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A Guide to Veil Styles and Lengths

A Guide to Veil Styles and Lengths

The Lucky Sixpence Bridal guide to veils. Photo shows a bride and groom holding hands and looking into each others' eyes. The brides long veil is blowing in the air behind her.

Choosing the perfect veil style and length is no mean feat! A pretty veil is the perfect finishing touch to your bridal outfit. There are so many different options to choose from, though! Which length are you looking for? Do you want single tier, two tier, a blusher? Should you choose a “fingertip” or “chapel” length, and how long is a cathedral length? Aarghh! It’s so confusing!!! Well, worry no more, that’s where this handy little guide to veil styles and lengths comes in! Read on, and all will become clear…

Veil Styles

There are many different veil styles, but I will just touch on the 3 main ones in this guide. The most popular styles are single-tier veils, (where the veil is all the same length) and two-tier veils (where there is one shorter layer and one longer layer). Cape veils are also becoming increasingly popular. These are attached to the shoulder, and provide the look of a veil without covering your hair.

Single-Tier Veils

Single-tier veils consist of one layer of tulle attached to a hair comb. They are perfect if you are looking for a veil that is fine enough to still allow all of your wedding dress details to shine through.

Two-Tier Veils

Two-tier veils consist of two layers of tulle, a longer layer, and a shorter layer, or “blusher”. They are perfect if you are looking to create a little more volume around the face/shoulders, or you are having a traditional wedding and would like to wear a layer of veil (the blusher) over your face as you walk down the aisle.

Cape Veils

Cape veils are not veils in the traditional sense, in that they are attached to the shoulders, but they create the same illusion. These veils are perfect if you would like a veil, but don’t wish to wear anything in your hair.

The Lucky Sixpence Bridal guide to veils. Photo shows a bride in front of a bridge at night-time. The bride is holding her bouquet aloft and she has a single-tier veil cascading from the back of her head.
Single-tier veil
Two-tier Veil
The Lucky Sixpence Bridal guide to veils. Photo shows a bride with her back to the camera. She is looking over her right shoulder. She is wearing a lace and tulle A-line bridal gown with a tulle cape veil cascading from her shoulders. There is beading at the end of the cape.
Cape Veil

Veil Lengths

Veils come in many different lengths from shoulder-length, to, well, as long as you can handle! The most popular lengths are shown below. When it comes to choosing a veil length, it really is personal preference. However, it can be handy to keep in mind that wherever your veil stops, is where the eye is drawn. Therefore, if you would like your guests to focus on the upper part of your body, choose a veil that is shoulder- or elbow-length. A waist-length veil will draw the eye to the waistline, and a fingertip-length veil will draw the eye to the hip area. A floor-length veil will just skim the floor, so can be a good choice for those who are wearing a shorter wedding dress, or one with no train. Finally, chapel-length or cathedral-length veils are both long veils, and are good choices for brides who want the full-on bridal look, those who have wedding dresses with trains, or those who don’t want the eye to be drawn to any particular area.

It can be a bit confusing when working out the length of each veil, especially as two-tier veils can show different measurements than the single tier version! This is because a two-tier veil is made of a single length of tulle, which is then folded and attached to the comb. This means the length stated is usually the overall length of the tulle, not the length of the veil (I know, all very confusing!). Essentially, what you need to remember is the veil length will be around the same whether it is single-tier or two-tier (give or take an inch or two). In general, the shorter layer of a two-tier veil is the overall length, minus the single-tier veil length.

The Lucky Sixpence Bridal guide to veils. Photo shows bride and groom standing in the front of an old barn. Bride has her arm around the groom and is holding her bouquet in her other hand. Confetti is showering down.

Veil Length Guide

Here are the most popular veil lengths and their measurements.

Measurements shown are in the following order: Single-tier overall length, two-tier overall length (two-tier shorter layer length + two-tier longer layer length). All measurements are approximate as they may differ slightly between designers.

Shoulder Length Single-tier 20″, Two-tier 38″ (18″+20″)

Elbow Length Single-tier 30″, Two-tier 54″ (24″+30″)

Fingertip Length Single-tier 43″, Two-tier 72″ (30″+42″)

Floor Length Single-tier 78″, Two-tier 108″ (30″+78″)

Chapel Length Single-tier 98″, Two-tier 128″ (30″+98″)

Cathedral Length Single-tier 118″, Two-tier 148″ (30″+118″)

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