Wedding Veil Care
This post is mostly aimed at brides who already have their veil at home. If you’re yet to choose your wedding veil and are looking for veil-buying tips and info, check out our incredibly in-depth wedding veil guide here: The Ultimate Wedding Veil Guide.
So you’ve got your wedding veil. Wahoo!
It’s arrived, and now you’re probably wondering about how to care for your wedding veil at home and at your fittings so it’s still 100% pristine on your special day.
You might also want tips on where and how to store your wedding veil at home, how to repackage it to take to the venue and perhaps some tips on travelling with your veil if you’re taking it abroad to get married.
And possibly, you might want to know if you should steam your veil to remove any creases or wrinkles that occurred in transit, and if so, how to do it.
Well, you’re in luck! Because in this post we’re going to go over ALL the dos and don’ts of wedding veil care, including dry cleaning and preservation tips.
Just to avoid any confusion, Taylors Bridal is the name of our boutique so that’s why the boxes are branded Taylors Bridal Veils 🙂
Wedding Veil Care Tips
In this post we’ll go over:
- General wedding veil care
- Unboxing and trying on your veil at home
- Steaming your veil safely
- Repackaging your veil for fittings & appointments
- Packing your veil to travel abroad
- Wedding veil storage
- Dry cleaning and preserving your veil for future generations.
Opening Your Veil, What To Expect
When you first receive your veil you’re bound to be very excited and will want to try it on immediately.
I certainly don’t blame you for that!
What we’d suggest first, and this goes especially for long veils, is to make sure you’ve got a nice clear area in which to unfold your veil.
Then have a quick check around for anything that could catch on your veil. Anything sharp or poky in your immediate surroundings.
Also watch out for things like Velcro. Velcro will love your veil more than you do, and not in a good way!
Lastly, if you are a much more glamorous lady than I and have lovely long nails, be careful with those too.
Veils and nails aren’t friends.
Trying Your Veil On Carefully
Now that you’ve secured the scene, so to speak, you can try on your veil.
Bear in mind that at this time, it might not be looking it’s absolute best since it’s just come out of a box. But don’t worry, we’re going to show you how to give it a quick blast of steam below which will transform it almost instantly for you.
For now though, you probably just want to get a general sense of how it looks and whether it suits you.
Steaming Your Veil At Home
And now, we steam!
I actually love steaming veils. It’s like magic! Very therapeutic. The wrinkles just melt away!
First of all, actually, I should point out that if you have loads of time and steaming your veil makes you nervous in any way, you could just hang your veil up for a few days instead and possibly by doing so be able to skip this step. The creasing from transit does tend to fall away on its own given enough time.
Otherwise, steaming is definitely the fastest way to get your veil looking its best, and is also more effective on stubborn wrinkles.
So assuming you are going to steam your veil, here’s how it’s done.
Now, it might depend on the type of iron you have as to the results you get, or at least how quickly you get them.
We use the type of iron with a big tank of water underneath to steam our veils. These give a huge blast of continuous steam that will give you a free facial at the same time.
If you don’t have a continuous steam iron like ours, you should be able to achieve the same results we do with a more typical iron a long as it produces a decent amount of steam or has a steam shot function. You might just need to give it a few more goes and let it hang in between.
How To Steam Your Veil
Step 1.
Start by hanging your veil up. You may want to hang it near your ironing board and let the bottom of it drape over that. This will keep it up off the floor if it’s a really long veil, and away from your walls so you can steam it without also steaming your wallpaper. You could hang it from the top of a door, a picture rail, a high cupboard handle, a curtain rail. I’ll trust you to find a good spot for it in your home.
Step 2.
Start steaming your veil. Get the steam going on your iron and wave it in front of the veil to allow the steam to pass through.
DO NOT, and I repeat, DO NOT LET THE HOT PLATE OF THE IRON TOUCH THE VEIL. We are steaming only. We are not ironing, and you’ve likely got the temperature of your iron much higher than wedding veil fabric can stand in order to generate lots of steam, so definitely don’t let it touch the veil. Keep a good 30cm away at all times.
Step 3.
Gently spread out your veil to encourage the steam to pass through. It’s easier to see the vertical wrinkles softening if you spread the layers of tulle out as you steam.
