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Your big day is looming and you're
excited! No doubt you'd have
worked out your wedding attire, and
whether you decide on an elegant
lacy veil or a gorgeous antique that
has been in your family for years; the
wedding veil is more than just a
head covering.
In fact, the wedding veil has a history all of its own.
The veil has now become a traditional part of the
‘white wedding,’ but in olden days, brides wore their
hair flowing down their backs to symbolise their youth
and virginity. Of course, these days, not everyone has
long hair; so it's the white diaphanous veil that represents
this. Back then, the veil also purportedly helped
the bride to remain modest, while protecting her from
jealous spirits.
Some say that the uncovering of the veil during the
marriage ceremony is a symbol of what will take place
later in the marital bed. Just as the two newlyweds
become one through the words of their wedding vows,
the words are the precursor of the physical oneness
they will consummate later on.
Others say that a veil was necessary because it was
‘bad luck’ for the groom to see the bride before the
wedding itself, and a veil was used to hide her. In fact,
in the old days of arranged marriages and dowries, the
groom rarely saw his bride at all before the wedding
day!
Cynically, some say that if the bride was really ugly,
a veil would prevent the groom from seeing her and
running away while he still could! Unfortunately for
Jacob (of the Old Testament), because his bride wore
such a thick veil, he couldn't see that it covered the
face of the wrong woman!
Because of this story, Jewish grooms now lift their
brides' veils before the ceremony!
Other cultures follow similar practices. Even today in
some Muslim countries, the young man is not allowed
to see the face of his bride-to-be until after they are
wed. For the wedding ceremony, the bride wears a
head covering called a dupatta, and both she and
groom don a sehra or a veil of flowers around their
foreheads.
In Poland, the unveiling of the bride signifies her
transformation from a girl to a woman. The single
women in the wedding party circle the bride, and the
maid of honour removes the bride's veil. Only when a
married woman pins a cap to her head, she is officially
married. Often the bride will throw her veil, rather than
her bouquet, to her unmarried female guests.
In the old days in Japan, hair was thought to be
unclean; so a headdress was one way to hide it. Until
the 1860s, brides in Japan wore a wataboshi hood
which was supposed to hide the bride's face from
everyone except the groom. At Japanese weddings
today, the veil stays lowered until the end of the ceremony
when it's lifted by the groom as his first action as
a new husband.
White or off-white veils are common today, but in
ancient times, throughout much of the world, brides
actually wore brightly coloured veils! Early Christian
brides were even known to wear blue veils to symbolise
the Virgin Mary.
It was believed that a brightly coloured veil would
protect the bride from the ‘evil eye.’ Greek and
Roman brides wore yellow or red veils (representing
fire) to ward off these demons, and Roman brides were
completely covered with a long red veil just to be doubly
sure. Even today, a Chinese bride wears a red veil
over her face, and red shoes to match.
This idea of a veil hiding the bride from demons was
a prevalent one. The wedding party knew that the
veiled figure standing next to the groom was the bride,
but families nonetheless supplied bridesmaids as
decoys. These ‘bride's maidens’ would not wear veils,
but would be dressed attractively and be prepared to
sacrifice their souls, if necessary, so the bride could be
married. Surely this makes being a bridesmaid somewhat
unattractive—no wonder most don't tell their
bridesmaids this! Superstitious nonsense, we might
think, but having bridesmaids is a tradition that continues
to this day.
Opaque veils were often worn in early Europe—
some say to prevent the groom from seeing the bride
until after the ceremony was over. Romantic as it may
sound, it meant that the groom could not see in and
the bride could not see out! As a result of this, the
bride had to be escorted down the aisle by her father,
so he could literally ‘give the bride away’ to her husband-
to-be.
The wearing of the first white lace veil has been
credited to the daughter of Martha Curtis Washington,
Nellie Cusis. It is said that her suitor, Major Lawrence
Lewis, President Washington's aide, had first seen her
through a lace curtain!
Here's to hoping you find your perfect veil!
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