Bridesmaid updos have moved past the basic twist-and-pin: this season’s versions build in soft face-framing layers, curtain bangs and a lived-in color that reads as grown-in rather than grown-out. Glossy natural texture replaces the flat-ironed finish, so a style can hold through a ceremony and still look intentional at the reception.
These 20 Trendy Bridesmaid Updos run from low, sculpted buns to high-volume curls, with options for fine hair that collapses by the first dance and thick hair that swallows a pin. You will find lengths from chin-skimming to long, textures from coily to straight, and a fix for a fringe that refuses to sit. Pick by density first, then by the neckline.
The 20 looksOpen list +
Vintage Victory Roll Updo With Deep Waves
Victory rolls sit above the forehead like two sculpted commas, and the deep glossy waves below them carry the same drawn line. This is a black updo with a dramatic side silhouette, finished with a decorative hairpiece at the top. Straight, thick hair of medium to long length holds the shape best, because the rolls need density to stay rolled and the waves need weight to stay deep. Ask your stylist for: vintage updo with victory rolls and deep waves. Building it takes real sectioning: the front is backcombed, rolled, pinned flat against the scalp, then the length is set in waves and brushed into a high shine. Strong-hold hairspray keeps the rolls crisp through a ceremony and a reception, so plan on a salon appointment rather than a mirror attempt.
Romantic Rose Gold Updo With Voluminous Curls
Is rose gold a color a bridesmaid can actually wear without upstaging the bride? In an updo, yes, because the tone stays in the hair and the highlights do the talking. This is a loose, romantic style built on long, thick, wavy hair, with voluminous curls pinned low and face-framing pieces left out. The rose gold base with blonde highlights keeps the whole thing soft rather than saturated.
Who it suits: long, thick, wavy hair, and face-framing pieces that soften square and round face shapes. Fine hair will need backcombing at the root to match the volume. Ask your stylist for:
- loose, romantic updo
- voluminous curls
- face-framing pieces
- butterfly clips as accents
Styling starts with a curl cream and a diffuser to define the waves before anything gets pinned, then a flexible-hold spray so the curls stay springy instead of shellacked. A garden wedding in spring or summer carries this best. Book a gloss or toner top-up about two weeks before the date to keep the rose gold from drifting warm.
Textured Dark Blonde Updo With Sculpted Sections
Where a soft romantic updo lets the hair fall where it wants, this one makes a decision and commits: a textured knot at the back, sculpted into defined sections, with a few loose strands left around the neckline for air. The dark blonde base shows visible highlights, and the highlights are what make the sculpting legible, since shadow and light do the work of separating each section. It wants thick, wavy hair; fine hair can be bulked with backcombing before the pins go in. Ask your stylist for: textured updo with sculpted sections and soft loose strands. Hold comes from a strong-hold gel worked through damp hair before styling, then a firm spray at the end. A formal wedding with a structured schedule is the natural home for it, and it survives a long day better than looser shapes.
Ash Blonde Twisted Updo With Pearl Pins
A twisted knot at the nape, loose tendrils left out at the face, and pearl hairpins scattered through the back: the design is quiet, and the pearls are the one detail that lifts it. The base is ash blonde with lighter highlights, which keeps the tone cool and the twists readable. Medium-long, thick, wavy hair gives the knot enough mass to hold its shape, and the tendrils soften angular face shapes. Ask your stylist for: twisted updo with loose face-framing tendrils and pearl pins. Say the word pearl clearly, since the size and placement change the whole effect, and ask for the pins to be worked into the twist instead of lined up across it. A smoothing serum on the tendrils keeps them polished, and the knot is pinned tight enough to last a full ceremony and dinner. Classic weddings, formal dress codes, and a photographer who likes back-of-the-head shots.
Ash Blonde Updo With Voluminous Crown Bun
A large textured bun sits high at the crown, loose waves fall away from it, and soft tendrils finish at the nape. The ash blonde highlights are the reason the texture shows at all: without them the bun would read as one solid mass from across a room. This needs mid-back length and thick, wavy hair, and layers help the bun fold into itself instead of collapsing into a knot the size of a fist.
Ask your stylist for: updo with a large, textured crown bun and soft nape tendrils. Volume at the crown balances longer face shapes, and a middle part keeps the front clean while the back does the work. Tease the crown section before the bun is built, then pin in sections and spray each one as you go.
