Hey Brainstewd,
That looks pretty good, especially for a first practice round. Wow!
Doing this a few times will ease your mind for the big night and take some of the stress off when the time comes to as you will already know how and what to do! Keep up the good work.
As for the bends on the end, if you have a big round or even half-round brush, wrap the ends around in the direction want them to go, spritz with a little hair spray or spray gel and direct a blow dryer on lowest setting (to not blow the hair around). Once dry, carefully pull the brush around in the direction of the bend and (if desired) spray with a little hair spray again. You should have your "bend".
This is a leftover trick from lifiting up and slightly curling bangs in a hurry. hehe
Good luck.