After looking at her pictures, I suggested making one to match her dress might be an easier route. Her dress was a taupe, mid length, sleeveless a-line with a lace overlay. Stunning. So, her veil needed to be simple, elegant, nothing overstated -- a compliment. A birdcage veil seemed to be a perfect choice.
Tulle was my initial thought for the veil because it was stiff and would hold its shape but it lacked something. I found millenary netting was a better choice, the holes were bigger, it was stiff enough to hold its shape, even had a little stretch but the knots at the intersections were what I liked most. I chose cream over white because it had a softer look.Finding lace to match her dress was my next step. I found lace but not in any color that came close to matching and thought white or cream would be my only options until I considered dye. Of course, DYE! I said this like I had a vast amount of experience with dye. My experience with dyeing fabric was minimal. Truth be told, my only experience came from tie dyeing kids t-shirts once or twice. So, I bought extra lace and a bottle of taupe RIT dye, crossed my fingers and started on the sample pieces. The shade wasn't quite right so I added brown to the mix and the result was a very close match to her dress. I learned a few things about dye... lace takes a little more time to dye than cotton t-shirts and dye does indeed wipe clean from beads (well, in this case it did - thankfully.)
Bridal alterations are always an honor for me whether it's adjusting the fit, changing a zipper to a button closure, adding a bustle or in this case, creating something to compliment a bride's look.
Thank you to this beautiful bride and her family for letting me play a very small role in your day.
