Alternative "Crowning" Achievements?

meacu1pa

Post summary: the simple question is what are you doing with your head? Any fun or unique veiling/crowning/hair options?

I never thought this would be the case, but the one thing - a strange detail - that it took me FOREVER to figure out, was what to do with my head. -=insert silly jokes here=-

I finally figured it out after, literally, six months of going through options. My particular things that I was concerned with: I have short hair, and I like it that way. I have glasses and will not ever wear contacts. I have a very round face.

Now, finding inspirational pictures that represent my particular things in a variety of styles was a pain in the...you know. (I am sure that every bride has this with at least ONE of their details, right?)

The thing that really had me stumped was the fact that there are so FEW times in a gal's life when she can get away with a veil (if she wants it). I just didn't want anything snagging on my glasses. My dress style is 30s hollywood glam, and any kind of traditionally colored veil was all wrong. 

My solution came to me as an accident while I was playing around a hoppy store: 8-inch wide Chocolate organza with glimmering copper sparkles. It is 6ft long.

 I am tying it around my head like a headband, and then adorning it with an eggplant colored jewel-and-feather fascinator behind my ear. The alligator clip perfectly catches one of the long organza tails in a birdcage/blusher style with plenty of room for my glasses and complete visibility. Then, when I'm done - or if it simply irritates me - I unclip the end and it joins the other trailing down my back/over my shoulder. 

I will say that in ALL of my searching and researching there are a lot of fun options out there. What are yours?

meacu1pa

anssett

Wow. I definitely want to see a pic of that!

I also have super short pixie hair so even getting a comb to stay in is hard. Upon telling my fiance about this discussion he said 'you're wearing the veil that goes over your face, right? So I can lift it up?'. He means a blusher. Evidently my expectation that since it'll only be 6ish people under a tree with no decor (simple, hippie, and low key), it still included a blusher!

So, how do you wear a blusher, and possibly a drapy second layer veil, without hair? Headband? Struggling to find pics of this.

BMcLeodTeam

I am wearing a veil tucked into my updo with a hair fascinator that has feathers. The feathers lie across the top of the veil hiding where it attaches.

Here's the fascinator:

gmcr78

I plan to wear large red flowers in my hair off to one side (similar to the picture in PP's post above) with a birdcage, which I'll take off for the reception.  I am having it custom made, I'm so excited!!

meacu1pa

Pretty pretty red! 

anssett> Ok, that's too sweet. Like he had this little wedding fantasy- see, it's not just for the ladies!  Actually, there are ways to do a blusher like what you're talking about. Lots of headband style. with a pixie cut, if you go with a clip, make sure you look for the term "alligator clip." It's the only type that I've found that really grabs onto short hair! And yes, you can find those with blusher veils, too. Gather a list of your searcjh terms and do variations on them if you head to pinterest and etsy. That's how I find tons of stuff and hone my searched in a very quick amount of time. (The biggest thing is ALWAYS finding the  right terms/language to use!)

anssett

This is interesting. Do you lift the blusher and still have a birdcage? I don't really get the mechanics.

http://ruffledblog.com/recycle-your-wedding/see-ads/5575/Twigs--Honey-Double-Layer-Tulle-and-Russian-Veil-Headband-in-White/Hair-Accessories/

This felt more like the hippie vibe I'm looking for:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/105869717/modern-circle-headband-and-veil-20?ref=sr_gallery_13&ga_includes%5B%5D=tags&ga_search_query=headband+veil&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery

But it's farther down that road than I wanted to go (and crazy expensive IMO).

This is the right direction but needs a bit more whimsy. 

http://www.etsy.com/listing/83858375/blusher-veil-with-something-blue?ref=sr_gallery_7&ga_search_query=headband+veil+blusher&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=ZZ&ga_min=0&ga_max=0&ga_search_type=all

The boy never ceases to amaze me. Originally, he didn't care if we even got married. We had decided to start trying to concieve soon and I decided if I'm that committed I might as well get the legal rights! It was much less about the romantic wedding for me (I'm also divorced and he isn't). But he has a very tender side that still surprises me and I guess there's a romantic wedding vision he has that I need to make sure he articulates so we can DO IT! :-) Too cute.

anssett

Do you have a realistic sense of how hard PLAIN veils are to make? Like a shoulder veil & blusher on a clip or headband with no trimming or beading. Just tulle.

They seem ridiculously expensive to me and I know part of that is the wedding mark-up. 

meacu1pa

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-theme-boards_offbeat-weddings_alternative-crowning-achievements?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20Theme%20BoardsForum:43453af6-2ee4-412a-99fb-cbb447240911Discussion:2040d595-bf60-4aae-9496-dd0879e31ceePost:7fb89fc1-9fc2-4b1a-953b-009fc5d79e5d">Re: Alternative "Crowning" Achievements?</a>:
[QUOTE]Do you have a realistic sense of how hard PLAIN veils are to make? Like a shoulder veil & blusher on a clip or headband with no trimming or beading. Just tulle. They seem ridiculously expensive to me and I know part of that is the wedding mark-up. 
Posted by anssett[/QUOTE]

