Wedding veils Wedding veils

Wedding veils are symbolic of a bride's purity and her modesty. No bridal attire is complete without the wearing of wedding veils. The face was often covered to denote purity and when it was lifted it was believed to be the presentation of a pure bride to the groom.

Wedding veils date back to the 19th century and was white due to it representing purity. Roman brides used to wear red colored wedding veils in order to ward off the effect of evil spirits on their wedding day. The Greek brides had floor length yellow colored veils.

In Judaism wedding veils go back to the biblical age. One story states that Rebecca was unveiled and veiled herself only when she saw Isaac coming towards her. It was customary for the groom to cover the bride with a veil until the end of the ceremony.

In Roman times people believed that evil spirits would harm the bride and the wedding veils were used to cover their faces so that no harm would befall them.

Another popular belief is that wedding veils originated because there were arranged marriages and the prospective groom used to bargain with the father of an eligible bride. Their faces used to be covered during the negotiation and lifted once the deal was done. The wedding veils were used so that once the deal was done the groom could not back out of the agreement. In olden times it was considered bad luck for the groom to view his bride before the start of the ceremony and the veil was used to conceal her face.

Wedding veils have come a long way since then. Today wedding veils are a must in the bridal ensemble.

They are traditionally white. Some like the long wedding veils like Lady Diana's but it has proven to be cumbersome. The short veil is ideal for those bridal gowns that have plenty of work at the waist or hips. In between is the medium veil and is a more common style.

To set off the beauty of the dress simple wedding veils are ideal since overworked wedding veils can take away the beauty of the dress.