Britten’s Guide to Wedding Veils

We love wedding veils at Britten and we are adding to our range all the time. With our dedicated veil making room, visible behind the boutique at Britten HQ, we can make everything from huge cathedral style veils to delicate mantilla veils. As well as our main range we create many custom veils for brides with a particular look in mind!

Very few people wear a veil more than once so we are here to give you all the information you need to choose. In this post we’ll look at ‘classic’ veils. Ask someone what a veil is and these are what they will describe – long flowing tulle.

The first thing you’ll need to decide upon is the length. Don’t be put off by the names; if you want to wear a cathedral length veil in a registry office then go for it!

• Our cathedral length veils are 3 meters long pieces that move beautifully. It’s movement will depend on which trim you choose and it’s weight.

• Church or chapel length veils  are 2.5 meters long and move in a similar way to our cathedral length veils. Most of the pictures you will see on our website are in this length.

• Floor length veils are 200cm long and drape onto the floor with a small train whose size will vary according to your height. Without a long train floor length veils move more freely than longer options with heavier trains.

• Just above floor length is ballet length veils. These veils are 150cm and fall around your mid-calf.

• A fingertip veil is 122cm long and will fall between your elbow and fingertips depending on your height. If you’d like to keep your veil on all day (and all night?!) then these are a good option, no one will stand on it while you dance!

Now you need to think about the edge you’d like on your veil. The lace that we use, if you choose a lace edge of course!, comes from an English firm established since 1848 and owned by the 8th generation of the same family. It is quite simply the best lace in the world. Both the Church of England and the Duchess of Cambridge agree.

• A full lace edge is where the lace edge runs all the way round the veil, right up to the comb. It’s the all drama option!

• A semi (or demi) lace edge is when the lace ends around shoulder height. It’s a cleaner look that can draw attention to the shoulders.

• Cut edge veils (with no lace edge at all) are very simple, light and elegant. They are our bestseller and move beautifully in the lightest of breezes.

The next option is whether or not you have a blusher (two tier) or not (single tier).

• Single tier veils flow from the gather point down your back, there is no section of veil in front of the face.

• Two tier veils have the same section as a single tier but with the addition of a section of the veil in front of your face; often this is know as a ‘blusher’. Once raised it’s swept back over the head to form a second layer at the back of the veil.

The final choice is colour and the simplest option is to order our tulle sample card – you can’t accurately judge tulle colours on a computer/tablet or phone screen!

We’ll have a look in 2 other posts this month at other veil styles including our new mantilla veil range and old favourites like juliette caps and bandeaus. Plus we have a new range of silk style veils coming soon too.

*Britten is a Whimsical Wonderland Weddings sponsor*