylist set it first and back comb everything to give it some hold. Spray it down like it's 1983 and you should be good.

Make sure you leave your styled hair in all day when you go for a hair trial to make sure it holds up.

Extensions! I have the same issue and I am def getting them. Also, with a good hair stylist, they should be able to put products in it to prolong the life of the style.

I just did my trial with medium length, fine hair. I didn’t do a half & half but asked for an updo. It looked great, like I actually have hair, and held from about noon, through engagement pics, through a brief trip to the beach toil about midnight. Looked the same as when l left the salon.

Perhaps a braided hair style so the top part doesn't fall. where the top half is like a braided crown and tousseled/loose curls on the bottom?

I asked my stylist about this because I'm in the same boat and I want the same thing. She said the only way to do it is with extensions (specifically clip-ins), which I'm not super thrilled about because both me and my FH like the natural yet elevated look. I still want him to recognize me and when I look at my photos I want to recognize myself. I think I'm going to see what I can do with it on it's own and then if it's bad I'll seriously consider the extensions.

I also have thin, medium length hair and would 100% recommend extensions. I did my hair half-up half-down for prom back in 2012 and I still think my hair looked a little too thin because I wasn’t getting extensions just for high school prom haha. I’m definitely having extensions or even a halo (look it up) put in for volume, not length.

My hair is suuuuuper fine too, so I wore mine all up. Have you tried extensions? Could you clip some pieces in to add volume to the half-down part of your style? Even without clip ins you might still get the look you want, have you had a hair trial already?