<div>I can't sew to save my life. (It's on my list of MUST LEARNS, however.)  But if you go to Hobby Lobby or Michael's, I know they have kits for such things.</div><div>
</div><div>Take a look at this...it's a list for a bolero, but look at the bride's headpiece. </div><div><div><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/88002849/daphne-silk-ruffle-beaded-victorian?ref=sr_gallery_25&ga_search_query=purple+bolero&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=ZZ&ga_min=0&ga_max=0&ga_order=date_desc&ga_page=2&ga_search_type=all" title="purple veil">http://www.etsy.com/listing/88002849/daphne-silk-ruffle-beaded-victorian?ref=sr_gallery_25&ga_search_query=purple+bolero&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=ZZ&ga_min=0&ga_max=0&ga_order=date_desc&ga_page=2&ga_search_type=all</a></div>
</div><div>
</div><div>So sorry for the long link...if you guys know how to make these appear in the box, please let me know!</div>

anssett

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-theme-boards_offbeat-weddings_alternative-crowning-achievements?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20Theme%20BoardsForum:43453af6-2ee4-412a-99fb-cbb447240911Discussion:2040d595-bf60-4aae-9496-dd0879e31ceePost:f6fb5776-ffef-445b-9e3b-751504aaa226">Re: Alternative "Crowning" Achievements?</a>:
[QUOTE]Take a look at this...it's a list for a bolero, but look at the bride's headpiece.  
Posted by meacu1pa[/QUOTE]

<div>Cute. I haven't had a chance to see if my fiance is insistant on a traditional blusher or just wants to make sure I have a veil. He's adorable. I like the feather headpiece thing. I'm not sure how peacock and cherry blossoms work together but I have a huge folder of peacock feathers I gathered on me and FIs first vacation together to Hawaii. I've been using them in art and jewelry but it would be very meaningful to use them in the wedding too.</div><div>
</div><div>I think I need to take him to a bridal store or look at websites together! hehehe. Even though we knew we wanted to buy our rings online (they are titanium with meteorite inlay and not sourced locally) he wanted to go to ring stores and have the experience of trying on rings together. He'd love veil shopping.</div>

meacu1pa

Wow, this is like reading into a mirror. My FI wanted a meteorite ring. They are GORGEOUS the way they play with the light. I feel in love with johann on etsy. A few cautionary things:

First> do NOT buy anything from AZSkies. That guy is a HUGE  $#%$@$. -=self-censorship imposed=-

Second, be very careful because they are iron and they do rust; they have to come off when swimming, and its best to remove when washing hands/taking showers. They are also, of course, a metal that attracks magnets- so things like MRIs or airport security systems sometimes react to them. 

Third, the real reason that the FI turned down the meteorite ring was that he couldn't try one on (NO ONE does them locally, and this is how we found out JUST how much Arizona Skies guy was such a...), and so he couldn't be 100% sure of the right size. They aren't resizable. Plus, when I took him into stores to try on ring -because what looks good online or in a case doesn't necessarily mean it looks good on you - he also realized this, and he just didn't want to take the chance that he wouldn't like the way it look on him. The only jewelry  he has ever worn in his life are his 6 silver earrings, so I told him to be picky and get exactly what he wants.

Yay peacocks. Another funny similarity. I started with peacock feather inspiration and abandoned it. I used them in the bookmark favors, and now I have hundreds of feathers and swords laying around for future projects (I hope- of course if any bride on here needs a large supply of them, I'm willing to seel them reasonably). But with the listing I was wondering if the headband was something like what you may want. (Pardon the color, too. I had to look at different colors of veils because white/ivory did not go at ALL with my jewel-toned dress and color scheme. )

Do you have bridal shows in your area? FI loved going to those with me (and the vendors loved him, too, because so few men go along). Jer has been AWESOME with this whole thing because he SO wants to be a part of the planning- of course, part of that come because this is his 1st and my 2nd. I honestly didn't care about the type of wedding so much as I care about the marriage. I would have loved an "under the blossoms" ceremony as much as this larger one, so I ask him about what he wants, and I come up with a HUGE list of ideas for him to choose from. (He is constantly amazed at the options I can provide.) I tell you truthfully, we have taken on the planning thing as a HUGE exercise in commincation because we talk it all through. And we have a HUGE blast! He sits down and makes the crafts and decor with me. hehehe. We've been learning to dance to our first dance song in the living room through youtube videos, etc. We would sit in bed and review all these different ceremony traditions and options, then we shared the document on googledocs and put the ceremony together there.

Anyway- I digress!!!  Bridal shows are a GREAT way for him to see things in the moment, and for you to get instantaneous feedback on a lot of items. If you have a big city nearby, those are MUCH better than little city shows for exposure to a lot of ideas. My pirate ship captain and I used to crash the Phoenix Bridal shows every six months just for fun. We would get a lot of free things and PLENTY of research for our writer's club, etc. Check em out if you can...and if you want some tips and tricks as to how to take one on, let me know.

meacu1pa

anssett

*grin* With the rings we ordered through Boone:  http://www.boonerings.com/extreme.htm

I also ordered a raspberry pink garnet through etsy for some flair. The garnets are pretty soft so I expect to need to replace it every couple years, but it was cheap.

To do sizing we went to 3 separate jewelry stores and got independent ring sizing. It also gave us a chance to try on different widths to see how they looked on us. Then we risked it and ordered online. Bruce Boone is a TOTAL sweetheart and I'd recommend him to anyone.

We do live in a major city and there are HUGE bridal expos here but I get overwhelmed by that much bridal and girlyness pretty easily. I think we'll go to some of the local shops and try stuff on there. Especially since I know I don't want 90% of the traditional bridal stuff. I don't particularly like crowds either. I've chosen a career that lets me be alone most of the time! :-)

meacu1pa

Too funny! When the captain and I would go to the expos it was to people watch and do studies in mob mentality and cultural anti-feminisms. 

Yes! Love those rings. The garnet is so schnazzy, too. 

grubbmcc

My other half and I are getting matching elven headpieces that rest on our foreheads. The nicest ones we've found were from Thyme2dream on Etsy.