Bridal Accessories.

Your Wedding Accessories.

Your accessories are vitally important contributing to the success of the day.

Your Veil.

The vast majority of brides are married with a veil, this is, as is most of our wedding customs and traditions linked inextricably in our history and traditions. We in the west are perhaps fortunate because in some cultures where arranged marriages are the norm. The veil is used as to cloak the brides looks from the groom until the ceremony takes place.

You've probably heard the saying "Something old something new something borrowed something blue." In our culture an old veil is considered luckier than a new one so if you can borrow a veil from a happily married woman, the happiness good luck and fertility will pass on to you. See our page on wedding traditions and superstitions.

For formal weddings the veil is usually longer, the rule being the higher the degree of formality the longer the veil. Make a decision as to how the veil is to be held in place, the usual options are a tiara or you can have a head-dress made from flowers which match your bouquet.

Perhaps A Hat.

Some brides choose to wear a hat, if your dress is less than traditional then a hat can be worn it is traditional if the bride is wearing a hat for her to carry a prayer book rather than flowers.

Tiara's

Families often own a tiara which is considered a family heirloom, and it may have been worn by family members for generations. If this is the case in either of your families then why break with tradition.

The fashion of crowning the head with a semicircle of jewels, only really began when the social elite of Britain having visited Greece and Italy were inspired by the garlanded heads on Greek and Roman statues. Gradually the tiara became the symbol which differentiated between daytime and formal evening wear. It is assumed by some that in times past tiaras were only allowed to be worn by aristocrat's, this assumption is incorrect the deciding factor was simply one of finance.

The picture on the right shows Queen Victoria wearing the tiara illustrated below. The picture was painted in 1824 when Victoria was 20 and newly married, by the German artist Franz Xavier Winterhalter who was a popular artist in European court circles at the time, it is one of a pair of Victoria and Albert which hang at Windsor. She has chosen to wear it unconventionally, wrapped as a circlet around her chignon.

Click to browse our list of tiara suppliers.

Going Away Outfit.

Next to your wedding dress the outfit that you choose will attract a lot of attention. What you choose will be governed to some extent by the destination chosen for your honeymoon. You may choose to change out of your wedding dress earlier at the reception simply to be more comfortable, and better able to cope with the dancing and festivities.