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Post-bridal hair is pretty popular. Many women grow out their hair for their wedding and then chop off their locks soon after, often signaling their transition into the "mrs." phase of their life. I personally don't believe this was unintentional on my part since I still don't really see myself as a "wife" as much as a life-partner (which I have seen myself as for over a year now). However I do acknowledge that I specifically waited until after the wedding to cut my hair, so it does signify an end to one part of my life and the beginning of another. However I'd argue that rather than signifying the end of my single life and beginning of my married life it is actually symbolizing the end of being tied down to wedding planning and the now being liberated from the burden of it. I can now focus on my career, my wardrobe, and my rodents. (Going to be getting my sister's rats in a couple of weeks!!! =D)

On another note, I've noticed that a lot of articles talking about the post-wedding haircut mention that the reason brides tend to grow out their hair during their engagement period is for practicaility - it's easier to decide what kind of hairstyle you want for the wedding when your hair is longer. I disagree. I believe that the primary reason brides tend to grow their hair is part of buying into the fairytale wedding. The idea that soft, long, flowing hair is the epitome of feminine beauty - dubbed by both Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Barbie - is the obvious hair style of an everday, not-that-special woman who wants to be a princess for one day.

Adding curles into the mix has also been a symbol of prestige and wealth as well where it was only the elite who could spend time and money caring about their long locks, including having their servants curl their hair for them. Having your hair done by someone else is not about practicaility on it's own; it fulfills the ambition for upper-class privelege. Normal, everyday brides aren't priveleged enough to have someone pamper them everyday. They have to use their own labour to do that. Having our hair done by professionals is a one-day luxury, buying into the fiscade that we are a princess for a day and the world revolves around us for 24 hours of our lowly lives.

For myself, I've never seen Disney princesses or Barbie as an ambition for myself. Probably I was a skinny dipshit to begin with and I recognized the fiscade sooner than my peers. That and White, blonde idols never appealed to me. I did buy into an image by having long hair for the wedding though. I bought into the beautiful Indian bride idol. A woman wearing a sari with her mangalasutra around her neck, draped with a flower garland, having beautiful long flowing black hair. I saw this in pictures of my mother, my aunts, and my cousin on their respective wedding days. I think I've always thought women in saris (when they weren't hanging out of them) were extremely beautiful. The long hair just ties into it. I think it's a sign of virtue, innocence, and youthful essence. Although I didn't necessarily want these qualities to be radiated through me because of my hair, I just found the image beautiful. And I know I bought into it, just like how I am not buying into the image of the moden, Indo-Canadian woman that I am. I have a vision of myself and I strive to make myself conform, even when I recognize that it's an image I'm buying into. Ultimately the reason I can live with myself is because I recognize that I'm doing this rather than being so nieve and disallusioned that I don't even realize how I am simply a product of my constrained environment and the limited exposure to other forms of historal and cultural ideologies.

Ahh...I feel like my brain is back. Finally no more frivolous wedding shit. I can critically think again.

So I did it. Went into the hair salon and chopped off my hair. I went with Jack to a place in Chinatown and the guy cutting my hair didn't know what I was asking him to do. It's a good thing Jack speaks Mandarin (somewhat) so he could explain to him why I wanted the bottom part cut off first and then the top (the top part is dyed and not long enough). Once he understood what I was doing he gave me a previous client's hair to donate too. Unfortunately it was dyed so I can't send it in with mine. Too bad.

I'm super happy with my new hair. I'm not sure how hard it will be to manage once it's washed. My hair used to be super curly but over the past few months it has become more limp and wavy. It's hard to predict my hair's behaviour now because of this. It isn't as volumous as I thought it would be at this length so I'm hoping it won't cause too much trouble. I've been waiting for a short style for months now and I am so happy. When he chopped it off and it was still in its butchered stage I was already in love. After the haircut I got a pair of sunglasses and I looked fabulous. I told Jack that it was amazing how I drastically improved my image in one afternoon. But you know what? It's true. No more fugly hair. =D

Here is a set of before and after pics. The after one is not that great since the lighting in our apartment in the evening isn't the best. We're working on decorating.

BEFORE 

AFTER 

For more information about where I'm donating the hair to and/or how you can contribute, please refer to my previous post Hair Donation.

The internet is amazing. I would not have been able to plan this wedding as well as I did without it. I would say 95% of the planning occured on the computer. Here are various websites and people that I used/ was assisted by. The only major downside for all of the products I purchased online was their prices were in USD and it was sometimes hard to budget around that since I wouldn't know how much costs were until they were posted on my VISA bill.

1. Wedding Invitations & RSVP cards: Wedding Paper Divas
We ordered our invitations and rsvp cards online from this company. They shipped out quickly and we received them a few days later. Plus they gave us a coupon for our next order, which is nice if you need to order extras or are planning to order your thankyou cards later. Their prodcut was amazing too - just what we wanted. Plus you can order a sample beforehand, which is what we did. They have a more unique selection than many other companies we looked at.

2. Ceremony Programs, Menus & Table Numbers: Impression Invitations
This venddor is located in Canada (w00t!) and they coordinated everything with me. She was really easy to work with and we did everything through online correspondance. Her prices were great and I was pleased with her products. It was nice to have so many items coordinate with each other for the wedding. It gives everything a better flow. She was listed on Etsy which is an amazing site.

3. Seating Plan & Task Schedule:  Mind Meister
I used this free online program to make my seating plan and task schedule. It has a feature where you can have several users so you can collaborate on files together online. Since Jack didn't do much collaborating I didn't really utilize this feature but having it online made it readily accessible wherever I was. Also, since the program is an online mind map I used it for both my seating plan and my task schedule. I liked it better than other free online seating chart programs because 1) I didn't have to download anything, and 2) I could use it for other thingsd other than just the seating plan. I'll probably use this for other planning tasks I'll have in the future.

4. Hair Accessories: Gem Drops Jewelry (headbands) & Lulu Splendor (hairpins)
Both of these vendors are listed on Etsy as well. They both make awesome products and are easy to work with. They were both delievered without any issues. I'm pretty sure I will be ordering more items from them in the future as well.

5. Information Websites:  Toronto Brides & Frugal Bride
They have some great resources and information pages. I got info about tipping, organizing, and scheduling from Frugal Bride. I read quite a lot of online articles but I found frigal bride was more down to earth. Toronto Brides is more local and helps with finding local vendors.

That's all I can think of right now. I might add to this list.

As I had mentioned on our website page God's Work & The Environment, I had promised to cut my hair and donate it after the wedding. Well the time has come. Tomorrow Jack and I are going to get our hair cut. Right now the longest part of my hair is 40cm (16") and I'm cutting the vast majority of it off. The donation length has to be a minimum of 10" (non-treated hair), which I will easily meet. My hair will be made to A Child's Voice Foundation, which is a non-profit organization in Mississauga, Ontario that provides funding to various Canadian kids programs for disadvantaged children.

The reason I'm doing it is simple. God has given me so much and the least I can do is give back something. I'm not fundraising for this, so if you wanted to contribute financially you can directly donate to them. If you are interested in donating your hair you can read up on their donation guidelines here (it's a pdf file).