Custom vs Ready-Made Wedding Veil: What to Choose to Be the Perfect Bride
Here's the day when you can dedicate your time to choosing the perfect dress and veil to match. Perhaps this will be your first and successful attempt, or maybe it's another experience and challenge you need to go through on your way to the perfect wedding look. You've already looked through thousands of bridal photos, read many reviews, but still can't decide — whether to buy a ready-made piece or place a custom order.
In this expert article, we'll discuss several points to help you determine what works best for you:
- How to easily order a ready-made veil or a veil to order.
- Pros and cons of each option.
- Production timeframes.
- Pricing policy.
A veil is not just a piece of tulle covering the bride's head or a detail of the overall look; it's a sacred element of the festive look.
If you haven't decided yet whether to order a ready-made or custom-made veil — these notes are for you.
The Process for Each Option
Wedding accessories websites with confirmed positive reputations traditionally offer a huge assortment of veils in different fabrics, decoration options, lengths, as well as the possibility to order exclusive custom tailoring.
How to Order a Ready-Made Veil
You can choose the perfect option in advance by looking at photos on the website, social media pages, or right after trying it on. Remember to take photos in the complete look, try it on with the dress immediately. You also need to understand clearly what hairstyle you'll have and how the veil will be secured.
Ordering a ready-made veil means the next steps:
- choosing the exact model;
- final approval;
- confirming availability in stock or warehouse;
- making partial or full payment;
- receiving the ready veil (may require waiting a few days if the veil is in another warehouse);
- final fitting.
Typically, such ready-made models don't allow any additions or modifications: you are not able to choose a different length, main fabric or additional decoration material, different color, etc.
How Custom Tailoring Works
There's the possibility of making changes to existing styles. For example, if a bride likes the beadwork on one model throughout its surface but doesn't want the excessive length of the original first model. Designers will combine elements from different styles into one solution specifically for her preferences.
The bride's level of involvement can vary: from absolute, where she, like a bee, collects pollen from different flowers, to minimal — only when preliminary fitting or approval of some nuances is needed.
At the fitting stage, after taking measurements and creating a sketch, it's possible to make changes, for example, choosing lace decoration instead of beads or changing the fixation method, say, from a back comb to a tiara to make the piece more elegant.
"Elegance is the elimination of the superfluous" — Cristóbal Balenciaga.
Advantages and Disadvantages
Ready-Made Veil
This is the perfect option for those who don't have too much time at their disposal. It's very practical and convenient to try on physically or order online a ready-made model and receive it quickly. Besides, compared to custom creation, a ready-made piece has other advantages:
- usually costs less, but without loss of quality;
- clear result, as you've seen how the veil looks, its length, decoration, how exactly it falls and fixes in the hair, and how you look in it.
Ready-Made Veil Disadvantages
However, for fairness, it's worth pointing out the disadvantages as well. First of all, it's a limited choice — designers have anticipated a certain number of styles in different solutions and don't often fundamentally update collections and general assortment.
Speaking of other weak points of ready-made veils, let's outline these:
- lack of exclusivity;
- no guarantee that someone else won't buy the same veil (there have been cases where brides with identical veils met each other on their wedding day at different locations);
- possible size issues, for example, if the hairstylist gathered the fabric more tightly, fixed it at the back, and the veil became too short, not fully covering the dress.
Custom Order
Custom designer solutions are always about uniqueness, interesting design, exclusivity, absolute compatibility with hairstyle and makeup. Such models completely meet the client's requirements: from color and length to decoration or implementation of some unusual solutions.
Speaking of demonstrative advantages of custom orders, we'll highlight these ones:
- exact match to stated preferences (if something is technically impossible to implement, the client will be informed immediately);
- professional consultations at all stages: from choosing color solutions to determining optimal length;
- perfect fit that fully considers the place and method of fixing on the head, bride's height, heel height, train length.
Custom Order Disadvantages
No matter how bright the strengths of a custom veil may seem, it has certain disadvantages, including:
- cost will be higher than ready-made solutions since it's manufactured from pattern to sewing specifically for you;
- you'll have to wait while your custom order is being made;
- typically, custom orders don't have return or exchange options;
- The final result will only be available at the final stage — key features are discussed right away, but how they combined in the finished solution can only be seen when you receive the veil.
But the waiting time will fully justify itself because no one else will have exactly such a veil.
Production Timeframes
This is one of the most important aspects that happy brides consider when choosing between buying ready-made or ordering custom.
How long a custom veil will take to make depends on factors:
- fabric type, whether it's available or will be brought from boutiques on order;
- decoration materials and their features, for example, beadwork or creating custom embroidery will take longer than applying lace;
- model complexity;
- seasonal workload of the designer.
On average, after approving the final version, it can take up to several months before the bride receives her cherished order. To avoid worrying that the accessory will be ready on time, we advise following these tips:
- immediately clarify with the master how long the piece will take to make;
- discuss force majeure moments that might arise: no fabric of appropriate quality, color and the manufacturer has to look for them from other suppliers;
- have "in reserve" several months before the wedding.
Pricing Policy
The final cost of the veil directly depends on parameters:
- material type (tulle, organza, silk, satin, combined solutions);
- manufacturer (for example, French lace is more expensive than any others);
- amount of material used;
- length;
- width (this is especially important on long models, as you need to provide a whole piece of fabric without central seams);
- quantity and complexity of decorative attachments.
The cost is also affected by the designer's skill, order production speed, and exclusivity — you can reserve this particular style for yourself so that it won't be repeated for other clients.
"The hardest thing in fashion is to be recognized not by logo, but by silhouette" — Giambattista Valli.
Key Questions to Honestly Answer When You're Unsure Which Option to Choose
- How much time is left until the wedding date?
- How important is an individual unique design of the veil to you?
- What's the maximum budget for the purchase?
- Do you often manage to find things that completely satisfy you on store shelves or websites?
- Have you seen available models that you liked?
- Have you already seen styles in social media, movies that simply didn't leave you indifferent and made you fall in love at first sight?
- Do you have ideas about how your perfect veil should look?
- Did you buy a ready-made dress, or did you order custom tailoring?
A ready-made long or short veil should be chosen when you've found the perfect option among the variety, aren't ready to wait for tailoring and spend time on additional fittings. A custom model will be ideal in case of free time, when the dress is also custom-made and you really want to emphasize uniqueness, exclusivity and get a veil that "no one had before and won't have after."
You need to make a choice, and we wish you not only to avoid mistakes in the perfect style, color, length but also to clearly determine for yourself — whether to buy ready-made or order custom designer tailoring. Have you decided? Place your order with us, as we're always happy to see you and ready to advise and support you in such difficult moments of choice.
"I want people to see the dress, but focus on the woman" — Vera Wang.
