After years of headbands and flowers and feathers in the hair, veils are making their way back. There are still brides who go for the simple look of a hair adornment or small fascinator or birdcage veil, but more and more are looking for fingertip or even cathedral-length veils to make them feel extra special. “The birdcage has gone by the wayside a little bit now,” Barnes says.
“More traditional veils have definitely made a big comeback over the last two years,” agrees Hope Mitchell, owner of Brides 2 Be by Hope Mitchell in Lewes. “A veil really makes the statement, ‘There’s the bride.’ There’s no thinking it’s just a girl in a white dress. When you see that veil, you know it’s a bride.” Ninety percent of brides who come to Mitchell’s boutique decide to wear veils, she says, and about 50 percent of them will wear a blusher over their faces, too. “Blushers had been out for a decade, but they’re back in. It makes grandma happy.”
These aren’t your mother’s veils, though. Few brides are selecting tiaras with veils attached. Instead, they are using the headbands and jeweled pieces that had been popular alone and combining them with veils. Flowers are less popular now, but if they are worn, they are generally made of jewels.
Most often, the veils are separate from the headpiece so that the veil itself can be worn for the wedding ceremony and the photos and removed for the reception for ease in dancing. If the veil and the headpiece are attached, the entire piece will be removed and replaced with a crystal or pearl adornment or a crescent comb that fits over a bun, Rodriquez notes.
While fingertip veils are the most popular length, cathedral-length veils that trail behind the bride are also appearing on the bridal scene, particularly if the bride’s gown is simpler. Mantilla-style veils are also being worn, says Mitra Jaymand, manager of Fantasia in Wilmington. The mantilla veil is lace from top to bottom and is attached with a non-visible comb.
The look of the veil depends on the look of the dress. Lace dresses are often combined with lace veils. Beaded or simple dresses are often paired with simple veils that have beading just along the bottom or around all the edges. Cathedral-length veils, which work especially well with simple dresses, will sometimes have crystals or pearls dispersed throughout the back of the veil to create a beautiful look from behind. “If you add that layer of twinkle to a simple dress, it just pulls the look together,” Jaymand says.
