While a whimsical bun still is the ruling hairstyle for wedding day, many brides opted for open hair in the recent 2 to 3 years, which is a striking contrast from the buns and braids preferred before. Open hair can be comfortable to wear and won’t cause any unnecessary pressure on the head to hold the weight of the bun, which is often an issue with elaborate bridal buns. Wearing your hair down also allows you to accessorize with dainty embellishments for a soft and romantic look. Below, find 35 open hairstyle ideas for brides:
#1 Graced With Mathapatti
Curls that are enhanced through the lengths of the hair and left gracefully on the shoulders are a good no-fuss open hairstyle for brides. Opt for them to be stress-free throughout the nuptials and attach the dupatta a little in the middle of the head so the curls can make their starry appearance through the pictures.
#2 Sheeshpatti Works Too!
Open hairstyle is a versatile hairdo to try for your special day. These beautiful brides will prove them to you, one of whom went for a sheeshpatti to grace the loose tresses and went for soft curls from the crown of the head. This bridal hairstyle also gives you the option to change the style throughout the wedding, wherein one time you can sweep all your hair to one side and other times keep it equally on both sides of the shoulders for a different aesthetic throughout the ceremony.
#3 Curls & Tendrils
This bride opted for a millennial look with her choice of a white bridal lehenga, simple makeup with nude lips, and a loosely messy open hairstyle with tendrils and curls. P.S.: This is your hint to get highlights done at your wedding. They won’t steal from the traditional setup and will add a touch of modernism to the look instead.
#4 Romantic Side Curls
We are swooning over this bride’s wedding open hairstyle. She went for chunky curls swept to one side of the shoulders and posed happily for the camera before she gathered her emotions to walk down the aisle. She also opted for the maang tikka-paasa style jewelry to bedeck her hairdo to radiate an old-world charm with the modern choices.
#5 Adorned With Paasa On The Side
Another bride who opted for the maang tikka and paasa jewelry pieces to elevate her open hair for the wedding day. When opting for paasa, it’s important to not choose a hairstyle that goes over it as it will block its look. Instead, you will find many brides who opt for paasa to sweep their hair to the other side so their unique accessory also gets much-needed attention.
#6 A Modern Bridal Hairstyle With Open Hair
Instead of open hair from top to bottom, the next bride on this inspirational list goes for a half-half hairstyle for her wedding day. This alternative makes the bouncy waves more manageable and also gives a twist to the bridal hairdo, which is either open, fully braided, or tied in a bun. Adorning the tresses is a mathapatti with green tints which complements the neckpiece and the earrings gorgeously.
#7 Stunning One Of The Wedding Open Hairstyles
Open hair for weddings is considered a good idea because it exudes a natural, romantic, and effortless charm. It also allows the bride to showcase the beauty and health of her tresses, and we love how this next bride did exactly that and posed elegantly for a bridal portrait. Besides the hair, the green jewelry, her lehenga hue, and the rosy makeup all come together to give her a viral and sophisticated bridal look.
#8 Sleek & Tucked Back
Celebrities can be credited with changing the fashion world more than anyone else. Celebrity brides like Alia Bhatt and Parineeti Chopra wore open hair on their wedding day, which further fueled the craze for open hairstyle for brides! While Alia chose soft waves for her sundowner pheras, Parineeti chose straight hair tucked back for a clean and minimal look which also complemented her makeup style. The combination of minimal and maximal elements in Chopra’s bridal style is what surged the popularity of her wedding pictures.
#9 Overflowing With Grace & Happiness
We love how this bride opted for the best accessory you can on your wedding day: A beautiful, ear-to-ear smile. It’s easy to get caught up in the varied emotions on D-Day and stress over the minor details, but when the day arrives, it’s best to accept what has happened and go with the flow, so the smile comes from the heart and not just for the pictures! Of course, carry it with your hair down and let the no-fuss magic overflow on one of the best day of your lives!
