Types of Wedding Veils

Italian wedding gown designer Gianni Molaro has designed the longest bridal train in the world. It is almost 2 miles long!

Weddings are beautiful, and the bride is the lone star that makes the wedding surreal. She stands there, hoping that everything looks picture perfect. The dress couldn't have fitted anyone else better than it fit her. The shoes gave her all the confidence she needed to shine right through the wedding.

The veil fell effortlessly over her shoulders and cascaded down to her waist making it hard not to take a second glance at her. Through the sheer veil, you could make out the glint and gleam of happiness in her eyes, you could make out her smile, you could make out that she was a bride reveling in the moment.

The veil, a symbol of modesty and purity, that which defines a bride, was a customary tradition back in the day. Over the years it has evolved tremendously in terms of style and choice. Today, the bride can choose not to wear it for the ceremony.

But many brides opt for detachable veils which can be taken off, and the bride dribbles between two bridal looks for the ceremony and photographs, one with the veil and one without.

The two-tiered veil looked good on your cousin on her wedding, but that doesn't mean the same would look good on you too.

Your choice of veil should depend on the choice of your dress, its color, your hairdo, face shape, body type, and other such things. This story gives you a list of all the different kinds of wedding and bridal veils. It also comes with a set of things that you should consider before you decide which one should you go for.

A rule of thumb for the blusher is that its length should not extend beyond the bust or the waist. Most brides love the idea of their husband lifting up the blusher when they are asked to kiss, but some brides choose not to wear it and go ahead sans the blusher.

On the other hand, a simple birdcage covering just your eyes will tone down an elaborate wedding gown, and make for a stylish and chic bride. Let it fall either on any one side of your face, or your entire face. Über stylish and low maintenance, the birdcage has been a universal favorite.

So, if you are slender, and are going to flaunt a well-sculptured collarbone with a tube neckline on your wedding dress, the shoulder-length veil should work wonders for you.

The layers could either be cascading in various lengths, starting around the face and grazing past the shoulders, or of one length but voluminous and wide. This veil flies past your face and hence the name, 'flyaway'.

This body-flattering veil works well for all kinds of body types and wedding gowns. If you decide to leave your hair open, then a sheer, elbow-length veil is the perfect choice as it doesn't need much to hold on to, highlights your tresses, and the customs and traditions of wearing a veil are also honored, without compromising on your style and beauty.

Ending just below the forearms so that the ends of the veil touch your fingers. Add ruffles and layers for a more informal look, or keep it simple and stylish with just a single layer. Fingertip veils are pretty, elegant, and add grace to the bride's ensemble.

The ballet veil can either be long enough to just reach above your knees, or can be extended to be calf-length. These veils are long and comparatively heavier, and hence, need a compact hairstyle to hold on to. If you wish to don a ballet veil, make sure your hair is done accordingly so that the veil can be held properly in place.

The only difference between a ballet veil and a waltz veil is in their lengths. The waltz generally reaches up to your ankles and is single layered. These veils can be paired with short wedding dresses and still look chic and stylish. So your look is contemporary, combined with a touch of ancient to it.

Chapel veils are sometimes also called sweep veils, since they extend all the way to the ground and sweep over it as you walk on ahead.

Nothing spells classy and formal better than a chapel veil. A bride with a chapel veil looks beautiful, and lights up the room as soon as she walks into one. These veils have no reservations and look good with any kind of wedding dresses and hairstyles.

The most elaborate of them all, the cathedral veils are fit for girls who want to feel like princesses and queens on their wedding day.

These veils have long trains that fall way below their feet and trail way behind them as they walk on ahead. These veils are extremely difficult to manage but look and feel absolutely stunning, so it is all worth it. A formal church wedding is ideal to wear a cathedral veil, but wearing it to an outdoor wedding, you might have to think twice about that one.

If you love laces, then what's better than wearing a mantilla veil for your big day? A mantilla is an ornamental lace or silk veil, which is usually worn over a high pony so that it falls gracefully over the head and cascades down on the shoulders.

