Imagine, you are a young woman, about to get married. Your parents have arranged everything, from the dress to the food, but you wanted to have one special thing which you made yourself. You decided on the veil. You purchased a huge piece of very fine cream tuille, and some beautifully soft ivory silk cotton, and now, ever so carefully, you are embroidering the veil with beautiful flowers. The tuille is so fine that it is difficult, and you can't afford to rip it, but you will be so proud of it when it is done. Hopefully your marriage will be so happy that women will be wanting to borrow your veil, hoping to bring that happiness to their own marriage!
When I took this wedding veil to show the children, their reactions were really very interesting. They had recently been watching the Royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, and were fascinated by the veil worn by the bride. They didn't know how it worked, as it 'just looked like a big piece of mesh fabric', so when I told them I had a similar one in the collection they were excited to see it. They were surprised by how fine and dainty the veil was and touched by the fact that, when it was unravelled, confetti was discovered, still hiding in amongst the embroidery. Although the veil is extremely fragile and full of holes and tears, seeing the veil made it much clearer in their minds how veils like this worked. Many of the children thought it was prettier than some of the modern, highly shaped versions! They were also surprised when I explained that, although they thought it looked huge, it is actually quite a small veil.
Like so many other historical items, the origins of the wedding veil are shrouded in mystery. We know that they existed in ancient times, and there are plenty of ideas and theories as to why they were worn, but we just can't be sure what their purpose was. We know that ancient Roman brides wore long veils of red, flame coloured silk and these veils were called flammeum. We also know that this veil was so important to the wedding ceremony that womens marriage was often described as nubere, which literally meant 'to veil oneself'. We don't however know why they wore the veils. We also know that Greeks wore wedding veils, though theirs were bright yellow. Again, we can't be sure why they wore them. Over time, and in many cultures, veils appear frequently in the marriage of women. Today, most wedding veils are white or an off white colour, like cream or ivory, symbolising the purity of the bride.
So, what are some of the suggested reasons for veils being introduced into the wedding ceremony? The veil may simply have been a practical accessory in some areas, helping to protect the bride from the elements, and presumably also keeping the ceremonial clothing clean. It may also have had religious purposes, and veiling of women is a feature to varying degrees in Muslim, Christian and Jewish culture, being associated with propriety. Others suggest that veils were used to hide the face from other men who might try to steal the beautiful bride away before she could be wed. Alternately, especially in cases of arranged marriages, it may have been introduced to prevent the husband seeing his bride until after they were wed (presumably useful if the bride was deformed or unattractive). Some even suggest the veil helped protect the bride from evil spirits and demons, or helped hide the brides jealous nature. Certainly, the traditional Japanese bridal hair covering, the tsuno-kakushi, which is more a hat than a veil is supposed to hide the brides horns of jealousy from her husband and symbolise her willingness to submit to being a gentle and obedient wife. If you would like to learn more about the wedding veil, click here or here.