#10 Adorned With Dainty Maangtikka
With all things modern and elegant, this bride’s open hairstyle for the wedding added to the touch of whimsy and elevated the entire look perfectly. Yet another idea for open hairstyle for brides that proves you can add a wedding open hairstyle to almost any vibe you’d want to exude on your wedding day. There’s a place for an open hairstyle for brides in almost all the wedding themes.
#11 Smooth Waves
Without doing much, this bride created a wedding look that comprises stunning gold jewelry pieces, an open hairstyle with smooth waves, and a heavy red lehenga design. The groom complements the bride in an ivory tux creating a visually striking combination. The stark contrast enhances visual appeal, conveying a sense of vibrancy and balance. Whether in fashion, design, or decor, this classic pairing is timeless and eye-catching, and can enhance a variety of your wedding elements.
#12 Voluminous Curls
We love everything about this couple’s wedding look. The pastel purple lehenga with ivory work adds to the uniqueness of the dress and the open hair elevates the easy, sophisticated elegance of the bridal look without doing much. The bride also kept the pastel minimalism alive by opting for a dewy, simple makeup touch with dainty jewelry pieces to complete her wedding look.
#13 Long & Luscious Open Hairstyle For Brides
When you have long and thick hair, it makes sense that you will want to flaunt it. Plus, a bun takes a lot of effort to put into place for dense hair and it also puts a lot of pressure on the head, making you prone to headaches and congestion. Alanna Panday chose a bridal open hairstyle for her wedding in the Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai and to say she looked like the epitome of a modern bridal look seems an understatement.
#14 Endearing Open Hairstyle For Brides
This Anand Karaj bride chose to let her hair down for her wedding day and it looked gorgeous in all the ways! The classic red lehenga look aligned well with the modern hairstyle and the bride chose all chunky jewelry pieces to compliment her trendy and traditional look. For the wedding hairstyle, she also curled her hair on the loose ends of the tresses for a romantic vibe.
#15 Bouncy Blowout
Carla Dennis and Arjun Kanungo tied the knot last year in a dreamy and emotions-enriched wedding ceremony. For the final day, the bride went for a quintessential Indian wedding look in red lehenga and heavy kundan-polki jewelry. However, she added a modern twist with an open hairstyle for the bride. “I added my twist to the look by leaving my hair open and adding a statement mathapatti and statement maang tikka,” the bride told Vogue magazine.
#16 Simple & Elegant
Not all brides want to add that extravagant touch to their wedding look, some just want to keep it simple, elegant, and easy. This next bride’s look not only comprised of a pastel-hued lehenga in purple but also had other elements that completed her modernistic wedding look, like her wedding hairstyle which included smooth curls on freshly-colored hair. No embellishments are added to the tresses and makeup-wise, things are simple as well to keep the minimalistic elegance alive.
#17 Open Hairstyle For Brides With Sheeshpatti
Winters are approaching so is the season of velvet lehengas! This bride’s rich velvet lehenga in maroon is complemented well with a heavy bridal choker, sheeshpatti, nath, and earrings. Beauty-wise, she kept her look contemporary with heavy lashes, contoured face, blush lips, and hair down. The ‘do was styled with a sleek look on the top and curls on the bottom for a fresh look!
#18 Beauty & Happiness In One Frame
This bride swooped her hair to one side and adorned the hairstyle with a sheeshpatti to complete her bridal hairstyle. She kept all the other elements traditional and we loved how all of it came together for an elegant, chic wedding look. The happy picture also portrays the happiness of the bride and groom, and captures the essence of their day in one frame.
#19 Some Tendrils On The Sides
Styled with a sheeshpatti and tendrils on the sides, this bride’s open hairstyle is another amazing idea to style your hair down as your wedding hairstyle. This is also an easily recreated bridal portrait idea with an element as simple as pampas grass used to create the visual appeal of the photo. Besides the pampas grass, you can also use other props such as peacock leaf to create the same type of portrait.
#20 Flaunting The Long Hair
If you have long, thick hair or perhaps, have been taking care of the tresses to make them look healthy and voluminous for the wedding, then flaunt them with an open hairstyle for brides. For the betrothed couple getting married in the winter season, this is a great idea to infuse some warmth and keep you cozy during the festivities. Embellish them as you please, because long hair looks good with all types of hair accessories.
