Veils: Choosing The Perfect One For Your Wedding Day

Let’s talk about veils. A veil can complete the bridal look.  They can come in a variety of styles, lengths, colors and weights. So what exactly makes them fly? What length should you get? There can be so many questions that arise when selecting this part of your wedding look.

We often joke that Matthew is an ‘expert veil fluffer’ and in fact, he is! He has probably fluffed every style of veil at this point. And this may come as a surprise, but not all veils are created equal. If you dream of those flowy veil shots, Matthew and I will make it happen (we are huge fan of veil shots!!!), but there are some things for you to consider when choosing your veils that will aid in that dreamy, flowy veil shot.

Length

When considering what length to get, our recommendation: chapel or cathedral. The longer the better!  If you are consistently pinning those “flying veil” images, odds are those brides are wearing long veils.  They are super easy to toss and there’s a ton of versatility for us as photographers to create those dreamy flying veil shots as well as those ones where the veil is coming at the camera.  The key to those “at the camera” shots is the length of those veils.  Matthew is holding the veil and bringing it towards me while I take the photo.  If the veil is too short, then this doesn’t work well.

Weight

Another thing to consider, especially for those flying veil shots, it the weight of the veil. We suggest avoiding heavy beading and details that will weight down your veil. Some veils with lots of details will drop quickly to the ground, rather than flow in the wind due to the beading, heavy lace or other details. Raw edge or simple veils do the best for those flowy shots!

Fabric

The fabric is another element to consider.  Fine tulle or silk flow more freely as opposed to stiff and ridged tulle. The softer, looser the fabric is, the more the air will catch it, creating gorgeous images.

Layers

Veils usually come with either one or two layers.  We have found that one layer veils are easier to toss than two layer ones.  If you still want a blusher for your ceremony, consider a veil that has a detachable blusher or a drop veil.

Other things to consider: color

This may come as a surprise, but off-white is best. Veils and even dresses that are pure white can actually photograph “blue” and that can be very difficult to hide in editing.  Off-white, light ivories, creams and even champagnes are actually better for pictures! This applies for both veils and dresses!

We hope this helps in choosing the perfect veil for your wedding day! If you have any questions, feel free to shoot me an email and I would be happy to help! Like I said, huge fan of veils here!