Sheer/Tulle Bridal Capes – Spring/Summer’s Coolest Cover-up

Fashion & Jewellery

Short and Sheer

Short, sheer capes are designed to sit just over the shoulder and just below the bust line. They are perfect for covering the tops of your arms if your dress is sleeveless and you don’t want to feel too exposed at the ceremony or if you don’t like the look of your arms in photos. Short capes are for a more casual-style, and will look beautiful for an outdoor ceremony, or for pre-dinner cocktails in the gardens of your chosen venue.

bridal cape sheer tulle alvina valenta
Left: Alvina Valenta, 9206 Right: Alvina Valenta, 9208

Alvina Valenta‘s short and sheer capes (top) are embellished to add a little glamour to the neckline, while Kristi Bonnici‘s (bottom) add a fun and flirty element to the overall look.

bridal cape sheer kristi bonnoci
Left: Kristi Bonnoci, He Loves Me He Loves Me Not Cape | Right:Kristi Bonnoci Summer Breeze Cape

Mid-length Sheer/Tulle/Organza Bridal Capes & Cover-ups

If you are having a little bit more of a formal affair, a mid-length cape is the perfect cover-up. These sit either on the elbows or on the wrists and are a little more suited to brides with a fuller bust than their shorter counterparts. Most mid-legth capes we found were finished with silk or lace to tie in with the gown beneath, and to add some extra detail.

kristi bonnoci eternal love
Left: Kristi Bonnoci Love Blooms Cape | Right: Kristi Bonnoci Eternal Love Cape

A swing cape like Kristi Bonnici’s Eternal Love Cape (top right) with it’s silk organza body and silk satin band hem is a timeless new-era look, while Ritva Westenius (stocked in Kadee Bridal Boutique and The Bridal Rooms, McElhinneys) Radiance cape (bottom left) with its high neck lace collar and graduated length gives a vintage-feel, also timeless in nature.

tulle bridal cape
Left: Ritva Westenius, Radiance | Right: Immaculada Garcia, Joko

Full-length Tulle Capes & Cover-ups

If you’re looking for the wow factor for your S/S bridal cover up, you’ve struck oil. Sheer, floor-length capes are the embodiment of elegance and glamour with a smidge of ‘diva’ thrown in for good measure. They’re not for everyone, obviously, statement pieces like this rarely are (more than one person has reminded me of my nan’s net curtains when I’ve shown these images to them) but if you have the height and the confidence to pull it off, there’s one for you.

full length bridal sheer cape
Left: Raimon Bundo | Right: Jesus Peiro 2011

Jesus Peiro’s high neck floor length bridal cape has to be my favourite choice for tall brides. Jesus Peiro is stocked in The White Room, Mullingar and Say I Do Bridal in Cork. Please check availabilty with stockists before visiting.

full length bridal cape ronald joyce
Left: Victoria Jane for Ronald Joyce, Italia | Right: Mon Cheri Bridal

Ronald Joyce (above left) Irish stockists include: Alexanders Bridal, Dublin 1 | Modern Fashions, Louth | The Bridal Rooms, McElhinneys, Donegal.

Mon Cheri (above right) Irish stockists include: Fiona Todhunter, Dublin | Waterlily Brides, Waterford | Protocol Bridal, Belfast & Drogheda

Alternative Sheer & Tulle Bridal Cover-ups

short tulle bridal cape
Left: Photo by Peter Lindbergh for Harper’s Bazaar | Right: Sheer tulle cropped shrug, Lanvin, net-a-porter

bridal cape alternative cover up
Left: Garland tulle cape, Johanna Johnson | Right: Maria Lluisa Rabell, Diosa

Of course if you’re going with a sheer or tulle cover up, it doesn’t need to be a cape. Elasticated tops with long sleeves are a gorgeous alternative for a beach wedding. You could also go for something like the alternative Maria Lluisa Rabell Diosa, which is all at once modern, Celtic, and gothic, with its sheer shirt collar, unfinished hem and natural draping. Maira Lluisa Rabell is stocked at Myrtle Ivory, Dublin City Centre.

Main image by Pawel Bebenca, see full wedding Here