Some of you may have noticed that Naoise and Karen were right on the money with their posts last year on the latest bridal style trend, bohemian bridal headpieces and this year's bridal hair garlands as a veil alternative. This whimsical, romantic, laid back, “running through a meadow” look is recently finding favour among brides the world over with the long love affair with all things vintage, which saw bird cage veils being top choice, starting to wane…
After a too long sabbatical from my guest contributions (otherwise known as the manic organising before my own wedding!) I’m delighted to be jumping back on board the One Fab Day wedding wagon… and what better way to start back but to continue on with inspirational on-trend bohemian headpieces, a look I channelled for my own wedding in France in June…
If your style is less Charlotte Yorke and more Nicole Richie then don’t be pressured into wearing a traditional wedding dress and veil. Why not stay true to your style for your wedding day and you’ll be guaranteed to look effortless and feel fantastic. Okay, so this look might put your granny out and might confuse a few of the blokes but you’ll never please everyone and no bride looks better than when she stays true to her look. Nicole's own designs from her label House of Harlow can be found at The Design Centre, Powerscourt and on lots of websites on line such as www.revolveclothing.com which has free shipping to Ireland for orders over €100.
There was no better example of this than the stunning Aoife Cogan who adorned a beautiful boho chic pearl headpiece to perfectly channel her inner hippy. Along with her knock out Amanda Wakeley dress at her Castle Leslie wedding to her rugby playing beau Gordon D'arcy, it was a winning combination. Let’s face it, Aoife could have worn anything, but she stuck to her individual style and in my view it was a knock out look and so different to the typical bridal look.
The rugby wags seem to love this trend with Una Healy going for a similar, if not a bit more polished and girl bandy take on it for her nuptials to her rugby squeeze Ben Foden. This is a look that requires conviction. I personally think Una overdid it a little with the veil — if you are going for a laid back, hippy vibe I think you go the whole hog and unfortunately that means ditching the childhood dream brought to life with a tea-towel. You can’t be all brides to all people ladies (a fact I struggled with debating veil versus headpiece versus flower garland!) so avoid this look if you are going for a fish tail lace dress or princess style gown (some of you may remember Sienna Miller surprisingly made this mistake in her early days in the pink girlie Mathew Williamson dress and boho headpiece), or if you always imagined your H2B lifting the veil at the top of the altar.
Although bohemian style headpieces aren’t stocked deep on the shelves of the Irish bridal boutiques, you’ll definitely come across some beautiful choices in the more fashion forward shops. The lovely Meghann at the fab boutique Myrtle Ivory had a light-bulb moment and dug out my headpiece which was perfect for the look I was going for.
Clockwise - Enchanted Atelier for Claire Pettibone, lalarocque on Etsy €16.50, Tessa Kim $98 and Pretty Perfect £130.
And let’s face it, there’s always online. Check out Etsy and Asos for tons of very reasonable but gorgeous options, like this amazing turquoise piece from lalarocque and the jewelled ASOS piece from both for under €20! River Island also have an stunning budget-friendly style on the shelves at at the moment. Definitely a clever option for the recessionista bride who doesn't want to compromise on style.
The online options are endless, right up to the beauties from Mignonne Handmade, Johanna Johnson, Grace Loves Lace and our usual favourites, Twigs and Honey and BHDLN....
Working our way around clockwise we have the Golden Whimsy Crown from Twigs and Honey at $225, the Rhinestone and Chain headpiece with brass flower pins from Mignonne Handmade for $85, the Velvet Leaves and Chains headpiece also $85 from Mignonne Handmade and the Treasure Hunter’s Halo from BHLDN at $560.
Remember, veils can cost anywhere from €100 to €1,000 + and you’re NOT REALLY gonna get another wear out of it(!) whereas a beautiful headpiece can be worn again and again…
Top image credits: Elizabeth Messina via Green Wedding Shoes and The Trend Boutique
Aoife Cogan image credits: Independent Woman and The Sun
