Bridal Headpiece a Crowning Glory for Today’s Ornate Wedding Gowns

Laura Sparks stands gazing in the mirror at the bridal salon, a billowy veil balanced on her head.

“It looks . . . geeky,” says her sister, Benetta Miller of Laguna Niguel. “The pouf is too severe. You look like you’re wearing a shelf on the back of your head.”

For brides-to-be, finding the perfect headpiece can be almost as difficult as finding the perfect husband.

Choose the wrong one--headpiece, that is--and a bride can end up looking, well, geeky.

“We always say it’s harder to suit the headpiece to the bride than the gown,” says Gwen Jordan, owner of The Bride in Newport Beach.

“The headpiece is so intimate. It has to work with her face and hair, and if she’s already picked out a gown, it narrows the choices.”

January marks the beginning of the bridal buying season, as brides-to-be who received engagement rings for Christmas set out to find their wedding attire in time for June.

Sparks, 26, who will be married this spring, has searched two continents for the right headpiece. While vacationing from her home in Ireland, she stopped at The Bride to investigate the more ornate headpieces she can’t find in Europe.

“They’re so plain over there,” she says. “They have no detail, and there’s no such thing as a long train.”

“I like the headpieces with the pearls and scallops, with a bit of height in the veil,” she added.

In the United States, Sparks finds no shortage of poufs and pearls. Headpieces here have grown increasingly lavish, with long veils drawn up into several tiers of poufs and crowns encrusted with sequins, beads and crystals.

The veils must be ornate enough to complement the lush bridal gowns, with their huge puffed sleeves and sparkling bodices.

“The gowns are making more of a statement, and the headpieces have to live up to it,” Jordan says.

Brides are turning to a softer, more romantic look, according to Tauni Smallcomb, manager of Mon Amie Bridal & Formal in Costa Mesa.

Many want full, lacy wreaths with a small pouf in the veil. They’re getting away from the sprays of pearls and flowers that shoot out from every direction.

“It’s a return to elegance,” Smallcomb says. “The headpieces have classic lines. They’re not goopy.”

Jon Bradley, designer of the Couture Collection in Chicago, creates crystal crowns and Miss America-style tiaras fit for a princess bride.

“The biggest trend is the crystal tiaras,” Bradley says. “We’re importing pounds and pounds of Austrian crystals every day” to fill the demand.

One of his headpieces forms a solid band of crystals with a small cluster of pearls at the front. Another elegant design features a simple wreath of leaf-shaped crystals. His regal crowns measure up to 3 inches high and come loaded with pearls, sequins and lace. They sell at The Bride for about $500.

Small but sumptuously decorated Juliet caps also enhance the rich gowns. One cap by Bradley has satin flowers covered with seed pearls. In back, a flower peeks out from the folds of the cap’s pouffed veil.

Headpieces come with many different cuts of veiling. Popular cathedral-length veils trail the bride down the aisle and can detach for the reception, while short veils barely touch her shoulders.

Veiling can be drawn up into a small romantic pouf, cut into layers or gathered into a large bubble. For added sparkle, Bradley embellishes his veiling with patterns of crystals and pearls.

All that glitz doesn’t suit every gown, or every bride.

“Dresses are either very Hollywood--beaded and body-conscious--or they’re simple but opulent in rich fabrics,” Bradley says.

A satin ball gown works better with a clutch of silk chiffon roses or a pretty satin bow worn on a comb at the back of the head. The combs can be worn alone or with a veil of any length.

“Then there’s the more sophisticated bride who wants a sleek, dramatic look,” Bradley says. “We’re doing a lot of satin-covered pillbox hats for them.”

Bradley divides his customers into two camps. “There are always customers for ornate veils with all the poufs, and customers who want it understated.”

Brides’ tastes vary according to where they live, he says. What’s hot in Orange County may not play in Peoria.

“East Coast girls want everything all on the back of the head. They prefer long beaded veils that are quiet and sleek.

“In the Midwest, there’s a big demand for a lot of glitz and rhinestones. They want a lot of things pouring down on their foreheads and elaborately arranged veiling. It’s all glitter, glitter, glitter.

“West Coast brides want a little of everything.”

Bradley gets ideas for his creations by studying gowns in bridal magazines and poring over jewelry catalogues.

“Then I play with the materials,” he says. “Some people think it’s just a matter of tacking on a bunch of pearls and flowers, but this is really more like sculpting.”

Julie Georgeson of Huntington Beach also sculpts headpieces for brides who can’t find the one of their dreams in a boutique.

“It might be a headpiece she’s wanted since she was 16,” Georgeson says. “Every bride is different. But she always knows best.”

Georgeson works in a corner of her garage, surrounded by bags of lace, pearls and trimmings.

“Nine years ago I was working at a bridal shop and one of the customers’ headpieces didn’t come in. I said, ‘I can do that.’ So I made her one.”

She makes her headpiece by hand, cutting up Alencon lace and forming it into flowers with fabric stiffener, pasting sequins on leaves, poking clusters of pearls through the lace and attaching it to a headband, wreath or hat. If the bride wants a drop of pearls or lace to fall along the side of her face, Georgeson will make it. She’ll also sew the veiling into any shape or length.

“You can make the pouf as big as you want. I’ve had them go out of here like that,” she says, holding her arms out wide above her head. “I wonder how they’re going to make it down the aisle.”

Depending on the labor and materials, the headpieces cost from $50 to $300.

“This way they know nobody else is going to have one exactly like theirs.”

To select the perfect headpiece, Jordan suggests that brides try on all different styles.

“Sometimes they come in dead set on one thing, when the headpiece they least expect turns out to be the one that looks best.”

Many women don’t recognize that what looks great on a model in a bridal magazine might look awful on them.

“They’re not the girl in the picture,” Jordan says. “The way a headpiece is photographed, with all the special lighting, it can look entirely different on her than it will look on you.”

When trying on a veil, Jordan recommends studying it from the side and back--not just the front.

“It will show from the back for a long time,” she says.

She also encourages brides not to experiment with a new hair style on their wedding day.

“It’s not the time to try on a new look.”

Mon Amie’s Smallcomb says brides should avoid headpieces that overpower their features.

“You don’t want to draw attention to the headpiece, you want to complement the gown,” she says.

“People should say, ‘Oh, what a beautiful bride,’ not, ‘Oh, what a beautiful veil.’ ”