What’s the Story behind the wedding veil?

NicoleMaui Photography

What’s the Story behind the wedding veil?

As a wedding photographer, I’ve always been interested in learning more about wedding traditions. In Maui, I’ve found the wedding traditions are a bit more informal compared to the mainland but From time to time, we get to capture weddings with a more traditional flare. One tradition that we don’t see very often is a bride wearing a wedding veil.

Over the years there have been a couple of theories behind the use of the bride’s wedding veil. Some believe it simply represented her youthful age and her virginity. However, many others believed it was intended to cover the bride’s face from jealous spirits and demons, causing them to not recognize her through the veil. The traditional color of the veil also changed over time. We know today for the veil to be white, but that did not start until the Victorian era, which symbolized the purity of the bride, as well as being worthy enough for white. However, before then, veils were known to be worn in blue, red or yellow.

the wedding veil