How to bustle a wedding veil

Just like a wedding dress, you can bustle your veil to keep it off the ground. We'll share tips on managing your long wedding veil on your big day.

A wedding veil adds a beautiful, ethereal touch to your bridal look, flowing gracefully as you walk down the aisle. However, as the day progresses, you may want the convenience of a shorter, more manageable veil, especially when travelling from the ceremony to the reception or between photography sites.

This is where bustling your wedding veil can come in handy. Come with us as we guide you through the steps of how to bustle a wedding veil.

Photo credits: I Got You Babe Weddings (Bride Ambar wears our bespoke AUDREY veil), Harwell Photography, RIVIERA floral wedding veil

What does it mean to bustle a wedding veil?

Bustling your veil involves gathering and securing the veil to make it easier to move around while still looking elegant and avoiding harsh creases as much as possible.

The technique to bustle a veil is similar to how you would bustle a wedding dress. The main difference is it takes only a few moments and you won’t require someone to crawl under your dress to secure the bustle into place.

This is a handy trick if you don’t have a bridal party to help you with your long veil on your wedding day. By bustling your veil and your dress separately, it won’t get in the way during your reception and it reduces the chances of your veil getting damaged allowing your veil to become a beloved family heirloom for years to come.

How to bustle a wedding veil in 3 steps

Over the course of the day, your long wedding veil may have gathered leaves and dust on the underside of the netting. As you will be bringing the bottom section of the veil up towards the comb, it’s best to remove any dirty marks or leaf residue caught in the fine netting otherwise it will be on full display.

If your veil is lightly soiled, using baby wipes or moistened towelettes are a quick and easy way to dab away any marks before they set.

Step 1: Find the middle point of your veil

Locate the back centre of your veil. This doesn’t need to be an exact measurement but somewhere near the middle so your bustle will sit symmetrically. Ask a friend or a bridesmaid for help.

Step 2: Pinch the fabric and bring it up towards the comb

The exact point to pinch the fabric depends on your veil length. If you’re wearing a cathedral veil, come in about 1-1.5 metres from the end of the train as a starting point. Pinch the fabric at different points and see how it looks when you bring it up to the comb. Ideally the shortened veil will fall to roughly fingertip or waltz length.

Step 3: Pin the fabric to the veil's comb

This is where a family heirloom like your grandmother’s brooch comes in handy. Using a brooch pin, carefully thread it through the netting. We recommend threading the pin through a section of fabric that’s about 1-2 inches wide so you have a good hold. Bring it up to the comb, pick up some of the fabric on the comb and secure it. Alternatively, you can pin the gathered section of your veil to the bustle on your dress.

If you don’t have a brooch pin or a family heirloom to secure the veil, a small standard safety pin will do the trick.

Tips from our bridal stylists

This technique works best with veils that aren’t heavily gathered. The ideal veil is a sheer veil such as a drop veil, a mantilla veil or a Juliet cap veil. It can also be achieved on a veil with a blusher layer. If your veil is heavily gathered, this technique will still work but it will create a fuller silhouette.
This look isn’t for everyone. When in doubt, remove the veil and replace the veil with a different accessory such as a headband or comb.