If you do decide to wear it for your wedding, make sure that your wedding dress is simple, yet elegant, with a well-defined neckline, which will highlight the beauty of the mantilla, and make you look like a one-in-a-million bride.

The gorgeous, asymmetrical, dramatic veil is for a bride who likes things 'bold and the beautiful'. The rule of thumb is to wear a body-hugging and well-fitted dress so that it sets your look right.

The sweet veil leaves you with the options of wearing your hair up in a bun, or dressing them down and letting them fall over your shoulders. A personal favorite, I say, you can never go wrong with this one.

Do it with a Juliet cap. It is different, classy, beautiful, and your prettiness quotient shoots up by a zillion times! Infamously named after the beautiful character from the Shakespearean play Romeo and Juliet, this delicate piece of art not only makes a woman look beautiful, but also makes her feel beautiful.

Choose from a plethora of designs like a netted, beaded, or bejeweled Juliet cap that complements your wedding outfit and rest assured, not only the groom's, but everyone else's eyes, too, will be fixed on you through the night.

How much is enough, really? As if a single veil was not pretty enough to make you all the more beautiful, they had to design the two-tier veil, hadn't they? But the brides ain't complaining. And especially the ones who cannot for the life of them, decide on the length of their veil.

The combinations of lengths for both the layers in the veil can be aplenty―a mantilla with a waltz, a pouf with a blusher, a two-tiered shoulder veil, a shoulder veil with a cathedral―and lots more. For the woman who thinks less is not more, the two-tiered veil is here to stay, and in style too.

Similarly, a sheer veil would enhance the jewel-encrusted work and the detailed embroidered patterns on the bust and shoulder pads of your dress. The veil should be such that it complements and accentuates your wedding dress.

The color of the veil could either be the same as that of your dress or it could be one that sets out a slight, mellow contrast. Apart from the classic white, pastel and neutral shades of extremely light beige, pink, gold, or ivory are generally preferred.

Once you have decided on your dress for the big day, your next big concern would be that of how would you like to wear your hair.

Your choice of veil would also depend on the way you style your hair. Open, free-falling tresses look beautiful with a shorter veil adorning them. Whereas, if your veil is very long and one with multiple tiers and embellishments, your hair needs to be packed up into a neat bun to hold the extremely heavy veil in place.

The right length and width of your veil could actually accentuate your body type and body posture. If you are slightly full-figured or on the heavier side, a multi-tier veil would not be the ideal choice as it would add extra volume to your entire appearance and bulk up your look.

A simple flyaway or a waist-length veil could work wonders for you as it adds length to your upper body and takes away the attention from a wider torso. A shoulder-length or chapel length could work up a pear-shaped body, which is heavier around the butt, just fine.

A round face can be mellowed down and made to appear less fuller by wearing a wide, voluminous veil which just feathers across the shoulders. A rectangular face should ideally opt for a veil which has no height at the top but is wider around the face. A veil cascading and falling down in layers is the best choice for a square-shaped face. If you are blessed with an oval-shaped face, you can try out any kind of veil, and pick the one that suits you best.

The tiers in your veil depend on factors like your dress, body type, and hairstyle. If your dress is an elaborate piece of work, stay low on the number of tiers in your veil. If you make for a tall and slender bride, then a multi-tier veil would be a gorgeous choice. A fuller face and a full-figured body will just seem bulkier if tiers are added to the veils. On the contrary, a multi-tiered veil could light up a slender face with a simple hairdo.

Accessories like hairpins, tiaras, flower crowns, combs, etc., need to complement your look.

If your heart is set on wearing a cathedral veil, then a formal and classic church wedding should be in order.

Whether the bride wants to wear a veil to her wedding or not, depends solely on her. If yes, she can either select any one of the above mentioned veils, or she can get custom-made veils designed based on her choice of color, fabric, style, length, and accessory.