Step 4.
Once you’ve steamed your veil it will be warm and possibly a little damp. Leave your veil hanging up until it’s dry once again. If your veil has beads attached, do not vigorously shake your veil while it’s in this warm state as the glue may have softened slightly.
Step 5.
If your iron doesn’t produce a very impressive amount of steam, leave your veil to dry and repeat these steps again.
Wedding Veil Storage Tips
If you’ve got a long time until the Big Day, then leaving your wedding veil hanging up the whole time might not be viable. Unless you’re really lucky and you’ve got a spare bedroom (or someone else does that will let you use theirs)!
In which case, you’ll probably want to repackage your veil. You’ll also want to do this if you have to take the veil to your dress fitting or hair trial.
It’s going to get a little bit creased again but you can always re-steam. Or you could leave the steaming until closer to the wedding altogether and just do it once.
Repackaging Your Veil
To repackage your veil, and again I’m thinking specifically about long veils here because they’re always trickier, start by laying it out on a clean floor or table. Fold over starting from the bottom at a size just smaller than the box. Then use your tissue paper to help tuck the sides in as you pop it back in the box.
Travelling With Your Veil
If you’re packing your veil up for a flight, it might make more sense to pop it in with your dress to keep them both safe together, rather than purchasing an additional veil storage box.
We provide a clear garment cover with every veil so it could be put inside that and laid on top of your dress bag, and then into a large wedding dress storage box.
Closer To The Date
If you’ve had your wedding veil in a storage box for a while, then closer to the date it’s ideal if you can get it out, give it a steam following the steps above, and hang it up somewhere for a couple of weeks before the wedding.
Again, if someone has a spare room where it can hang undisturbed away from sticky fingers, pets and prying eyes, then that’s the best possible situation.
From talking to brides I find that mum’s house often becomes unofficial wedding central, so perhaps it could go there if you ask really sweetly?
On The Big Day
So you’ve made it to the Big Day, your veil looks immaculate and you’re the most beautiful bride the world has ever seen.
But it would be nice if the veil could also last for future generations as well, wouldn’t it? Keeping your veil as an heirloom piece, or even just for your own future reminiscing is a lovely idea. So here are some more tips for caring for your veil on the day itself.
As with our wedding veil care tips above for when you first try your veil on, it’s a similar concept on your wedding day.
Look out for sharps that may catch on your veil. In fact, not just your veil, all these tips go for your dress too. Especially if it’s also made of delicate tulle.
This time, though, it might be things like spiky bushes when you’re out having your photos taken. Or jingly jewellery on your wedding guests as they come in for a hug.
Those little clawed diamantes on bracelets are my personal nemesis.
It’s really just a case of being aware — which will be hard on your wedding day, so don’t beat yourself up if something happens to your dress or veil. Think of it as a sign of a good time being had by all!
After the Big Day: Preserving Your Veil
So assuming your wedding veil did make it through intact, there are ways to clean and preserve it.
One way would be to get your veil dry cleaned at the same time you get your dress cleaned.
Johnson’s online dry cleaning service will dry clean your veil for just £5 when you get your wedding dress dry cleaned.
Kirsty from Johnson’s says,
The veils are cleaned and steamed gently to remove any creases and then wrapped in acid-free tissue paper inside the box with the dress
This is ideal, and a bargain to boot! Using your wedding dress box as your wedding veil storage box makes sense and saves space. And at the time of writing this during Covid-19, a remote online service also sounds perfect.
Consider Getting A Veil Clip
Our final wedding veil care tip would be to consider getting one of our veil clips. You’ll have noticed that the veil needs hanging up quite a bit at various times and these little guys are designed for exactly that.
They’re a single hook hanger with a sort of padded, rubbery tip that will hold your veil without pulling, plucking or damaging anything. They’re so handy, getting one might just be the best £5 you’ve ever spent!
Wedding Veil Care Tips
If you’ve found our guide to wedding veil care, steaming, storage and preservation helpful, consider sharing it on Pinterest!
No products in the basket.
Thank you for teaching me how to care for my veil. Hearts and Hugs 💜
Aw thanks for your lovely comment! 🙂