Upkeep is the part nobody warns you about. Thick hair in a high bun pulls at the root line all day, so the pins need to be anchored flat instead of dragged upward. Plan a trim every eight to ten weeks to keep the layers sharp, and a gloss every six weeks or so to stop ash blonde sliding brassy before the next wedding on the calendar. The bun holds through a gala; the root line is what needs checking.
Dark Brown Textured Low Bun With Soft Waves
This textured low bun works well for a romantic bridesmaid look, but achieving that purposely undone knot on naturally smooth, thick hair takes more than a few pins and a prayer. The back view shows a twisted construction with soft waves and loose tendrils at the nape, which means your stylist will need a texturizing product to give the hair enough grip to hold its shape. Ask your stylist for: textured low bun with soft waves and loose nape tendrils. It is a salon-only project, partly because the knot has to look relaxed without being loose, and partly because those face-framing pieces need to land exactly right so they do not disappear or fall flat.
Medium Brown Soft Side Bun With Curls
Many bridesmaid updos look too formal for an outdoor June ceremony. This medium brown side bun solves that with deliberate softness. Loose, flowing curls create a low bun that sits off center, with tendrils framing the face so the whole style reads as relaxed. Ask your stylist for: soft side bun with loose curls and face framing tendrils. The side placement and gentle curl pattern suit warmer weather weddings, where a stiff, centered bun would feel too formal and humidity would fight any rigid shape.
Ash Blonde Messy Bun With Curtain Bangs
The messy bun with curtain bangs is more deliberate than it looks. The back view shows a textured, wavy bun pinned loosely at the crown, with curtain bangs falling forward from a middle parting to frame the face. The ash blonde base with darker visible roots adds depth that keeps the whole thing from turning into a shapeless blob. Ask your stylist for: messy bun with loose curtain bangs. To get close at home, start with day-old hair, spray a texturizing product through the mid-lengths, twist the length into a bun, and secure with pins while leaving the bangs and a few front pieces free.
One real drawback: the curtain bangs need to be long enough to actually sweep to the sides without sticking to your forehead, so if they are shorter than chin length, this style will fight you all night.
Blonde Braided Crown Updo With Low Bun
The most common mistake with a braided crown is pulling it too tight, which turns a romantic detail into something that looks like a headband you forgot to remove. This blonde updo avoids that: a braided crown sits at the hairline and transitions into a low bun at the nape, with a middle parting and subtle highlights adding dimension through the woven sections. Ask your stylist for: updo with a braided crown and low bun. The practical rule is to braid the crown section tightly at first, then gently loosen the edges of the braid with your fingers before pinning it into place, so the finished line is soft rather than rigid.
Dark Brown Braided Updo With Floral Accents
A braided updo with small white flowers woven into the sections is technically built from a series of three-strand braids that are pinned into a low cluster, with loose wavy tendrils left out to break the perimeter. The dark brown base with subtle highlights gives the braids enough tonal variation to create a textured look without heavy product. Ask your stylist for: braided updo with loose tendrils and small flowers. The floral accents should be added just before the ceremony, either fresh stems tucked into the braid gaps or faux blooms wired to hairpins, so they sit naturally in the braid gaps. This is a garden-wedding style through and through, suited to the outdoors where a little breeze and a few petals belong.
Voluminous Curly Dark Blonde Messy Updo
Is a messy updo actually achievable when your hair has a mind of its own? For thick, curly hair, yes: the texture does most of the work before anyone picks up a pin. This voluminous shape sits on mid-back length with layers, and the dark blonde balayage gives the curls depth without flattening them. Curtain bangs frame the forehead and soften a strong angular jaw; a rounder face gets more from a middle part with the volume pushed back off the temples.
Ask your stylist for: voluminous curly messy updo with curtain bangs. A strong-hold mousse and a diffuser set the curl pattern before the hair goes up, which is the difference between a curly bridesmaid updo that survives the ceremony and one that droops by the toast. Book a dry-run appointment if your hair is very dense: pinning takes longer than it looks.
Ash Blonde Braided Crown Updo With Loose Curls
Put a braided crown next to a smooth twisted bun and the choice comes down to density. Thick hair can carry a heavy braid without help; fine, wavy hair needs the braid pulled wider at each section so it reads as volume instead of a thin rope. This ash blonde version wraps a prominent braid around the head, pins it with small sparkling stones, and leaves the back as a loose textured bun with soft curls at the face and neck. Wispy bangs finish the front.
