Everything You Need to Know About Wedding Veil Styles

Everything You Need to Know About Wedding Veil Styles

How to choose a wedding veil style for any dress.

You’ve chosen your dress, now it’s time for the extras. None of your other accessories are more important than the veil, which can transform your look entirely. While it’s important to coordinate the style of veil with the style of gown you’ve chosen, usually you have some latitude for self-expression. Most wedding dresses look lovely with several different wedding veil styles.

That’s why choosing your wedding veil is all about determining your personal wedding style. Are you looking for something formal and dramatic? Fun and flirty? A little bit whimsical? There are wedding veil styles to suit every mood and venue. Below we look at just a few of the more popular lengths and ways to customize your veil.

Bird Cage Wedding Veil: 4-9″

This short and flirty wedding veil, also sometimes called a bandeau veil, really stands out. It’s always quite short, but it can cover just the eyes, skim the nose or fall at the jawline. It’s often made of a net or lace rather than the traditional tulle, leaving more of the bride’s face visible.

There’s no reason you can’t wear a bird cage wedding veil at a traditional church ceremony, and it’s also the perfect complement for a shorter dress and a city hall wedding. A bird cage veil is a good choice for a bride who likes the vintage look, or even something just a little different.

Blusher Wedding Veil: 30″

The blusher wedding veils is also known as an angle veil or wedge veil. Although it has vintage appeal, it’s not overly formal. It falls over the face, so it’s a good choice for the bride who wants that dramatic moment when her face is revealed at the end of the aisle.

Brides can also add a blusher to a longer veil, like Kate Middleton did on her wedding day. It can be held in place by a dramatic headpiece or just a simple comb, depending on the look the bride wants. Because it’s so customizable, the blusher is an enduringly popular wedding veil style.

Fingertip Wedding Veil: 38-40″

It makes sense that a lot of wedding dresses save the drama for the back. After all, people will be looking after you as you process down the aisle. When you’re choosing a veil, it’s important that the length and fabric don’t obscure any important back detail.

That’s why fingertip veils remain so popular. Not as heavy or long as chapel or cathedral veils, they still fall low, just below the hips and at the fingertip as the name implies. The length allows any design on the back of the bride’s gown to show through the sheer tulle. Fingertip veils are similar to ballet veils, which are just few inches longer.

Floor-Length Wedding Veil: 72″

A floor-length veil just reaches the floor, hitting at the same place as the bride’s dress.  This style is dramatic but not overwhelming, adding extra volume to your look, but still preserving a streamlined silhouette.

This wedding veil style is a nice choice for a bride that wants the Disney princess look but isn’t interested in the chapel or cathedral veil, which can be a lot to manage. Floor length veils look lovely with sheath dresses especially, and are a good choice for nontraditional venues, like beaches, where you might want length but not fabric dragging in the sand.

Chapel Wedding Veil: 90″

Have you chosen a shorter dress but still want the look of a train? A chapel-length veil gives the illusion of a train, but can be taken off during the reception when you want more freedom of movement. Chapel-length veils are not overly long, but they do extend slightly beyond the hem of the bride’s gown.

Lovely and traditional, a chapel length veil never goes out of style. It’s also adaptable to many different venues and types of weddings, just as pretty in a ballroom as it is in a garden. It also provides plenty of space for different embellishments, which can dramatically change the look of the veil.

Cathedral Wedding Veil: 108-120″

When you want to look like a queen on your wedding day, choose a cathedral-length wedding veil. This is undoubtedly the most dramatic style, associated with royalty and over-the-top celebrations. It looks stunning during the ceremony and makes for incredible pictures.

A cathedral wedding veil can be worn with many different styles of wedding dress, but it pairs most naturally with ball gowns and more elaborate dresses. However, there are many different styles of cathedral veil, and some look just right with less ornate gowns.

Get creative with color and embellishments.

Whatever wedding veil style you choose, remember that your veil is a beautiful place to add some color to your wedding look. We all remember Angelina Jolie’s fabulously illustrated veil, and you can be just as fearless. Try colorful embroidery or blush tulle to make a statement.

Different embellishments also radically change the look of a veil. Whether you want the sparkle of Swarovski crystals or the delicate leaves and petals of hand-embroidered flowers, you can choose a veil that perfectly matches the style of your dress and wedding.

Use a fitting appointment to test-run your hairstyle with a veil.

Sometimes you just have to see how a veil looks with your gown. And, since how you style your hair will impact the look and feel of your wedding veil, it may be appropriate to use a fitting appointment or a day of bridesmaid shopping as a chance to test the two together. Do a hair and make-up run through at the salon, and then come into The White Dress to see how different veils pair with your wedding tresses. We’re happy to help you find the veil of your dreams.