Beauty Belle Bonce - the secrets of perfect hair

Up or down.  This is possibly the toughest question posed to any bride.  How to wear your hair on your big day can have a massive impact on your overall bridal look.

The Duchess of Cambridge was criticised in some quarters for not being daring and wearing her hair up on her wedding day.  Yet she followed the golden wedding hair rule: don't do anything dramatically different just because it's your wedding day.  You still need to look like you.  The demi-chignon she opted for was glamorous enough for the big day but was still reflective of her personality.

Short hair needn't be troublesome if you're a bride.  Fashion labels are getting very good at creating intricate Alice bands and beautiful fascinators as delightful alternatives to trailing curls and fussy veils.

Of course, you could always get extensions put in.  And that is not limited to the bride!  When top pop pin-up Peter Andre married glamour model Katie Price in September 2005, he was worried that they would look back on their wedding pictures and his spiky hair would look dated.  To combat this, Pete had extensions put in to give him more of a classic Italian Stallion look.  Both Andre and Price later admitted that the only thing they would do over about their big day was Pete's hair!



By far and away, the worst thing you can do to your chair on your big day is to change it too dramatically.  I can think of no better example of this than Chantelle Houghton who tied the knot with The Ordinary Boys frontman Samuel Preston in August 2006.  She went from her trademark, striking blonde, Paris-Hilton-lookalike tresses to sleek glossy brunette.  Whilst the transformation (in my opinion) suited her, Houghton later admitted that she'd only done it because her beloved didn't like blondes.  She changed who she was because of him; because she was getting married.  And that proved to be a fatal mistake.  10 months later, the marriage was over.

We place a far greater emphasis on hair than perhaps at first we appreciate.  There is nothing wrong with wanting to revamp your self image, so long as you are doing it for the right reasons.  Don't do it to please your other half - you are going to have to spend far more time with that hair than he will.  Never EVER do it just to fit in with your wedding look.  Your wedding lasts for just one day (or a weekend if you're lucky).  Hairstyles can take up to a year to grow out.

If you want a radical one-day look, consider wearing a wig.  You can get ones made from real hair and they are a far easier option that changing your own hair.
Top Haircare Tips:


1: Use warm, not hot, water when washing your tresses.  Having rinsed all the traces of soap out, rinse through quickly with cold water.  This makes your hair glossier.

2: Keep your hair wrapped in a towel for an hour after washing it.  This keeps it softer, even when blow dryed.

3: Blow drying will give it extra body but careful not to overdo it.  Ease off the straighteners in the 8 weeks before the wedding so that you don't scald it.

Oh Baby! - Is it better to have kids before or after I Do?

When Ed Miliband married his long-term love Justine Thorton earlier this year, it was not without it's controversy.  And I'm not talking about the supposed hatchet-burying between the Miliband brothers.

Ed and Justine had been together for many years before tying the knot and had two sons.  Some people wondered why they were bothing to get married.  Children are a far bigger commitment than a piece of paper that binds you together with the State.

There were also cynical others like me who suspected that Ed Miliband only began to "believe in marriage" once it looked like his political career was going to take off.  That said, more and more couples are waiting until after they've had children to get hitched.  There is some sense in this: marriage is not time critical, whereas child-bearing is.  I've also heard it said to me that a couple wanted to have their children to help celebrate Mummy and Daddy's big day.

Whether you're cynical of Ed's motivation or not, he and Justine took the step of marrying each other with their children present.  Ultimately, that will buy them and their children more financial and legal protection from the State.  Whether or not it benefits them as a family unit will be known only unto them.  Good luck Ed and Justine.