How to Choose Your Wedding Veil to Compliment Your Bridal Gown Style

Wedding veils and dresses feature many attractive styles and aesthetics. Highlight your bridal beauty with the perfect wedding veil to compliment your gown.

After months or even years of planning, the time has finally come. The doors part, everybody turns, and all eyes—most notably those of the lucky groom holding back tears—shift to you, the bride-to-be. You’re radiant. Every last detail of your wedding day look has come together for this exact moment.

The dress, the hair, the makeup, the wedding veil you searched far and wide for, all of it. It’s everything you ever dreamed of and then some. It begs the question: how can you find the perfect complementary veil to squeeze every bit of goodness out of this magical moment? With Afarose, of course!

Wedding Veil and Dress Type

A wedding veil is an accessory and as such should elevate your overall wedding day look. Similar to how wedding dresses range from simple and elegant to extravagant and sparkling, veils do, too. While you’re absolutely free to mix and match (you’re the bride, after all!), we do recommend sticking to a theme by choosing a veil that accentuates your gown without throwing off its proportions. In the same breath, you should draw inspiration by pondering the overall wedding aesthetic you’re going for.

Wedding Style

From a portrait of elegance to a whimsical dreamscape, every bride has a vision for their wedding day. Most wedding aesthetics will be sophisticated, formal, romantic, or whimsical. Sophisticated styles embody delicate detailing and favor a sleek look with only a touch of drama, while formal dresses echo classic wedding designs and use balance when selecting details. Romantic designs rely on heavy detailing and are charmingly ornate. Whimsical dresses share similarities with romantic designs but also incorporate elements that make them feel airy and dreamlike.

Afarose Insider Tips: Keep your dress's silhouette in mind when selecting your veil. Classic bridal gown silhouettes include the sheath, mermaid/trumpet, A-line, and full skirt.

Dress Types

As you might guess, simple wedding veils, like the elegant Afarose Ula Veil, best complement simple wedding dresses. Fewer layers of fabric will ensure that every detail of your gown stays visible. These veils are also excellent for dresses with dramatic backs.

Meanwhile, embellished dresses with lots of beadwork or sparkles benefit from veils with raw edges or details that echo the details of the dress design.

Modern dresses include fit-and-flare, mermaid, and tea-length dresses. Blushers, square-cut, or layered designs that fall shoulder to elbow length often work best with these dresses.

Types and Lengths of Wedding Veils

Let the shape of your dress help guide your veil selection as well. For example, the edges of your veil will ideally fall above or below any horizontal lines. Meanwhile, the body of your veil should complement, not detract, from these lines. Helping each wardrobe element shine its brightest is the name of the bridal outfit game!

Lengths

Veil lengths are often aptly named to reflect where they fall on the body. Take 20-inch ‘shoulder length’ veils or 30-inch ‘waist length’ veils, for instance. Longer veil styles include waltz (60 in), floor (78 in), chapel (96 in), and cathedral (114 in) lengths. Birdcage wedding veils are also an option! Consider the unique Afarose Tila veil to add a vintage touch to your look.

Styles

Beyond length, wedding veils feature various cuts and fabric arrangements, too. Most classic wedding veil designs are single and two-tier (blusher) veils. These veils are relatively simple and offer clean straight edges. Brides can also amplify their look with nontraditional veil shapes like a waterfall, angel cut, drape, or barely-there designs.

The waterfall veil has cascading sides that converge into a pool of fabric at the bottom. The angel cut is similar, with the veil ending in a soft point that mimics an angel wing. Meanwhile, the drape veil relies on two well-placed combs to send tulle down both sides while leaving your beautiful hair uncovered in the middle. To achieve a more delicate look, the sheer, barely-there veils use less tulle and can be placed further back in your hair to highlight hairstyles and accessories.

These wedding veil designs will add a different touch to your overall bridal style and help you accent your favorite features of your dress, hair, face, and accessories.

Afarose Insider Tip: Watch our Tiktok tutorial for a comprehensive guide.

Wedding Veil Selection

Time to select the perfect veil to magnify you, your dress, and your big day! Keep bridal aesthetics and veil style elements in mind. Select complementary fabrics, trims, and embellishments to achieve your look, and make sure they color-match your wedding gown. Rather than silk or satin, tulle is generally the best choice for most brides. Longer veils are best paired with long dresses, while short veils are best paired with short dresses and elbow-length veils tend to work with most dress lengths.

Afarose Insider Tip: When you are shopping for your wedding veil, bring a swatch that matches your dress fabric in texture and color. Or shop your veil at the same bridal shop where you get your dress. This will help you find the veil that best matches your dress.

Beyond the Veil

On the big day, you deserve the picture-perfect look you've envisioned since the moment you said “Yes!”. Whether you’re going for sleek and sophisticated or ornate and romantic, the right veil can elevate your wedding look beyond your wildest dreams.

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