The fun of photographing a long wedding veil

I do a little happy dance when I walk into the bridal suite on the morning of a wedding and I see that the bride has a long wedding veil! Veils aren't everyone's 'cup-of-tea' and that's totally cool (in fact we often have brides that choose a simple hair accessory or flower crown instead), but when brides do choose veils I say the longer the better! Here's why I love long veils...

There's a special timelessness and flow to a wedding veil which creates magic in photos. I love the movement that a wedding veil can give to a portrait.

I also enjoy using the veil in detail shots to create a soft backdrop and interesting texture.

You can let the wind and the light catch long wedding veils creating a dynamic composition. Veils can create great leading lines too, drawing your eye in towards the subject of the photograph.

While shorter veils don't provide as much versatility they can still be used to create some cool imagery too. ​

I love using a long veil to frame my couple or bride, creating a soft blur around the edges of my photograph.

We usually have a few laughs during portrait time while we're getting creative with the veil. I either employ Matt or a member of the bridal party to help me with fluffing and throwing the veil in the air, then jumping back out of the way of the shot. It usually takes a couple of practice throws to get the shot, and a breeze or gust of wind can certainly provide a challenge to getting the perfect veil shot. But after shooting weddings for 6 seasons now we've almost got the technique nailed haha!

Most brides choose not to wear their wedding veil all day as they aren't the most comfortable or practical accessories. Often brides will wear it for the ceremony and maybe half of the portraits, choosing to take it out for some portraits to change the look up a bit and also to have it out when they get to their reception so they can party without it getting in the way.

Whether you choose to have a wedding veil or not, a long cathedral style veil or a shorter veil, to wear it all day or only for the ceremony - the important thing to remember is that there's no right or wrong decision, just choose what feels right for you! x