A tiara is a jeweled crown traditional worn with a full evening dress. They are usually circular or semi-circular in shape and are used for personal adornment. Tiaras are always made from precious metals – although cheap plastic tiaras can be found in the market – and are decorated with jewels such as gemstones. It has always been a long time tradition for queens, princesses, empresses and duchesses to wear tiaras to formal evening occasions.
Apart from nobles and royals, commoners too especially wealthy commoners also wear tiaras to evening occasions. In modern day beauty pageantry, tiaras have been used to crown winners.
The use of plastic tiaras designed with rhinestones has been very common in recent times. These plastic tiaras have gained prominence as costume jewelries unlike the traditional tiaras made from precious metals that are used in formal settings.
Brides wear tiaras on their wedding day. Traditionally, Greek, Scandinavian and Syrian brides always wear a tiara on their wedding day- modern brides too.
Some people feel wearing tiara in one’s wedding may be over the edge and too costume-y. Some even see it as a tacky thing to do, as they believe it makes you seem shabby, dowdy or generally of low quality.
But then, don’t we all have opinions?
People conclude on things based on their personal opinions. While some people might view brides wearing tiaras on their weddings as tacky in my opinion, a tiara may just be that single piece that would highlight your big day.
Whether or not you should wear a tiara on your wedding day should solely depend on you. You shouldn’t let people’s feelings define what you have planned out for your big day. While wearing tiaras may solely depend on your choice, there are several other factors that should be considered before deciding whether or not you should wear tiaras on your wedding day.
What you should consider before wearing tiaras on your wedding
- The theme of the wedding
You do not want to skip wearing a tiara on your wedding day if the theme of the wedding is a set to depict royalty. What is ancient Greek wedding without a tiara? If you want your dig day to be ancient Greek themed, then you definitely want to be wearing a tiara.
Most modern and classical wedding themes would definitely go with tiaras. Fairy-tale themed weddings, bohemian themed weddings, water themed weddings, antiqued themed weddings are few of the wedding themes that wearing tiaras would be perfect for.
- Your choice
Many women envision what they want their weddings to look like years before the D-day. If you’ve always dreamt of wearing your queenly wedding dress with a stoned platinum and shiny tiara, then that’s what you should go for. Truth be told, not all what you have planned out for your wedding may go out as planned. Some planned out events and sceneries may not suffice due to likely unforeseen circumstances. So, you should try as much as possible to fix what you want and can control- that includes your hair accessories. If you wish to wear a tiara as a hair accessory then do it. But while at this, do make sure you are not making a fashion blunder.
- Your wedding dress
Not all dresses should be worn with a tiara. Your wedding dress must be first selected before you think of getting a tiara or not. If your wedding dress would permit wearing a tiara, then the next question that should come to mind is: ‘what kind of tiaras do I want to get?’ Not all kinds of tiaras are perfect for all kinds of wedding dresses. The statement rule also applies to wedding clothing. If your wedding dress is very elaborate, then a less flashy tiara should be worn. Also, if you wish to wear a tiara on a simple wedding dress, then a statement tiara would be your best bet to looking top notch.
- Other accessories
Weddings are very special days. Most women would want to look top-notch or even perfect on their special day. While you’d want to look perfect on this day, it is best you avoid excess accessories to avoid looking overdone or too loud. Yes, you may visit the wedding outfit shop and find that statement necklace with diamond pieces you so want to wear. You may also love to wear that chandelier earrings stoned with priced emeralds. Yet again, you’d love to wear that high regal tiara you saw in the same shop. Girl, these are all beautiful and I understand that you’d like to stand out, but wearing all these at once is a no-no. You are only permitted to wear an elaborate tiara if you can afford to tone down on the elaborateness of other jewelries. You may not even need necklaces or a big earring with some tiaras on.
Avoid hair pins and other hair accessories when you are using tiaras.
If not tiara, what else can I use?
More than any other thing, tiaras are to accessorize your hair. If you are of the opinion that tiaras are tacky or you just don’t few like using them, or maybe they wouldn’t suit your other accessories perfectly, there are other hair accessories you can use. Some of the popular hair accessories used for bridal hair decorations includes:
- Wedding crowns
Wedding crowns are very similar to tiaras. Crowns are always larger than tiaras and typically contain precious jewelries. They most popular crown design used by brides is the floral crown design
- Hairpins
Hair pins are also worn by brides to add beauty to their entire outlook. These hair pieces are not so elaborate, but they exude class. Pins are relatively not expensive. Hairpins of different floral designs are commonly used – crystal designed ones are also used.
- Headbands
Headbands can also be used in place of tiaras to bring out that elegant hair look.
Other commonly used bridal hair accessories include:
- Hair piece (e.g. Crystal hair piece, Pearl hair piece, Gold leaf hair piece etc.)
- Bridal fascinator
- Bridal hair vines
- Hair combs
- Bow barrette
- Bow hair clip