American in Spain

Wedding Hairdresser

March 6, 2007

Dear female wedding guests,

Marga said something to me the other day that hadn't occurred to my simpleton male brain. She said, "We need to find out which of our guests want to go to the hairdresser the morning of the wedding." In Spain, the bride and groom normally go to the hairdresser the morning of the wedding, to look their best. But many of the female guests do too. Marga's sister, mother, and aunts will for sure. Now that I think about it, Marga's gotten her hair done the week before all the weddings we've attended together. Spanish women use weddings to fulfill some deep feminine red carpet fantasy, I think. They use it as an excuse to pamper themselves and look their very best.

Marga's going to go to one that costs more than 100€ (sure, why not! what's another c-note on the wedding bill?), but there will be others that are cheaper. I'm sure we can get one of our Spanish-but-living-in-England attendees to go to the hairdresser with any Americans that want to go to help translate (Marga probably won't have time).

Chances are that there will be more than one wedding in Mondragon that day, so the early morning hairdresser appointments will need to be made a few months in advance. That gives you a few months to think about it.

I want to stress that we're not trying to pressure you. We're just making you aware of the culture in which the wedding will occur to avoid any surprises.

But still, you have to admit that going to an overpriced hairdresser in a foreign country would definitely be an unforgettable experience.

[UPDATE 2007-03-07] Apparently I know very little about hairdressers. Marga corrected my assumption that 100€ was just "what the hairdresser cost". No, that's what it's going to cost her for everything she's going to have done. What it would cost the rest of you for a little washing, brushing, trimming, curling, [insert more hair gerunds here], etc. will definitely not exceed 50€, and will probably be much less. Just so you know...