I recently interviewed my good friend and amazing hairstylist, Raemi Paxton, to get some of her best tips for brides! Before you watch our Zoom call, get to know a little bit about Raemi!

Q: Where can brides find you on Instagram? A: @tamebyrae

If you could go back to the beginning and give yourself one business tip, what would it be? Research all forms of payment and accommodate as many of them as possible.

What has been your biggest lesson in business that you’ve learned so far? Or anything insightful you’ve learned recently? Know your worth and charge accordingly. People book with you for a reason.

Tell us about one of your favorite memories from a wedding you’ve had. Getting invited to the wedding, being able to actually stay and had a great time!

What is your favorite part of the wedding day, or your favorite part of working with brides? I love making people feel the most beautiful they’ve ever felt.

Tell us more about you! I’m a Jehovah’s Witness, I’ve been married for 7 years, I have a 5 year old son, and I absolutely love to dance when I’m not doing hair.

Top 3 movies: Steel Magnolias, The Lion King, and B.A.P.S

What are you binge watching right now? Selling Sunset.

What show do you keep rewatching? Gilmore Girls.

Favorite Columbus restaurants: Fox in the Snow, and Stadium (in Gahanna.)

Watch our Zoom call below!

A- “So! We are with Raemi today, she is a hair stylist at Tame Salon in Gahanna. She literally creates magic! I know that because she does my hair every six weeks, so she’s amazing at what she does! So tell us a little bit about Tame Salon!”

R- “We are a full service salon. We don’t offer only hair, we offer esthetic services, we also do makeup for weddings, and then full body waxing. So everything except nails is what our salon does.”

A- “I can’t speak to the waxing part, no, that’s not for me. But I have heard all the girls talk about how amazing it is. Maybe some day!”

R- “Well a nice facial goes a long way! Especially with all the masks we have to wear now, we’re getting mascne. So we have facials for that! Our hair services are wide range, but we don’t do anything that’s going to damage the hair. We do not offer perms, we do not offer relaxers. Just because that messes the integrity of the hair up.”

A- “I didn’t know that, that makes sense. So just a little background on how I started even going to Raemi. I had a challenging experience at a school and it literally ruined my hair. Long story short, the thing that did me in was bleach sat on my hair for about six hours. And it’s just now starting to grow back back there. So that’s why I’m saying Raemi’s a magician because she literally fixed the whole thing. So, yes, my hair is back to a healthy state. Thanks so much to Raemi! Yes, they’re very much about healthy hair, and every time I go in, you’re always excited about how healthy my hair is. We always have that conversation.”

R- “I think about that first day!”

A- “When I came in with my little hat and trying to hide my hair under it! I remember your face when I took that hat off and you’re like…”

R- “What am I supposed to do?!”

A- “Yeah, so I owe you my life! Ok, so let’s talk a little bit about you doing weddings. So how do you like to start your wedding day?”

R- “I absolutely love weddings. Just when I see it on my schedule, it immediately puts me in a good mood. I just love it! Because it’s a happy occasion, it’s a happy day. I’ve never had a bride that’s in a bad mood, not yet! So how I like to start my day, is I go to Starbucks, you know, I gotta get my coffee, and I plan what me and the bride have gone over in my head, and I prepare for more people wanting their hair done who actually signed the contract. Which is fine! I normally have an assistant with me, so that takes a lot of pressure off in that respect. So we go get our coffee and I bring my Bluetooth speaker, and we set up some music and we just start setting the mood so that everybody can be in a good mood.”

A- “I know, I love that! Another fun fact, Raemi actually did the girl’s hair for my sister’s wedding last year. And that was such a fun experience! Just because as soon as you walked it was pure Raemi energy and of course we were all excited anyway! But you came in and we were like ‘AHHH!!’ And yes, I loved the music, the Bluetooth speaker touch. Just making it fun and something more than just sitting in a chair with someone doing your hair. I love it. So along with that, how do you really make sure that you’re serving your bride and her girls well on the day?”

R- “I like to bring extra of everything. Extra bobby pins, extra hairspray. And I even like to put together a little kit for the bride that has a little Wet Brush, it has a little hairspray, things like that for afterwards, just in case she wants to do a little touchup on herself. You know, a little emergency kit, I call it. So that makes her feel more comfortable, that makes the wedding party feel like ‘Wow, she’s really going out of her way to make sure we’re completely satisfied!'”

A- “No, that’s great! Because I can’t tell you how many times on a wedding day, especially if the bride and groom are doing a first look, or they’re doing all their portraits ahead of time, by the time you get to the ceremony, it’s been maybe three, four, or five hours since they’ve had their hair done. And it’s always a scramble. Someone’s always like ‘Who has hairspray?’ ‘I need a bobby pin!’ Always. I’m talking like 99% of the time that happens. So that’s a great idea! Just bringing those little extras, because you know someone’s going to need them. I love that! So do you typically offer a trial run for brides, and then if you do, what is that experience like for them?”

R- “Yeah, so normally the trial runs are like a regular appointment. So I make them book through the salon, so they come to the salon. I book about an hour and half for them, just to make sure we’re on the same page. Some brides even do two trials, because sometimes they’ll end up changing their mind. People book out well in advance for a wedding. So sometimes the wedding isn’t until a year from now, so they’ll book out four months and then six more months after that, or something like that. We treat the trial just like a regular appointment. I get to know you a little bit, and we correspond up until the wedding. I check in every once in awhile to make sure you still want what you want, and we go from there!

A- “That’s awesome! I think that’s really important to be flexible with the bride. Especially if she’s starting to doubt maybe what she initially thought she wanted. So that’s excellent that you’re really flexible with that! When it comes to brides looking for either a wedding day hairstyle or looking for a hairstylist on the day, what kinds of tips or what advice would you give to that bride?”

R- “For the hairstyle, I like to say think about not only your personal style, and how you wear it normally every day, but think about how this going to be a big day for you. You’re going to get hot, you’re going to get hot during the reception. You’re doing a lot of running around and everything. Normally at the end of the wedding day, where does our hair go? Up. So I like to say, you’re paying me to do your hair, do you want it to be up and nice? That way it’s already up, you don’t have to worry about it. Which, it’s fine if you want it down, but just think about later you’re going to want it out of your face. With that being said, I block off my whole day. Because if a bride decides ‘I really want it down for the wedding, but I might want it up for the reception,’ that’s fine! I can come back and throw it up if you want me to. I like to be as flexible as possible because it’s such a special day, you should not be worrying about how you want your hair down for the wedding but up for the reception. It’s not that big of deal!”

A- “It’s like the only day you can have everything you want!”

R- “You can have whatever you want! So that’s my tip about style. Just think about functionality. And then, as far as researching for a hairstylist, do your research about reviews, how they’ve been reviewed. Word of mouth is a real thing too. Because a lot of brides don’t go online and review. They normally just tell other brides. If you’re looking for a hairstylist, look for someone who you know that might have gotten married recently and say ‘Who did you use? Did you like her? What did you like about her?’ Things like that.”

A- “Yeah, that makes so much sense. That’s one of those things where, if you have a bad experience with a hairstylist, no one’s ever going to know unless they tell you about it. So that’s true, definitely the word of mouth is a really big factor with that. Well, that’s all my questions I have for you! So thank you so much, Raemi, for talking a little bit today!”

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