Wedding Veils

For brides out there planning their wedding ensemble, have you had any trouble picking out a veil for your wedding?  Here is a short introduction to veils if you have not yet decided on one.

When planning my wedding, I could not seem to find a veil that I liked and could afford.  My dream veil was a three tier, cathedral length veil.   So, I found a picture of a veil that I was smitten with and then worked with a local seamstress who helped me recreate it.  I was very pleased with the results and would highly recommend this approach if you are having trouble finding a veil.

First, I met with my seamstress and showed her a picture of the veil I wanted to recreate.  Here is a picture of the veil.  This is just a single layer veil, but I loved the idea of having an Alencon lace border near the bottom of the veil.  My dress had Alencon lace appliques on it, so I thought the touch of lace on the veil would tie the two pieces together nicely.  I also did not want the ribbon edge pictured on the Erica Koesler veil because I thought it would be distracting.  My seamstress  estimated how much tulle and lace I would need to purchase, and I set off with my mother to find the necessary materials.

The tulle was a simple purchase.  I found nylon tulle in an off-white color in Jo-Ann’s that was a close match to the color of my dress.  Needless to say, finding the Alencon lace was a bit more challenging.  Neither my mother nor I (nor any of our friends)  could not find a store that carried this lace in a border pattern like I needed.  So, I started searching and searching and searching online.  I finally came to the conclusion that no one carried the wide border lace I wanted for my veil.  So, I started considering alternative solutions, like buying a wider border than needed and cutting it in half.

In my tireless search for the perfect Alencon lace, I came across a website for a store based in New Orleans that sells several different types of Alencon lace.  I was a little skeptical of the store due to the name.  Baltazor Fabrics just sounded to me- who I admit, am a little paranoid about buying things online from a store I have not visited before- like it could be a scam.  Lucky for me and everyone else who has ordered from Baltazor, it is a very legitimate business.  I ended up ordering the 14” wide Fleur de Lis pattern in ivory.  Since I was going to cut the lace in half, I was able to order only half of the yardage I needed for my veil.  My seamstress had some very small, precise scissors she uses for cutting delicate fabrics, so she let my mother and I borrow them to cut this lace in half.  We were nervous the entire time we were cutting this lace, but we were able to do it in just one Sunday evening.

Once the lace was cut, I took the tulle and the lace to my seamstress. It did not take long at all for her to put the veil together -it was just four basic materials: tulle, lace, one hair comb (my seamstress just used one she had on hand), and thread.  Once everything was said and done, my dream veil ended up only costing about 1/3 of what it would have cost in a store.  I was thrilled!

I used the shortest, first tier as a blusher (it covered my face until the kiss in the wedding ceremony).  The longest tier was of course the one that was most noticeable and the one my matron of honor helped arrange for me during the ceremony.  The middle tier added some nice volume to the top of the veil and helped keep my backside from looking like just one flat piece of tulle during the wedding ceremony.  Here are two pictures from my wedding.  In the bottom picture, you can see the blusher over my face and you can just barely see the edge of the middle tier in the back.

There are the two main tips I can pass along from my veil shopping/recreating experience. 

1)     Lace can add a lot of weight to a veil.  I had tried on my veil many times prior to the big day, but for some reason (I guess I did not walk around enough in all those trying-on sessions), I did not notice how heavy my veil was until the day of my wedding.  I put in so many bobby pins to keep the comb in my hair, I think I almost used a whole package of them.  Those bobby pins and hairspray held the comb in well though.  My veil did not end up falling out of my hair halfway down the aisle, like I was afraid it would.  While walking down the aisle, I could definitely feel the pull/weight of the lace on the veil.  I can’t imagine how much heavier it would have been had I added lace to the entire length of my veil.  I am almost certain a veil with that much lace of the width I chose would not have stayed in my hair.

2)      Don’t give up if you can’t find a veil you like in your budget range.  Just look for a picture of a veil you love and then find a local seamstress you trust and can talk to about how to recreate the look of the veil in a way that will work with your dress.

Happy veil hunting everyone!

Fondly,