Frugal Find: Veils

Veil. In botany - a part of some fungi. In bridal - a part of the 40 billion dollar empire. This means that a relatively cheap fabric like tulle or some other sheer material gets upgraded with a hefty price tag. I got sticker shock after my first wedding dress experience. The thousand dollar dresses did not make me bat an eyelash but the $450 veil (I wanted to accessorize with my lace Pronovias gown) made me cry poor. Finding the purrrfect veil can be a little complicated too. There are just so many options! Wedding veils come in different colors, cuts/styles/embellishments, lengths, fullness and finished edges. So where does a bride begin? Well I recommend this site, Occansey designs to get a better understanding of what your options are when it comes to the types of wedding veils available. They offer custom design quality veils for a reasonable price but it was still too much for this budget bride. I can't justify spending no more than $50 for a veil for 30 minutes (for ceremony and photo ops). A good quality mantilla (type of lace veil) with a scalloped edge will cost you well over $200 and that's just for a fingertip length. So I thought for sure my dream of having a beautiful cathedral (floor length) mantilla veil would be out of my reach. But I was wrong. I will be able to have the "wind swept beach effect" with a long soft flowy veil (thanks to countless of beach wedding inspiration pictures). You just got to know where to look and the first place I looked was Ebay. I actually found a preowned veil in excellent condition for a fraction of what the new one would cost! While it may not have been the exact length I wanted, I realize I could still purchase a second longer veil from the original designer. After all my veil was only $15 (retails for $65 on the designer's site). I also have room in my budget for a beautiful hair piece. Of course I recommend Etsy.com to find the perfect accessory.

As for my veil, my only concern is that the lace is not nearly identical to the lace on my dress but I know it doesn't have to be matchy matchy but we will see if it compliments the dress. It will be the $15 gamble.