#21 With The Furry Baby
The gorgeous, voluminous open hairstyle of this bride grabs the attention, but what catches the eye is her adorable pose with her furry baby. Make sure to include your pets in your getting-ready portraits, so you can seal them in the memories as well.
#22 Half-Up, Half-Down
Simply adoring how MUA Shraddha Luthra made the right choice of makeup and hair for this bride. She gave her a rosy makeup look alongside half-up, half-down neatly-tied hair for a bridal look that seizes the attention in the first glance.
#23 Graced With Paasa & Maangtikka
We love how this bride managed to ooze out simplicity whilst opting for heavy jewelry for her D-Day. It’s just her relaxed, serene vibe which makes you almost wonder, how has she managed to look calm in the chaos of the wedding? Probably something all brides can benefit from, so they can enjoy the best day of their lives to the max!
#24 Stunning Center Part
An open hairstyle for a saree on the wedding day can be as simple as sleek hair on the top on tight waves on the lengths of the mane! When you’re merging the Western weddings with the Indian traditions, this hairdo fits the theme of the wedding perfectly.
#25 Coordinating With The Bridesmaids
The brides and bridesmaids coordinated look can encompass a simple, wavy hair where the bride can opt for heavy accessories to give her the main girl vibe and the rest of the bridal party can choose simple accessories. A demonstration of this idea is shown below:
#26 Open Hairstyle For Brides Adorned With Heavy Polki
There’s an open hair bridal hairstyle for all kinds of brides. For those opting for a heavy bridal look, with lehenga, jewelry, and beauty choices all reflecting the same, a wedding open hairstyle with chunky curls on the lengths seems just like the right choice to match the theme.
#27 Romantic Bridal Hairstyle For Day Wedding
Day weddings are all about ease, fun, and a laid-back vibe, and it only makes sense that the aspects of your wedding look – beauty, or otherwise, matches them too. An open hairstyle with waves and slight embellishments fits this theme superbly.
#28 Keeping It Natural
Talk about the perfect bridal portrait! If you’ve got gorgeous, smooth tresses, leave them open on the D-Day and elevate them with smooth waves for an ethereal bridal vision. After you’re ready, roam through the natural gardens and let the photographer capture you in all your bridal glory!
#29 Aesthetic Beauty
With sleek middle-parting and smooth curls, this bride looks gorgeous and sophisticated, and it can be a great hairstyle for someone with short hair who wants to leave their hair down for their special day.
#30 Maximum Volume
Every bride is truly unique. In the open hairstyle genre, we thought we would find some versatility and then, that’s it. But the brides are getting terrific at maneuvering each look to their personality and blessing us with tons of inspiration for each wedding niche. Here’s how this bride steered the open hair bridal look to her personality and wedding theme and opted for curls that start straight from the scalp to the bottom for a dazzling hairdo!
#31 Graced With Unique Dupatta Draping
Every aspect of your bridal look can have an impact on how you look. It’s not just the open bridal hairstyle with maang tikka which captures our attention in the next image, but also the bride’s unique dupatta draping style, which makes her wedding look extraordinary and captivating.
#32 A Stunning Open Hairstyle For Wedding
The happiness of the bride and groom puts a smile on our faces, but it’s also the bride’s simple open hairstyle for the wedding which made us save and include this image onto this list. Caramel-colored highlights enhance the aesthetic and make the mane look visually appealing.
#33 Soft & Dreamy Front Open Hairstyle For Wedding
For brides who want to embrace their natural beauty, you can learn tons from the next bridal look on this list. It encompasses a nude bridal makeup with minimal contouring and blush with natural hair with the slightest of waves. If you want to look like yourself, this is the wedding look to save for inspiration.
#34 Gorgeous Open Hair Hairstyle For Wedding
We love the casual elegance of this reception Indian bridal hairstyle which parts the hair in the middle with just a simple blowout on the loose lengths. This type of ‘do will look good on any length of hair and just some simple accessories can complete the look beautifully.
