To choose an elopement wedding is to embrace the non-traditional, an opportunity to start married life with a beautiful, intimate adventure. What better way to mark this magical occasion than with a one-of-a-kind elopement accessory that signifies both the location and essence of your union? Many of my brides have eloped in recent years, and together we have designed a delicate wilderness of wanderlust designs for their elopement veils. I’ve stitched together 12 of the most poignant design ideas from real veils I have made, each with a connecting thread between embroidery and destination.
Elopement Veils Inspired By Your Destination’s Aesthetic
One of the most harmonious ways to design elopement veils is to bring in elements of your destination country’s natural surroundings, architecture and overall vibe. You are drawn to your chosen location for specific reasons, and may be planning to marry against the backdrop of breathtaking scenery or simply soak in the area before and after your wedding. The following elopement veils were designed with exactly these things in mind…
1. An organza lotus flower veil for a Bali elopement
It was a huge honour to be asked to design an elopement veil for Shannon (one half of Forever Curious Films, wedding videographers and storytelling extraordinaires) for her wedding to life and business partner Jack in Bali. I hand-drew and digitised bespoke lotus flowers to embroider in ethereal organza, as a nod to the flower’s significance in Balinese culture. We also hid numbers with special meaning to them among the petals.
Photographer: Joy Zamora Photography
2. A short fern-adorned veil for an elopement in Glencoe, Scotland
Delicate floral embroidery is a beautiful way to let the natural surroundings of your destination bloom eternal, and Rosie’s fern design was the perfect echo for the rugged loveliness of Glencoe.
Photographer: Eriin Browne
3. A wildflower ribbon in the Dolomites
Creating designs based on flowers and foliage naturally found in the country you’re getting married adds a creative authenticity to elopement veils. A wildflower embroidered bridal ribbon is a sweet and stylish alternative to the classic veil, perfect for when you’re adventuring to get those dramatic landscape shots!
Photographer: Savannah Rae Photo
Explore more of my floral veil designs here
4. A Marrakech elopement veil with tantalising texture
Morocco is a country well known for its architecture and warm, intricate designs. Its buildings and interiors are rich tapestries of complex patternwork, vibrancy and soulful mixed influence - colour, light and texture interplay in a way that gets this designer’s heart beating a little faster!
That’s why I was so excited when Paige (luxury wedding stationer Paige N Co) asked me to design a veil for her Marrakech elopement. We chose to design her elopement veil using my chic Pearl tulle, loving the way it plays with light and echoes Morocco’s fascinating textures. Bespoke script embroidery was the finishing touch, and I have to say I’ve never seen a bride look so fabulous on camel-back!
Photographer: Courtney Marie Photography
5. Inspired by the night sky in Cornwall and 6. In Bali
My celestial veil designs have always been popular, as enchanting to brides as their twinkling muse. There is something inherently romantic about staring into a sky scattered with stars, hand in hand with someone you love, and I have designed several elopement veils inspired by the heavens in different parts of the world.
The inimitable Ellen Sear (queen of intentional, nostalgic wedding photography) eloped to the Cornish coast, and we adorned her bespoke veil with embroidery featuring stars and moons. There is such significance in surrounding ourselves with the vast mysticism of oceans and skies, and it was a pleasure creating this personal custom elopement veil for such a wonderful human.
Photographer: Josey Grace
ELLEN: ‘The passion and talent through the whole process was amazing. No tweak was too big a problem. My veil was amazing and I’ll cherish it forever. Couldn’t fault my experience with Rebecca - Friendly, professional, knowledgeable, talented, great materials, and an amazing finished product’
It is a wondrous thing when you travel to the other hemisphere, gaze up on a clear night, and find the constellations you know and love appearing upside down. It’s the same sky and they’re the same stars, viewed through an enchanting new perspective. Perhaps this is exactly why we love elopements so much - we are the same people, existing in the same love, and yet subtly different when we leave. You may wish to capture the unique night sky in your destination country on your veil, as on this celestial veil designed for an elopement photoshoot in Bali.
Photographer: Amy Chapple Photography
Elopement Veils in the Language of Love
My storytelling script veils are one of the most popular designs among brides, stitching the most meaningful of words into the very fabric of your love story forever. With a range of intricate font styles to choose from, having your elopement veil eloquently embroidered is one of the most unique ways to personalise it. Choosing to embroider a quote or phrase in another language can be stylishly significant, a lyrical reminder of where you chose to elope or an appreciation of your multilingualism.
7. Italian embroidery for a Lake Como elopement veil
The design of this veil for an inspirational wedding shoot in Lake Como involved capturing the essence of Italy in my signature script embroidery. The veil itself was as dramatic and impactful as the great lake, with two tiers and a pleated edge. Embroidered above the pleats was the wording ‘l’amore che move il sol l’altre stelle’ - ‘the love that moves the sun and other stars’ - this line from the famous Italian romance poet Dante Alighieri was originally written in Italian in the 14th century, so retaining that authenticity through the embroidery added an extra layer of loveliness.
Photographer: Faye Wilde Photography
8. Embroidered Spanish poetry for an elopement in Mexico
Real bride Natalia married her songwriter-and-poet husband in Mexico, and she chose to have her elopement veil embroidered with lines from pieces he had written - in Spanish, of course! In between the quotes I stitched a flowing continuous line drawing of a home and compass, alluding to the three touching phrases…
‘Eres mi casa’ - ‘you are my home’ | ‘Tu risa como brújula de paz’ - ‘our laughter serves as a compass for peace’ | ‘Para siempre tú’ - ‘forever yours’
I’m not crying, you’re crying…!
9. An elopement veil with Italian quote
Jaclyn eloped to Italy and surprised her now-husband with a meaningful quote on their intimate wedding day. She chose ‘sei sempre stato tu’ (‘it was always you’) in my classic script font, followed by their wedding date - an heirloom that will forever transport them right back to that day in Italy.
Photographer: Gianmarco Amico
Other Design Ideas for Elopement Veils
10. Embroidered coordinates
If you are a wanderlust couple with a love for adventure and travel, having meaningful coordinates embroidered on your elopement veil could be the perfect way to honour this trip of a lifetime. Past Rebecca Anne brides have chosen to embroider the coordinates of the place they met, the place they married, or another significant spot in the world. One of the beautiful things about this design choice is it has hidden meaning, and only you will know what it truly represents - an exclusive shared memory, reminiscent of the elopement itself.
11. Honour your heritage
Elopement veils don’t always have to be designed to echo the country where you marry - they can also honour the heritage of you and your partner, or reference cultures or parts of the world that hold meaning in your lives. Aigerim, who eloped to Italy, is Kazakh and her husband Russisan, and we developed bespoke ornamental patternwork inspired by these heritages to embroider onto her veil. Designs like this are truly one-of-a-kind - it’s about as bespoke as it gets!
Photographer: Alex Wysocki Photography
12. Home is where the heart is
Real bride Jessika had her custom veil design embroidered with a list of cities she had lived in with her husband, sitting perfectly alongside the sentiment ‘home is where you are’ for her elopement in Milos, Greece. It was actually her second veil of the day, and you can read all about my enthusiasm for second-look accessories on my recent blog!
Photographer: Inna Nova Photography
Elopement veils are deeply personal in design, and no two are ever the same…just like no two Rebecca Anne brides. If you’re looking for something unique and meaningful (whether you already have ideas or are struggling to articulate the sentiment) to wear on your elopement day, I’d love to hear from you. The world is our oyster, and the tulle is the blank canvas on which we will stitch a story for the ages.
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