Gothic Wedding Veils

Once you’ve found the perfect gothic wedding dress, adding the perfect gothic accessories becomes your next task. First, you must decide how you’ll have your hair. In long, luscious flowing locks? In a tight, Victorian do? Or a pinup coif?

Cirque De Noir black and white gothic wedding veil, $40, from Sisters of the Moon

At some point, you’ll probably consider a gothic wedding veil, and I don’t blame you. Often, a girl just doesn’t feel like a bride without a veil, and a gothic bride is no exception. Throughout history, veils have been used by brides to hide their faces during the sacred wedding ceremony. In ancient Greece and Rome, the veil (usually red) protected the woman against evil spirits. In the Medieval period, crusaders returning from the east popularized many Islamic traditions, including the wearing of veils of everyday (and bridal) wear. During this period the veil began to stand for purity. The husband would lift the veil during the ceremony, symbolizing his acceptance of the bride. These days, lots of brides lift their own veil – a symbol to themselves and their guests that they are equals.

"The Bride Wore Black" long gothic wedding veil, $75, by Battyazac

Veils come in many different lengths, materials and styles, and gothic wedding veils are no exception. The gothic wedding veils in this article are made from chiffon, satin, silk, netting and tulle, and come in the most dazzling array of colors! Your gothic wedding veil can be embellished with lace, embroidery, beads, feathers, steampunk cogs, skeleton hands, bows, ribbons, raven’s skulls, and all manner of dark delights!

If you can, find a shop where you can try on a few different styles, or look at pictures online of brides wearing similar dresses to yours with veils. As a gothic bride, you will probably be ordering your veil online, rather than finding it on the shelf of a traditional bridal store, so it helps to know what looks good (and what doesn’t) before you send off the Paypal moneys.

As a general rule, if your dress has lots of embellishments or embroidery, you might want to choose a plain veil (and not one that covers any decoration!), otherwise the two will compete with each other for visual supremacy. A plainer dress can “get away” with a more elaborate veil. This is just a guideline – you do whatever you want!

Black Bone Skeleton Hand fascinator veil, $12, from Zombie Dolls

Shorter-length gothic wedding veils and fascinators are super-trendy at the moment. You can find heaps of gorgeous designs on Etsy.

Red and Black gothic fascinator, $124.95, from Satanica

CanCan Red and Black Feather Fascinator, $25, by Moonshine baby

Whichever gothic wedding veil you choose, don’t forget to bring it along to your hairdresser (or super-awesome hair-doing friend) when you do a trial of your hair and makeup. Positioning the veil can be a bit of a mission! (Trust me. I watched my sister and her hairdresser have a great 20 minute debate over “left side, right side, under hair, over hair …”).

For more tips on finding the perfect gothic wedding veil, as well as tons of other gothic wedding madness, check out the Gothic Wedding Planner.