To Veil or Not to Veil?

To Veil or Not to Veil?

September 22nd, 2010 @ 9:06 am by Mrs. Meerkat
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The great veil debate has finally ended in the Meerkat household. The debate only lasted six months. It seems like a long time to decide on something so simple, but when tradition is involved, things get a bit more complicated.

Back when we first got engaged, Mama-In-Law Meerkat offered to let me wear the veil that had belonged to both her and her mother. Including myself, that would make three generations of the Meerkat family who would have worn it. I was pretty well set on wearing it until I started thinking about hairstyles. I knew right away the kind of style I wanted:

Source

But I hate the way veils pouf out when they are placed at the crown of your head, so I wanted it coming out from underneath my hair:

Source

Kari, who is not only our friend but also our hairstylist, told me that with the hairstyle I chose, the veil would look like it was “being pooped out the back of my head.” (That is a direct quote.) So I had to either wear it on top, or not at all. *sigh* I hate making decisions like this.

In the end, my love of the hairstyle won out over my love for the veil. So Kari suggested I look into something like a flower or hair comb instead. Off I went to search our old friend, Etsy.

At first I thought about doing a hair comb like one of these:

Sweet Pea & Fawn on Etsy

One World Designs on Etsy

While I like the hair combs, I am not in LOVE with the hair combs. And my type-A personality has to LOVE all the stuff we pick for the wedding. So I started looking at fake flowers:

Swak Shop on Etsy

Minis Work on Etsy

I love the idea of the flower, but they look…well, fake. What I wanted was something small, lightweight, and realistic looking, but not alive (so I won’t have to worry about it wilting in the heat).

Then I saw these amazing little clay flowers by Anna Panik Clay Flower Designs:

And I was in LOVE! This set of three was only $15, and they are super lightweight. They should look just beautiful against my dark hair. So while I am sorry I won’t get to wear Mama-In-Law Meerkat’s veil, I am equally happy to have these little flowers.

Did you go through the great veil debate? How did you decide?

Tags: hair, riviera-maya, veil |

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25 Responses to “To Veil or Not to Veil?”

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Member

pb and j (message) 1,212 posts, Bumble bee

I’m so intrigued by these! They’re not heavy? How do they clip in? I think I want.

9/22/10 @ 9:18 am (reply)

Bee

Miss Meerkat (message) 3,216 posts, Sugar bee

@pb and j: They are SUPER light weight. Not like the clay you play when your little.

They are attached to either bobby pins or the u-shaped hair pins. Just put in the comment when you order which kind of pins you want.

9/22/10 @ 9:32 am (reply)

Member

BeadFloraJewels (message) 80 posts, Worker bee

The clay flowers are very pretty. My friend Diane makes them and they are really realistic looking. Good choice.

xoxo,
Fen

9/22/10 @ 9:43 am (reply)

Member

msmarathon (message) 163 posts, Blushing bee

The Taylor Swift photo is my inspiration photo as well! I’m not wearing a veil, but that’s more for personal reasons than aesthetics.

Good choice!

9/22/10 @ 9:44 am (reply)

Member

BeadFloraJewels (message) 80 posts, Worker bee

oh…veil. Nope, I didn’t wear one. It just didn’t occur to me. hahah

xoxo,
Fen

9/22/10 @ 9:44 am (reply)

Bee

Miss Meerkat (message) 3,216 posts, Sugar bee

@BeadFloraJewels: ROFL I don’t think it would have occurred to me either if it hadn’t been for MIL Meerkat. =)

9/22/10 @ 9:47 am (reply)

Bee

Miss Glasses (message) 2,741 posts, Sugar bee

Maybe it’s just the picture but they totally don’t look fake at all! Very pretty! I love your inspiration too.

I don’t think I’ll wear a veil because I don’t think it’s very backyard-wedding appropriate!

9/22/10 @ 9:47 am (reply)

Bee

Miss Meerkat (message) 3,216 posts, Sugar bee

@Miss Glasses: They really don’t look fake. If you got REALLY close you could tell the things in the middle were not real but the petals look real even up close.

9/22/10 @ 9:50 am (reply)

Member

sapphirebride (message) 1,747 posts, Bumble bee

I eventually decided not to. I want to wear my hair down and most veil looks, except a mantilla (which wasn’t for me) or birdcage, doesn’t look as good this way in my opinion. Also, I’ve never been all that fond of the symbolism. So I’m wearing a cute ivory headband on top my curly locks and calling it a day!

9/22/10 @ 10:10 am (reply)

10.

Member

Kemi82JP (message) 749 posts, Busy bee

i had a long personal veil debate too! but i ended up wearing one and i’m so glad i did! i had at first decided not to wear one, but when i went back to the bridal shop for my first fitting i saw that a veil i had loved months earlier but had been way expensive ($600 for a piece of tulle?? no thanks) was now on sale for $200!! woop woop!! so i decided i had to have it lol. i actually love the way a veil can frame your head when attached at the crown, but sadly i had to position mine a little lower because I had alot of pulled back curls that would have been messed up if we did that. still looked pretty tho!

9/22/10 @ 10:38 am (reply)

11.

Member

pamphilia (message) 92 posts, Worker bee

I am still having a bit of a veil debate going on in my head, but I know the non-viel side will win. My wedding is right on the beach in January, and it tends to be quite windy at that time. The last thing I want is having to worry about my veil blowing all over the place when I am trying to soak up the moment with my hubby! Hair flower it is!

9/22/10 @ 11:04 am (reply)

12.

Bee

Miss Meerkat (message) 3,216 posts, Sugar bee

@pamphilia: Have you seen the tiny weights they can put at the edges to keep it from blowing around?

9/22/10 @ 11:08 am (reply)

13.

Member

emma5w (message) 547 posts, Busy bee

Yup. I’m still debating. And I’m a month out. I have a hair feather clip already, but I’m still considering a birdcage veil. I may just buy one and have it, just in case I’m moved on the day of. We’ll see.

9/22/10 @ 11:47 am (reply)

14.

Member

Bride_Colleen (message) 627 posts, Busy bee

I had the same inspiration photos and was debating on where to put the veil. I did put it over for the ceremony and photos and wore a flower for the reception.

9/22/10 @ 11:48 am (reply)

15.

Member

Bride_Colleen (message) 627 posts, Busy bee

I have some pics under recaps but not sure how good of hair pics are in there.

9/22/10 @ 11:50 am (reply)

16.

Bee

Miss Elephant (message) 6,182 posts, Bee Keeper

I really like the look of those clay flowers.

9/22/10 @ 12:53 pm (reply)

17.

Bee

Miss Meerkat (message) 3,216 posts, Sugar bee

@Bride_Colleen: Your veil looked great in the photos! BTW your dress was beautiful!

@Miss Elephant: I was pretty skeptical about how good the would look when I ordered them but I am SOOOO impressed with the quality.

9/22/10 @ 1:23 pm (reply)

18.

Bee

Miss Hippo (message) 1,008 posts, Bumble bee

This is the EXACT same debate I’m going through right now… I’m going to see how my hair trial goes next month and then make a decision.

9/22/10 @ 3:48 pm (reply)

19.

Bee

Miss Zebra (message) 1,044 posts, Bumble bee

I love that hairstyle! The flowers are going to make it looks awesome sauce and beachy!

9/22/10 @ 7:54 pm (reply)

20.

Member

jordynrose (message) 6,351 posts, Bee Keeper

Great choice! I never had a veil debate because I just decided I didn’t really want to wear one. I think veils are my least favorite wedding tradition.

9/22/10 @ 8:23 pm (reply)

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