DIY Wedding Veil

Photo by Lindsey Friar Photography

I made my own veil for the wedding. If ever you've stopped in a bridal shop and seen the prices of some of their veils, you'd probably understand that I didn't want to pay as much for a veil as I did the entire dress. And really, it's something you wear for maybe 15 minutes, depending on the length of your ceremony, then ditch for the rest of the event. (As it is common to remove the veil after the ceremony and any photographs your photographer may hold you over for.)

I don't have any pictures from actually making it, so forgive me. The process is really quite simple, however. I'll try to explain it best I can, but I have a habit of muddling the explanation.

I already had plenty of lace that my mother's been hanging onto for years and years and years. Bolts of it. "Veil-y" material is pretty cheap, I bought a couple yards. Wasn't sure how much I was going to want (or how many times I was going to mess up.)

First, you're going to need one of these.

A wide one is good. That'll keep it more secure on your precious little head. I bought mine somewhere around the bridal section at Jo-ann. There were two of them in a pack. There are other ones at Hobby Lobby and the like, but they were short ones and made of metal. I didn't like those because I'd had a few metal wire ones before and they get bent all out of shape.

Then, you'll need these sorts of things...

You'll cut the material to the shape of the veil you want. I wanted a fingertip length veil, but two layers, although I wasn't concerned with wearing the veil over my face. (It could have, though. I just wasn't keen on wearing it that way. Something about not liking roots of traditions.)

I had a rough measurement from about the crown of my head to fingertippish and doubled that to account for two layers.

I cut out a rough rectangle that length and just "some" width. (I would best describe it as my width plus a little extra. That way it would drape around me. I know, totally unspecific. This whole thing was done by improvising.) The corners were rounded out.

I then cut enough lace to go around the entire perimeter of this rectangle. It was a lot. Just... a lot.

If your lace looks like this...

That is to say, has raw edges and things... You'll want to trim it down first.

Using a white thread..., although one could easily use a clear/invisible thread. I didn't have any on hand. ... Using a white thread, I just stitched the entire length around, attaching the edge of the lace to the edge of the veil. I got tired after going around it once, so I didn't finish like I planned to and do both edges of the lace. It looked fine.

After the lace was all attached, I folded it almost in half. Not evenly, otherwise both layers of the veil would be the same length. It's offset several inches so the top layer is shorter. I gathered it all up at the fold and ran a thread through it to hold it in place, adjusting it to the width of the aforementioned haircomb.

When attaching it, make sure you're attaching it to the TOPSIDE of the comb with the length of the veil hanging down in the direction all the prongs are pointing.

I left a slight bit of overhang at the top to fold over to completely hide the comb. Again, taking a white (or invisible) thread, weave over the veil and comb, around it, and between the prongs. Go from one end of the comb to the other, then back again for extra security.

I made this awesome illustration to show you how.

Once it's all secure, you're done! You could also attach beads or pearls or little flowers. However you want to embellish it.

It looks way longer than it seems.

Some detail of the lace.

Just to prove it can be flipped over the face, here's another:

Photo by Lindsey Friar Photography