Fifteen-hundred bobby pins, three pounds of hair, three-and-a-half hours of styling and one bejeweled crown all add up to Real Housewives of New Jersey star Teresa Giudice’s $10,000 wedding-day hairstyle.
Lucia Casazza, Teresa’s stylist of 14 years and co-owner of the Great Cazoo Boutique & Beauty Bar in Wayne, says she wanted Teresa to “look and feel like a princess on her wedding day” last August at the glamorous Park Chateâu Estate & Gardens in East Brunswick. Because of Teresa’s large headpiece, Lucia says the TV star’s hair—which she loves to wear long—needed some height. And she certainly got it!
“I refused to give her those Hollywood waves like every other bride,” Lucia tells New Jersey Bride. “That’s been trending now for long enough in New Jersey. I said, ‘I refuse to give you the same hair as everyone else.’”
Although Teresa and now-husband Louie Ruelas didn’t walk down the aisle until dusk, the day started at 7 am. Lucia and her team set Teresa’s hair in rollers, curled and pinned it, and executed an elaborate full installation of human-hair extensions (from the stylist’s own Lucia hair extensions line).
Lucia says her bridal services run $2,500 and up, but that other stylists at her salon charge a range of prices.
“My best advice is that a bride should do whatever she feels beautiful in on her wedding day,” Lucia says. “It’s her dream day, it’s her dream look.”
That dream look for Teresa also included two gowns on her wedding day: a custom Mark Zunino Atelier blush mermaid gown for the ceremony and a sexy Galia Lahav dress, with an off-the-shoulder corset top and a voluminous skirt made of lace, for the reception. Inside Teresa’s ceremony gown, Mark Zunino embroidered three pink hearts (because Teresa and Louie love hearts) and 333 (because the number 3 is very significant in Teresa’s family).
For Teresa, being able to move comfortably in her reception gown was a priority so that she could dance all night with her four daughters and Louie’s two sons—who were all members of the wedding party—other family members and pals, including fellow TV stars like Dolores Catania, Jennifer Aydin, Jill Zarin, Loni Love, Dorinda Medley, Cynthia Bailey and Kenya Moore.
But with all that extra hair and three pounds of bobby pins, how did Teresa move and groove all night? “I got used to it,” says Teresa, who did the “shake test” before walking down the aisle to make sure everything was in place. And, as Lucia describes Teresa, “She’s a strong woman.”