#35 Simple Open Hair Bridal Look With Lehenga Or Saree
Bouncy curls and a pushed-back over-the-head veil which gives a distinctive and idyllic look (just like the backdrop) is a beautiful idea for open hair bridal look for wedding. The bouncy curls do need tons of spray so they stay in place. Make sure the artist sprays the tresses generously.
FAQ’s
How To Choose A Bridal Hairstyle?
Here are 5 steps to choose your perfect bridal hairstyle
Step One: Pick Your Dress
Your hairstyle should complement your outfit, so it makes sense that you pick your dress before choosing your hairdo. No matter what kind of lehenga or saree you choose for the special day, there’s a hairdo that goes with it. Rather than the attire choice, it’s the vibe of the dress that will be the deciding factor in picking the hairstyle. Let’s say you opt for a light pink lehenga with golden work, then a messy bun with tendrils will be an amazing pick. For a heavy red lehenga or a banarasi silk saree, a sleek bun or open, straight hair with embellishments is the best choice.
Step Two: Find Inspiration Online
A few months before the wedding, flip through the best of wedding magazines, blogs, and social media accounts to bookmark the best inspiration. Whilst sorting and saving, pick the ones that resonate with your personal style and comfort. After you have saved your favorites, get advice from a professional or your friends/ family on what will look good depending on the dress and the entire theme of the wedding. Pick 4 to 5 that you, and everyone else, finds the best among the lot.
Step Three: Schedule A Trial
Next, schedule trials with your preferred hair artists in town. This will give you an idea of what kind of hairdo will look best on your face and attire, and also help you narrow down which artist should you book for the wedding. If any of the hair artists aren’t in town or you want to book someone virtually, you can also schedule a trial virtually where they do the hairstyle on a dummy so you get a sense if they will be able to nail down the ‘do you want!
Step Four: Book Your Hair Artist
After you have done trials with a few of the professional artists in town, book the best fit for you as soon as possible. Most of them run on advance bookings as much as 6 months prior to the date and even if the brides don’t book them directly, makeup artists book them for their own bookings so they have a hair artist with them.
Step Five: Trust What You Have Chosen
Once you have chosen who you want to stick with, trust them, and don’t worry about this part of the wedding planning anymore. Similarly, once you have decided on the style, don’t overthink and worry if it will look good. Even if you want to change the hairdo, it’s okay too! Just plan in advance and talk to your artist about what all you will need to get it done in a timely and flawless way.
How To Affix Accessories To Your Bridal Hairstyle?
To affix accessories to your Indian bridal hairstyle, begin by selecting ones that harmonize with your attire and the overall look. Consult your hairstylist during the trial to determine the best placement for each accessory. The first step to including accessories in your Indian bridal hairstyle is to create a secure base for attachment through braiding or pinning, and then carefully position items like the maang tikka, jhoomar, or paasa. Use hairpins, clips, or small hooks to secure them in place. Veils should be attached seamlessly, and hair jewelry can be woven through braids or strategically placed. A final touch of strong-hold hairspray ensures everything stays in position, allowing you to showcase your adorned bridal hairstyle confidently.
Should You Consider Extensions For Your Wedding Day?
Hair extensions can be considered if they add life to the hairstyle you’d want to sport and make it look as perfect as it can be. When you opt for open hairstyles for medium hair for a wedding or thin hair, adding extensions can be a great way to add some volume without stealing away from the natural look. You can also opt for permanent hair extensions before the wedding as they last for about 6 to 8 weeks and will last you for your honeymoon and beyond!
What Is The Bridal Hair Trend At The Moment?
“Natural” is one of the biggest hair trends in the bridal hairstyle industry. That’s why open hairstyles for reception, wedding, and other revelries are trending. Brides are embracing their hair’s natural texture, which can be waves, turns, or straight locks. Though the experimentation with the hairstyle has taken a backseat, brides are experimenting with the embellishments by opting for accessories like half-mathapatti, a dainty maang tikka, or sheeshpatti for their tresses!
