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Traditions

Wedding veils have played interesting roles in history. In Far Eastern countries, the veil was intended to protect women from evil spirits believed to be attracted to them. In medieval times, when many marriages were arranged, fathers of homely daughters wanted their faces covered so that the man would not renege on the marriage before the ceremony was completed. Another piece of lore is that the veil was added to the wedding outfit as a sign of modesty, respect and virginity. It served as a reminder that there was to be no physical relationship between the bride and groom until after the vows had been taken and sealed with a kiss. Roman brides wore veils and sandals colored deep saffron or flame yellow as a tribute to Hymen, the goddess of prosperity and fertility.

Early on, veils were handmade and thus very expensive; mothers passed veils down to their daughters and other relatives. This led to a tradition of borrowing a veil from a happily married relative for good luck.

In this country, Nelly Custis started the veil tradition. At her marriage to Major Lawrence Lewis, President Washington's aide, Ms. Custis wore a lengthy scarf pinned to her hair to acknowledge the Major's flattering comments after he had glimpsed her through a lace curtain, at a window.

Options

Veils may be single or multi-layered and vary in length and style. In general, the longer the veil, the more formal it is. Following are guidelines for choosing your veil length:

• Full-length veils for a very formal wedding and hem-length (or shoulder or fingertip-length) for a formal wedding.

• Short or longer veil for a semi-formal wedding; matching the short veil to a street-length dress and a longer veil to a longer dress.

• Generally there is no veil worn at an informal wedding.

Often the veil is detachable so that it may be worn during the marriage ceremony and removed for the reception.

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