How to Choose a Salon for a Big Occasion

Judge a salon by the questions it asks you, not by the photographs on its wall. Anyone can post a good picture. A stylist who wants to know what time you are going out, how long you need the hair to hold and what it does when it rains is the one who will send you out with something that still looks right at seven o'clock.

A big occasion is not a normal appointment. There is no second go at it, and you are not booking something you can live with for six weeks. You are booking a few hours on one particular Saturday, and if that Saturday is Dreamworx you want hair that is still holding when you come out.

Book Earlier Than You Feel You Need To

Two to three weeks ahead is the realistic minimum for a Saturday, and the morning slots go before the afternoon ones. If you want a particular stylist, ask for them by name when you book rather than hoping on the day.

Colour is a separate job and it wants to happen sooner. Ten days to a fortnight ahead gives it time to settle and leaves you room to go back and adjust the tone if it has come out warmer than you pictured.

What You'll Spend

Prices across the North East vary more than you would expect, and a city centre chair and one ten minutes out of town can be a long way apart for the same work. Ask for the number when you book, not when you are already sitting down.

• A blow dry. The cheapest thing on the list and, for most people, the only thing they need. Usually somewhere in the twenties to the forties.
• An occasion style, pinned or half up. More money and more time, often an hour and a half.
• Colour. Priced separately, almost always by length and thickness. Get the quote by text so you both have it.
• The extras. Toner, a treatment, a fringe trim. Small on their own and very easy to say yes to four times.

If you are deciding where the money goes, spend it on the finish rather than on adding services. A really good blow dry beats a rushed updo.

The Consultation Is the Test

You get five minutes at the start to work out whether this is going to go well, so use them. A stylist who is on it will ask what the occasion is, what time it starts and finishes, whether you are going to be somewhere warm, and whether you want to be able to put it up later.

They should also touch your hair before they decide anything. Density, texture and how much it has been coloured all change what will hold, and none of that is visible in a photograph.

If nobody asks you anything, that is your answer. Say you would rather rebook and leave.

How to Describe What You Want

Adjectives fail. "Natural", "glam" and "not too much" mean four different things to four different stylists. Describe the result in terms anyone can check.

• How much movement you want, from poker straight to properly bouncy.
• Whether you want volume at the root or at the ends.
• Where you want it to sit: off your face, off your neck, or down.
• How you want to feel when you shake your head, which is a fair test for a Dreamworx afternoon.

Then bring pictures, at least three, all showing roughly the same thing. One picture is a wish. Three pictures with a pattern in them is a brief.

What a Good One Does Differently

They tell you no. A stylist who says your hair will not hold that shape without a week of growth, or that the colour you have shown them takes two appointments, is doing you a favour and saving your Saturday.

They also work to your timings rather than theirs. If you say you need to be out by two, a good salon books the slot that makes that comfortable instead of the one that makes it tight.

Watch the finish, too. Being handed a mirror, walked round the back and asked whether you want it firmer or softer is the sign of somewhere that expects to get it exactly right, not roughly right.

What to Take With You

Take your pictures saved offline, in case the signal in the salon is poor. Take the clips or grips you own, so anything they put in is something you can put back in yourself later. Take a top that comes off over your shoulders rather than over your head.

If you are wearing something with a particular neckline, take a photo of it on you. Hair that looks great with a crew neck can sit oddly against a strapless dress.

The Day Itself

Wash your hair the day before rather than the morning of, unless you have been told otherwise. Most styles hold better on hair with a day on it.

Leave more time than you need to get into town on a Saturday. Arriving ten minutes late turns an unhurried appointment into a fast one, and you can see the difference.

Then, when it is done, stop touching it. The most common thing that ruins a good set is the owner checking on it every twenty minutes.