A Guide to Veil Beading
In this veil beading guide we’re going to be having an up close and personal look at the types of beading we offer as standard on our veils, as well as those in the Custom Veil Designer section of the website.
As you go through our Custom Veil Designer, you’ll be able to choose not only the type of beading you’d like, but also the layout you’d like them to be applied in! It’s sometimes difficult to imagine how they might look just from seeing the beads on their own, so below, we’ll show you them on actual veils as well.
Pearls
First we have our 3mm glass pearls.
When you choose this option, we’ll carefully match the pearl colour to the veil colour you have selected. For example, we’ll use an off white pearl for a Diamond White veil, and a pale ivory pearl for a Light Ivory veil.
Our pearls are made of glass, not plastic, for that realistic effect. We use a dainty size on all our beading, but especially our pearls. No one wants a snowball veil, am I right? We use the 3mm size which is just perfect – not too big, not too small.
Pearls are a very classic beading choice, in our opinion. More of a subtle sheen than a glitzy sparkle, if that’s not your thing. Although, they also look great combined with diamantes for the best of both worlds!



Diamantes
The sparkliest option! They may be small, but our diamantes pack a whole lot of bling into their diminutive 3mm size. The reason for this is the foil backing they have. Rather than just being a completely transparent bead like our crystals (we’ll come to those in a moment), they have a flat back that is foiled inside to create a mirror-like sparkle.
Colourwise, although they are classed as a clear bead, because of the foil backing they do look quite silvery in tone.
You might also see these beads called rhinestones, or sometimes just “flat-backed crystals”. But, really, all three terms mean the same thing – little silvery sparkly beads!



AB Diamantes
Everything about the clear diamantes – plus a hint of rainbow!
The Ab variety of the diamantes have an iridescent, rainbow coating on the clear glass top that makes them reflect rainbow colours when you turn them in the light. I find the predominant colours you see are pink and blue.
The Ab version isn’t quite as popular as the clear. Perhaps for the simple fact that most dresses and headpieces brides are matching to will have the clear beads in the design. But, if your dress doesn’t have any beading at all and you’re free to have anything you like, they really are a pretty alternative.



Crystals
The clear crystals are the largest of our bead options at 4mm, but because they are completely transparent, this size is not at all overwhelming.
Often described as bicone beads, they are slightly pointy and faceted on both sides, unlike our flat-backed diamantes above.
If your dress has a lot of clear sequins or seed beads and you’re looking to tie in a transparent bead option on your veil, then the clear crystals could work well for you.



AB Crystals
As with the Ab diamantes, the Ab crystals have all the same characteristics as their clear counterpart, but with an added rainbow hue.
The effect is a little more subtle on the crystals as they’re only coated on one side.



Veil Beading Guide: Layout Options
So now that we’ve gone through the most popular bead types available for your veil, let’s also take a quick look at another way we allow you to customise your wedding veil further; by choosing your beading layout.
In this particular section, we’re addressing the different ways the beads can be set out on your veil. We offer a random scatter, as you might expect, and this is certainly a popular choice. But we have a couple more veil beading patterns for you to choose from as well. You may have noticed these in the beading layout section of our Custom Veil Designer, Here, we’ll be explaining about that section and what we’re actually asking you to decide on.
Essentially, we have three standard options available for your veil beading pattern in whichever beads, or combination of, you’ve decided on. Obviously, we can do a lot more than these three patterns upon request, but if you’re ordering via the Custom Veil Designer, these are the three options you will see.
And they are as follows:
Scattered
A random scatter of beading
Our scattered layout is the most subtle of the three options. Applied randomly, the beads are scattered here and there to catch the light. It’s a very popular option, particularly in the diamantes which are also quite dainty and subtle. A light scatter is ideal for those brides who just want a touch of sparkle, but not too much. Perhaps they feel their dress already has enough going on, or they’re just not a very blingy type of girl. Hey, it takes all sorts. No judging here.


Border
A double row of beading around the veil’s outer edge
The border layout is another way of ensuring the beading is fairly subtle as it’s only on the outer edges, leaving the main body of the veil clear for your dress’ own detailing to show through. We particularly love how this option looks when it sits against a bride’s bare arms and shoulders – it really stands out and looks lovely there. And on a full-length veil, the border looks pretty sitting just beyond the edges of the train, as shown here.


Falling Stars
Beading that gets gradually closer together towards the bottom
Our falling stars option has always been so popular for us. It starts out as a random scatter at the top of the veil, approximately 8-10″ apart, and as you move towards the bottom, the beading gets closer together until it’s only 1-2″ apart. The idea is that it looks as though the beading has fallen and collected at the bottom of the veil. It looks amazing on long veils when the heavily beaded section fills in the entire curved base of a chapel or cathedral veil.


And that’s a wrap for our veil beading guide. We hope we’ve made your choice a little easier when choosing your veil beading options in our Custom Veil Designer.
If you’d like to see samples of any of the beading options on this page, simply order one of our fabric sample packs and request them in the additional order comments box and we’ll pop them in for you free of charge.
Don’t forget to check out our beaded veil section to see some of our other, non-standard, beading options on real veils.
Looking for more veil-buying tips and advice? Check out our Ultimate Wedding Veil Guide for a look at veils as a whole, or get more specific with our guides to veil lengths, widths and colours/fabrics.
We often post behind-the-scenes of our veil-making process on Pinterest. Why not follow us over there!