September 2026 · 3 min read
Getting your haircut before a wedding: how many days before
Not the day before. That is the short version. Here is the longer one, because you only get one go at this.
Three days before. Two at a push.
A fresh haircut looks its best on day two or three, not day zero. Straight out of the chair everything is still sitting where the barber put it, the lines are stark, and any redness on a fade has not calmed down. Give it two or three days and it settles, softens slightly, and photographs better.
Day before is the classic mistake. Week before and it has grown out — especially if you wear a skin fade, which goes off in about ten days.
Do not try anything new
A wedding is not the day to find out whether you suit a high fade. Get the cut you always get, done properly. If you want to change something, do it two or three haircuts out so you have seen it, worn it, and know how to style it.
The same goes for your beard. Do not decide to go shorter, or grow it out, in the fortnight before. Settle the shape early and keep it there.
Book earlier than you think
Not for your sake — for the diary. Saturday mornings in summer fill weeks ahead, and if the groom, best man, both dads and three ushers all want doing on the same Thursday, that is three hours of chairs. Book the lot in one go and book it early.
If there are several of you, say so when you book so the time can be set aside properly rather than squeezed in.
Add the beard work
If you have a beard, get it shaped at the same appointment rather than doing it yourself the night before. A haircut with a beard trim and hot towel is £42, and a skin fade with the same is £45. It is the one occasion where the extra twenty minutes is obviously worth it.
A straight-razor shave the morning of is a lovely thing to do and a terrible idea if you have never had one — skin can react. If you want that as part of the day, have one a few weeks before and find out how your face takes it.
The morning itself
Wash it the night before, not an hour before. Freshly washed hair is slippery and will not hold. Use half the product you think, and let someone else look at the back of your head before the photographer arrives.
Wedding party bookings
Book each person by name online, or give us a ring on 0115 648 2109 if there are several of you and we will work out the timings.