5 Dollar Wedding Veil

Why spend $300 on a wedding veil when you can make your own for $5?

Yes, this wedding veil actually cost me $5, and it took about half an hour to make.  

After shopping around the wedding boutiques in town and seeing similar veils priced at $300 and up (no, I'm not kidding), I decided it was time to DIY!

The great thing is, it's easy to make any length and any style of veil you want using these simple steps.  

Step 1: Materials

• Tulle or chiffon (or both!), the amount of which will depend on how long and how many layers you want your veil to be.  It can be anywhere from 20 inches to 120 inches.  

The veil I liked best when I tried it on was fingertip length.  So I measured from the tip of my head to my fingertips and it turned out to be 42 inches.   That was just for one side, so I doubled it to get 84 inches.  

• A comb or barrette to hold the veil in place

Optional:

• Ribbon or trim to go along the edges of the veil (amount depending on finished length of veil)
• Decorations for the headpiece

Step 2: Measure and Cut

The veil I really liked in the shop had a sort of diamond shape to it, which I tried to emulate.  Cutting the edges on a diagonal made them go all swirly when it was on, which I really liked.  But the simplest veil would just be a straight length of fabric.

I folded the tulle in half and marked out the shape in chalk.  

Then I cut along the chalk line!  Once you've cut it, the chalk line pretty much disappears from the tulle.

Step 3: Rolled Hem

There are lots of ways you can finish the edges of your veil.

The easiest way for me was to use the rolled hem setting on my serger.  It involves lowering the cutting blade and turning the stitch length and widths down.  It took about 10 minutes to finish serging all the edges.  To clean up any left over serger trails, get a wide eyed needle and thread them back through the row of serging.  Simple!

If you want to use ribbon for an even cleaner looking edge, sew the ribbon onto the fabric about 1/2 - 1 inch away from the cut edge using a straight stitch on your sewing machine.  (of course, you can always do it by hand, but know in advance it will take some time).  After sewing on the ribbon or trim, carefully cut away the fabric so the ribbon is the new edge.

The fun thing about making your own veil is that you can mix up the colors and designs as much as you like!

Step 4: Gather

Gather up the edge that's going to be sewn to your comb.  It's not necessary to serge this edge beforehand.  

I used my serger to gather the raw edge, but you can use a sewing machine, or do it by hand.

Next, sew the gathered edge to your comb or barrette.

For extra fancification, add rhinestones or other decorations to the top of the veil!

Step 5: Prance

Try it on and prance around!  I like to wear it to do work in at home.  I have it on good authority that  no one will think ill of you as long as you're a future bride.  But I'm sure there are plenty of other circumstances you could get away with it!

Thanks to my friend Keely, who helped me play dress up in the costume shop of A.C.T. (no, that is not my real dress), and for taking a million pictures!

Comments

[lyn101]

how do i add jewels to the veil easy way makeing my first with jewels

[gisellaqb]

How wide should the ribbon be for the cut edge?

[dborato]

which edge is used to gather and add to comb?

[supersoftdrink]

I'd never consent to wear a veil myself (traditional symbolism that doesn't coincide with my values), but that's very lovely!

[JohnJY]

What's wrong with traditional symbolism?

[supersoftdrink]

Like Kaelessin said, there's nothing wrong with the symbolism; it's just not something I would want to prescribe to. Some historical veil symbolism is just plain weird to me, and other symbolism really rubs me the wrong way.

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-symbolism-of-a-brides-veil.htm

A veil to protect the bride against the "evil eye" is weird to me. A veil to obscure the bride's face - so the husband her father arranged for her to have won't see her ahead of time and want to back out - seems creepy to me. A veil to symbolize virginity, with the husband's lifting of the veil to kiss the bride representative of his breaking of the hymen later that night, really grosses me out. What happens between my legs is nobody's business but mine and my partner's.

I know most women these days wear veils simply because they're pretty. There's nothing wrong with that; it's just not my thing because I can't forget about the history behind the tradition.

[csprinkle]

Seriously, marriage itself is traditional symbolism...

[JohnJY]

I see were that could get people on edge. Now every time I see a veil lifted it'll look pornographic to me. O.o XD

[Kaelessin]

Nothing's inherently wrong with them . . . for some though, the traditional symbols do not support their worldview. For myself, it has a lot to do with the emphasis that is placed in the symbols and not in the truly important things. It has a lot to do with the emptiness and the frequency with which the real point of a thing is missed . . .you know, missing the forest for the trees. Personally I've become frustrated with all the blather about weddings in general and, despite being a very spiritual person, disagree with weddings in general . . .not marriage . . .just weddings. I'm sure this is a minority opinion :P but there it is!

I'm certainly not speaking for supersoftdrink . . .just presenting another's two cents.

Anyway, awesome job saving money on this piece of your ensemble. It helps reduce some of the silliness I find in the wedding process. . .the cost is way out of proportion! Way to stick it to the wedding emporium man!

[JohnJY]

The overly large fairy god mother weddings are where I could see people not agreeing, and my parents got married in a court house full of stuffed ducks, having a veil of some kind wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. Haha.

[Kaelessin]

heh stuffed ducks?! that sounds like an amazing story lol!

[WhyHello]

uuuh with lace maybe

[angelabchua]

oh yeah, did i tell you your making my dress for my non existent wedding? ok.thnx.bai.

;)

[triciab1212]

awesome and great advice! I had a super-cheap wedding and made my veil for a little over 10 bucks :) without sewing it.

I just bought an unfinished veil which was super-cheap and hot glued it to a white-quilted headband that had pearls on it. Voila! It turned out great (well, perfect for me).

[squeakykeek]

Love it! you look like a princess!

[LocketRocket]

So simple and elegant. Great!

[sunsv2010]

so nice!

[Carleyy]

you look so pretty!!

[sunshiine]

I was wondering how to make one like this. It is so pretty. I love the length. Serging it added a nice touch.

[jongscx]

awww, super-pretty!