Mrs. Bell Pepper, Philadelphia
Age and Occupation: 28, Resident Physician
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Resident Physician
Engagement Date: May 30, 2006
Wedding Date: June 2007
Venue: Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
About Me: I love whimsical details and design, everything that *sparkles*, sipping on hazelnut lattes, pugs, shopping for antiques and second-hand goods, scenic photography, delicate flowers, and checking out new restaurants in the city with my fianc??. We are planning our wedding at a unique city venue for about 75 close family members and friends. I have a lot of DIY ideas and I like to blog about ways to save money on your wedding.
My Mother’s DIY Veil Project
May 8th, 2007 @ 9:31 am by Mrs. Bell Pepper
Since Mother’s Day is coming up, I want to dedicate a post for my mom. She’s wonderful - ever since I was small I’ve seen her DIY all sorts of stuff. She really wanted to get involved in the wedding planning, but it was tough when she lived so far away. Because we both have busy work schedules, we weren’t able to share the experiences of dress shopping or fittings. Instead, we have been e-mailing and calling each other back and forth since last June, and I have to say I feel kind of sad that she hasn’t been around as much.
My dress arrived around early January and I stopped by the Wedding Shoppe to see how it looked. I wanted to check it out with several veil styles. I really loved the cathedral length veil, it’s so dramatic and beautiful especially if you’re tall. We tried the cathedral veil and it just looked…so-so. I wanted to see how the dress looked with a veil that had a subtle lace trim, here’s a photo:
I loved how the veil look but the price was waaay out of my price range, $800+!!! I really wanted my mom to create something for the wedding, so we decided to see if my mom could do something about the veil. We measured the veil and I emphasized to my mom that the veil had to be the exact measurements so that it fell a few inches past the train of my dress. I sent her this photo and she came up with an idea using materials from Vogue Fabrics. She used a pattern from McCall’s - you can also use this website to make your own veil. She spent about 3 days sewing each piece of lace to the end of the veil and the whole project cost about $70.
I was kind of anxious to see how everything looked together since I know she worked so hard to create this veil. I went to my first fitting a few weeks ago and the veil is just the right length, yay! My mom was so happy to see the results.
7 Responses to “My Mother’s DIY Veil Project”
Oh it is so pretty! I’m so jealous that your mom is so talented! If I asked my mom to do anythin remotely close, it would probably come out looking like it shrunk in the wash cuz she’s always playing on the safe side…
So pretty and so much more affordable! Kudos to Mommy Bell Pepper!
Awww that’s so sweet that she made it for you!! I too have been wishing my mom was closer so she could be more involved in wedding stuff, but it’s actually working out pretty well for us because even though she’s a six hour drive away, they’ve made the effort to come down for each of my dress fittings so we see each other every few weeks (we also go up there to meet with vendors since they live right where the wedding’s going to be), so we’re seeing a lot more of each other than usual at least, and get to gorge on wedding-ness whenever we do that! My dad gets bored, but luckily enjoys walking around the city by himself, haha. 
I used that same website to make my own veil…I couldn’t see paying hundreds of dollars for a piece of tulle and some lace. I’m glad your mom was able to be a part of your planning, and the veil she made you is so beautiful!
That is a beautiful veil! My mother made mine last week. Mine is not as elaborate as yours, but it was very simple to make, very inexpensive, and is such a special thing to be able to wear on my wedding day!
That is a great website! Your mom should start her own veil shop.
I love moms that do these things for their daughters. So loving, and you have a great keepsake.
Your mom picked a great type of lace to work with because the separate appliques can be set separately and curve around the arch easily. The thick heavy solid laces are really tricky to work with (especially if the lace goes around the head in a mantilla style because the arch is narrow there). A narrower lace would have been workable, but of course I wanted the wide lace, so I ended up hiring an awesome seamstress (found her services on ebay) which was still much cheaper than from a salon and put a lot of time back into my schedule.
really gorgeous!
