How to Choose a Veil

Like the gowns they are worn with, veils can be elaborate and dramatic or simple and understated. The only rule for selecting a veil is that it should complement both the bride and the gown. For example, an heirloom lace veil shouldn't be forced to compete with an extravagant dress; Jacqueline Bouvier understood this principle when she wore a sweeping heirloom lace veil with a fairly simple scoop-neck taffeta gown in her wedding to John F. Kennedy. By the same token, an exquisitely detailed gown is shown off better by a sheer tulle veil than a fancy lace.

Proportion must also be considered. A short veil looks too informal with a long gown, and an excessively long veil or one with a multitude of tiers tends to overwhelm a short bride instead of adding height. When trying on a veil, make sure you don't disappear beneath it; also, wear your hair as you plan to for the wedding, otherwise you won't have a clear idea of how the veil will actually look.

Nylon tulle is today's veil material of choice. The more traditional silk tulle tends to get limp when it's damp, whereas nylon retains its stiffness. Veils shouldn't be strewn with rhinestones because often rhinestones photograph like black dots. Even pearls, tiny satin bows, and other embellishments may look spotty in photographs, so be sparing with these ornaments.

1. Keep your gown in mind :

You really can't pick a veil that you absolutely love without keeping the gown at the forefront of your mind. Some brides make the mistake of thinking that an elaborate dress calls for an elaborate veil, but this can backfire. If your gown is covered with amazing beadwork and embroidery, finding an equally ornate veil can cause sensory overload.

Instead, a simpler veil with very little trim and thin edging of delicate, coordinating lace can frame the artwork of the gown beautifully without competing with it.

On the other hand, if your gown has simple, clean lines and you've always wanted a veil dripping with lace and pearls, go for it. The dress can become the perfect canvas for the ornate quality of the veil.

Decide how you will wear your hair the day of the wedding. This makes an enormous difference. A veil attached to a headband will look completely different sitting toward the back of the head than it will perched toward the front, so make up our mind - hair up or down? Bangs or no bangs? Curls or French twist? All of these will dramatically change how your veil looks when you put it on and can influence your decision. If you can, wear your hair in that style the day you go shopping for veils.

Do you want to be dragging your veil through the sand at a beach wedding? Probably not. But if you're getting married in a huge cathedral and have a gown with a train, your wedding veil would be lovely sweeping along the floor as well. A garden wedding? Too much material on a breezy day can be cumbersome and be blowing in your face during the ceremony, so a relatively simple veil is probably a good idea.

You don't want your veil longer than your dress, and the accepted rule is that it should be considerably shorter. If you have a floor length dress, a fingertip veil or elbow length veil is fine. Generally the only time you want a veil longer than that is if you have a dress with a train.

The origins of the wedding veil were to cover the face of the bride until she was revealed to the groom after the wedding ceremony. Today this tradition is still upheld in many wedding ceremonies with the double-tiered wedding veil still being used.

For many brides, however, the face is no longer covered for the walk down the aisle. Is it necessary to have the double-tiered wedding veil that is the most popular and most common? Not really. Particularly if the wedding veil is of the simplest variety, with some tulle suspended from a comb or mini tiara at the back of the head, the second tier is often not used, since this was originally meant to be the portion that was placed over the bride's face.

If, however, you have a tiara or headband placed toward the front of the face and a full veil framing the sides of the face, the two-tiered look, with one tier shorter than the other, can soften the effect and beautifully frame the face even if you aren't planning on using one tier to cover the face.

The final selection should be made by trying on the veil with the wedding gown if at all possible. There's no way of knowing how they will look together except really seeing them, so do try to manage this before making that final purchase.

OTHER THINGS TO CONSIDER:

Hair Accessory and Tiara Tips...

If you have a wide face or forehead, never wear a hair band style. Rather consider using something slightly higher in the center, that will give your face a more oval shape...

Of course the opposite is also very important...if you have a long or narrow face, consider a comb shape, not too high in the center...

With blonde hair or warm skin tones, use a gold band or background... the gold will not really show because it will simply blend in to your hair, and the crystals or other components will simply sparkle!

At least a hint of crystal sparkle should be used in every bride's hair. It brings attention up to the face, and softens the beadwork featured on the bodice of most dresses. The crystals also make eyes sparkles!

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