Bridal updos, only updos. Boston and the Cape · the 2027 collection

  1. A braided chignon studded with pearl pins, from behind

    No. 1Pearl braid

  2. A low chignon with a long veil on a Cape beach, from behind

    No. 2The low chignon

  3. A braided twist with a gold and crystal comb

    No. 3Gold comb twist

  4. A soft bun with baby’s breath, from behind

    No. 4Garden bun

Bridal updos only · wedding day $350 · trial $125 · $150 holds your dateBook a trial

One thing, done well enough
to last fourteen hours.

No makeup, no blowouts, no hair down. Just the updo you walk in, built on a braided base with every pin crossed, so it’s still there at the sparkler exit.

The collection

No. 5 to No. 12

  1. No. 5, Sea-salt twist, from behind

    No. 5Sea-salt twist

    For the Cape. Built loose on purpose, pinned to stay that way in an onshore wind.

  2. No. 6, The ballerina, from behind

    No. 6The ballerina

    High, sleek and wrapped. For high necklines and anyone who has ever danced.

  3. No. 7, Cathedral chignon, from behind

    No. 7Cathedral chignon

    Low and smooth, with the veil pinned under it so the comb never shows.

  4. No. 8, Ribbon knot, from behind

    No. 8Ribbon knot

    A low bun tied with a length of blush silk that falls down an open back.

  5. No. 9, Half crown, from behind

    No. 9Half crown

    The one half-up style in the collection: a braided crown over long waves.

  6. No. 10, Pearl seam twist, from behind

    No. 10Pearl seam twist

    A French twist with a line of tiny pearls down the seam, like buttons.

  7. No. 11, The small bun, from behind

    No. 11The small bun

    For shoulder-length and fine hair. Yes, you can wear your hair up.

  8. No. 12Yours

    Every season one bride’s updo joins the collection. Yours is designed at your trial.

Terms

What it costs

Every wedding day starts with $150 that holds the date and comes off the total. Travel within Boston is included.

The wedding day$350
Your updo on the morning, your veil set and checked before you walk, and a pin kit for the reception.
The trial$125
Ninety minutes at the South End studio, two styles from the collection, both photographed from behind.
Your party$110 each
Updos for bridesmaids and mothers, from the same collection. Six or more and Thea pins alongside me.
The veil change$90
I stay through the ceremony, take the veil out without touching the bun, and add the evening pins.
A bride on a Cape beach from behind, her long veil pinned under a low chignon and lifting in the wind

Veils

A veil is pinned, not perched.

  1. I
    Under, never on top

    The comb goes into the base of the bun, so the weight sits on the pins and the veil falls clean from the nape.

  2. II
    Set for the wind

    On the Cape we sew two hidden pins through the comb. Your veil can fly; it can’t leave.

  3. III
    Out in thirty seconds

    After the ceremony it slides out in one move, and the updo underneath looks like nothing happened.

The atelier’s small white studio: one chair, an arched mirror, dishes of pins and a veil on a brass hook

Trials · $125

Ninety minutes, one chair, two styles.

Trials happen at the studio, a quiet white room up one flight of stairs in the South End. Bring your veil if you have it, a top with your dress’s neckline and a photo of the back of the gown.

We try two styles from the collection, I photograph each from behind and from the side, and you go home and live with them for a week. If neither is quite you, that’s how a No. 12 begins.

Book a trial

The morning

A Saturday in Chatham.

  1. 7:30
    Pins laid out

    I set up by the brightest window. The tray, the mirror, the veil on its hook.

  2. 8:00
    Your party

    Forty-five minutes an updo, mothers first, so the chair is quiet when it’s your turn.

  3. 10:30
    You

    Ninety minutes, unhurried, starting with the braided base that holds everything else.

  4. 12:15
    The veil

    Set after the dress is on, checked from behind, and checked again at the door.

Wren’s hands shaping a bride’s low bun by the window of a shingled Cape cottage
Chatham · 10:52 AM · No. 4, with sweet pea
Wren Callahan, the stylist behind Updo Atelier, in her studio
Wren Callahan

The atelier

Fourteen pins, every Sunday.

My grandmother Nora wore a French twist to eleven o’clock Mass in Dorchester every Sunday of her life, and it took exactly fourteen pins. When I was eight I was allowed to hand them to her, one at a time, in the order she wanted them.

I went to beauty school in Boston and spent ten years backstage at a ballet company, pinning buns that had to survive thirty-two turns in a row under hot lights. I learned that a bun is engineering, not hairspray. A bun that survives the third act will survive your first dance.

In 2017 I started Updo Atelier to do only that, for brides. Six hundred weddings later, the collection has twelve styles, a pin tray I could pack in my sleep, and Thea, who pins beside me when a party is six or more.

Wren

  • 600+brides since 2017
  • 14 hoursthe longest a No. 2 has held
  • 4 pin colorsmatched to your hair
Two pins crossed in an X over a braided base at a bride’s nape
Pinned in an X
Wren’s pin tray on ivory linen: bobby pins, pearl pins, a gold comb, baby’s breath, a tail comb and blush ribbon
The pin tray, packed the night before

In their words

  • “No. 5 on a beach in Chatham with the wind gusting at twenty. Not one pin moved.”

    Caroline · Chatham, September

  • “I have fine, flat hair and three stylists told me to wear it down. Wren built No. 11 out of almost nothing.”

    Jess · Brookline, May

  • “She took my veil out in the hallway between the church and the car and my hair didn’t notice.”

    Ana · Back Bay, October

Where

Boston, and over the bridge.

© OpenStreetMap contributors
The studio, South End Trials by appointment, up one flight Open the map

Wedding mornings in townBack Bay · Beacon Hill · the South End · Cambridge · Brookline · Newton · the North Shore. No travel fee inside Route 128.

© OpenStreetMap contributors
Cape Cod Falmouth to Provincetown, $75 over the bridge Open the map

On the CapeFalmouth · Woods Hole · Hyannis · Osterville · Chatham · Orleans · Wellfleet · Truro · Provincetown. Past Orleans I come the night before.

Journal

Notes from the pin tray

  • AprilSea air and your updo

    Why the Cape gets a different base, and the one product I never use on a beach.

    Read
  • FebruaryChignon or twist?

    It isn’t about the dress. It’s about your neck, your veil and how much you plan to dance.

    Read
  • JanuaryWhy your trial is at ten

    Book it in the same light as your wedding morning, and wear a top with the same neckline.

    Read

Questions

Before you book

Do you do makeup, or hair down?

No. Updos only, and one half-up style. I’d rather be the best at one thing than fine at six. I’m happy to send you to two makeup artists I trust.

How do I hold my date?

Pick your date below and pay the $150 deposit. The date is yours from then on, and the deposit comes off the wedding-day total.

Do I need a trial?

Almost always. It’s $125 at the studio, we try two styles, and you leave with photos of both from behind. It’s also when your No. 12 gets drawn.

Will it really last?

It’s built on a braided or pinned base with pins crossed in an X, and sprayed lightly so it still moves when you hug your father. My record is fourteen hours, from a 7 AM start to a sparkler exit.

What does the Cape cost?

There’s a $75 travel fee over the bridge, and for ceremonies past Orleans I come the night before and stay nearby, at $150 more. Nantucket and the Vineyard are a quote.

What if my hair is short or fine?

Shoulder length is enough for No. 16, the small bun, and most of the collection works on fine hair with a hidden padded base.

Book

$150 holds your date.

Cape Saturdays from June to September go a year out. Hold yours, then we book the trial for six to eight weeks before.

  1. 1Service
  2. 2Date
  3. 3Details
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