Hey everyone! I'm new to this forum and was hoping i could get some friendly advice. My problem is this:
 I have 4 bridesmaids; 2 have short, stylish hair and it's always fixed cute and i know they will go out of their way to look nice for the big day, but the other two maids.... not so much. They NEVER do anything more than just brush their hair. it's always down, and always parted in the middle. One is a hippie chick and just likes to let it grow, the other, although she's only 23, has very thin hair and insists that it doesn't look good any other way.
I want them to do an up-do or at least a nice curl with a clip or something more photogenic for my big day. After all, it's a formal event! How can i get them to primp up without demanding it? Also, is it totally wrong of me to ask my hippie-chick friend to put on some make-up for the day? Or does it just sound like I'm trying to change my friends???

It's your big day so I think you are within your rights to ask your friends to make some effort to look nice - it's only one day out of their lives.  Could you possibly afford to pay for your friends to have their hair and make up done at a beauty salon on the day?  I'm sure a hair stylist will have lots of tricks for making thin hair look luxurious without resorting to extensions etc., and will be able to come up with a simple but chic up-do for the day.  Perhaps you could look in some hairdressing mags and find some suitable designs to show your friends what you're thinking of.  Good luck and let us know what you decide!

Carol   

This one is easy squeezy!

just tell her that Roger Daltry ( or pick her favorite rock star) is attending and he mentioned how he loves when ladies put on make up and style their hair!

( ok- that's a dumb "guy" idea)

i like the hair accessory idea. for my wedding, i bought matching tiara's for all my bridesmaids. i made appointments for us all to get our hair done at the same time in the same salon. i let them style it however they wanted, as long as they wore the tiara's. i paid for hairdo's for all but my maid of honor because my bridesmaids were my nieces and couldn't afford it.
   if you make it sound like a fun "bonding" thing for you and your bridesmaids, i doubt anyone would object, as long as they can afford it.
  or if all else fails, just ask them if they mind wearing their hair up and wearing make up. after all it is your big day.........i think deep down most women like dressing up anyway, hippie chick or no, i doubt she would have agreed to be a bridesmaid if she was opposed to 'dressing up'.
  i know how you feel though, my maid of honor wanted to wear red and i wanted her in green. we bickered about it, but in the end, she wore the green (the bridesmaids wore the red).