With wedding season in full swing, it can be a flurry of white and traditions for many families, but now that Social Media is here and shows us what everyone else is doing, it can be really hard to compare our event with everyone else’s, especially if they have a bigger budget. That is why more and more brides are choosing to stop trying to innovate and be original and go back to basics, and what is more traditional and understatedly elegant than a veil? But, where did this tradition come from and why do brides continue to do it this day?
First and foremost, let us acknowledge that veils can be very pretty and can give almost any wedding dress the feeling of being ethereal and elegant, which is something that many brides are looking for in their special day. And wearing something because it is pretty is a very valid reason in a day such as your wedding day, so if you like it, go ahead and wear it, no judgment from us!
But veils have a history that goes back for centuries and even millennia, so if you are curious, keep reading.
The history of the wedding veil, a tradition passed down through generations
Although it could have been worn in other cultures before, the first records that we have come from ancient Greece and Rome. Unlike today when we wear them to look pretty, veils at that time were meant to keep the bride hidden from jealous gods or evil spirits that wanted to snatch the blushing bride before she could say “I do”.
As veil designer Samantha Stark told BRIDES “You can trace its roots back to Rome, where a bride used to walk down the aisle with a veil over her face in order to disguise herself from any evil spirits who wanted to stand in the way of her happiness.”
While the original meaning did not stay the same, the tradition did, and when wedding veils became symbols of a bride’s chastity and modesty, its use expanded even more. “When white wedding dresses were worn to symbolize chastity, the white veil followed suit”
The evolution was slow and steady, and at least in Europe, it followed the trends in religion and feudal politics. Veils became a symbol of chastity, modesty, obedience, and privilege, and Christianity started seeing the veil as way to signify that the bride was virtuous and submitted to her husband’s authority.
For Catholic weddings that take place in a church, the veil is a symbol of modesty: “Most traditional Catholic churches require that the bride’s shoulders be covered during mass, whether that means a dress with sleeves or lace from a mantilla veil,” Stark says. “Traditionally, a veil shows the interior desire for a bride being humble, and it is also a sign of purity.”
In some cases, veils were even used to disguise the appearance of a bride if the couple had not met before and the marriage was arranged simply for convenience. Many argue nowadays that they also hid plenty of unwilling faces and tears.
But today all those traditions are, if not irrelevant, much more in the back of everyone’s mind. Veils are just seen as a lovely way to partake in tradition and as a fashion statement, which gives brides a lot of leeway to decide what to wear, as Stark reminds us.
“Today, wedding veils are widely accepted as a bridal accessory that adds a perfect finishing touch to the overall bridal look. Modern brides use the wedding veil as a way to show [their] personal style with a nod to tradition. The wedding veil is all about making a statement. Brides tend to choose veils that complement their dresses, in both length and colour. Lace, rhinestones, and pearls can be added to give an even more personal touch to the overall bridal look.”