Ask your stylist for: braided crown updo with loose curls and wispy bangs. Long layered hair gives the braid enough length to travel the whole head. A texturizing spray before braiding adds grip, so fine strands stay put instead of sliding out by the second song. At home this is a two-mirror job with a friend; the crown line is hard to keep even solo.
Fine Dark Brown Chignon With Ornate Hairpiece
Volumizing spray and backcombing at the root before twisting buy the illusion of thickness. Ask your stylist for: low chignon with a smooth, twisted bun and an ornate hairpiece. The piece covers the pins and draws the eye where the hair is thinnest, though a single pin out of place shows immediately against that smooth finish.
Brown Low Bun With Leaf Accessory
Gold leaf pins woven into a low textured bun solve the outdoor wedding problem: they add a natural accent without competing with the setting. This medium brown updo with subtle highlights keeps the bun relaxed at the nape, and loose wavy tendrils escape for a softer silhouette. Wavy hair holds the shape well; very straight hair needs a texturizing spray first to keep the tendrils from dropping. Ask your stylist for: low bun with loose tendrils and a gold leaf accessory. It suits a bohemian or rustic setting where a formal chignon would look out of place.
Sleek Dark Brown Low Bun
Ask your stylist for: sleek, polished low bun. To get close at home:
- Comb a smoothing serum through damp hair and dry it flat with a brush.
- Part in the middle and gather at the nape with a fine-tooth comb.
- Twist the length into a coil and pin it tight against the head.
- Pull two or three short wisps loose at the neckline.
Straight, thick hair takes the twist without shredding; fine hair shows every lump.
Dark Blonde Low Bun With Braided Details
A low bun with braided details looks more complicated than it is, which is exactly the point. It suits wavy hair, and the braided elements add texture and visual interest without extra volume. Ask your stylist for a low bun with braided details. Getting the braids to lie smoothly and evenly takes a stylist about forty minutes, so this is a salon-only request for the wedding day.
Fine Ash Blonde Twisted Low Bun
The twisting technique here does the heavy lifting for fine, straight ash blonde hair. A low twisted bun works best when the hair is gathered tightly at the nape, then twisted section by section to create the illusion of fullness. Ask your stylist for a low twisted bun for fine hair. A texturizing spray applied before twisting helps the shape hold, and the clean lines mean a trim every eight weeks keeps the ends neat.
Dark Brown French Twist With Blonde Highlights
Can you pull off a French twist without it looking like a relic from the fifties? Yes, when the base is dark brown with blonde highlights and the twist is left slightly textured. This style suits thick, wavy hair of collarbone length or longer, because the hair’s own density is what keeps the twist anchored. Ask your stylist for a textured French twist with soft waves and face-framing tendrils. A strong-hold hairspray keeps the structure intact through an evening of dancing.
Dark Brown Chignon With Wispy Bangs
A textured chignon with wispy bangs sits in a different category from a sleek, polished updo. The wispy bangs soften the look, making it feel more romantic and less formal, which is why it works for a wedding party that wants to feel dressed up without being rigid. It suits thick, wavy hair of mid-back length, and the side part allows the bangs to fall naturally across the forehead. Ask your stylist for a classic chignon with soft wispy bangs. This is a salon-only style: the chignon needs to be pinned in sections to hold its shape, and the bangs need a precise cut to land at the right length.
Dark Brown Braided Updo With Pearls
Pearls woven into braids add a refined detail without overwhelming the style. The braids lead from the crown into a low bun, with face-framing pieces left loose to soften the overall shape. This design suits thick, wavy dark brown hair of medium-long length, where the texture helps the braids stay defined. Ask your stylist for an intricate braided updo with a low bun and pearls. The pearls are threaded through the braids after the structure is pinned, so they stay secure for the duration of the event. A trim every six to eight weeks keeps the ends healthy enough to braid cleanly.
Final Thoughts
Fine hair: keep one braided or twisted baseline and skip heavy backcombing, since texture holds better than bulk. Thick hair: go sculpted, because a low bun or French twist manages volume where a high pile will not. A round face wants length below the chin and a middle part; a long face wants width at the sides.
- Trial the updo six to eight weeks before the date.
- Apply texture spray to damp roots, then dry.
- Pin with bobby pins matching your base color.
- Pack a touch-up kit with pins and hairspray.
Choose an updo that makes the bridal party feel beautiful and confident.
