A Guide to Making Your Own Wedding Hat

Weddings are great for all number of reasons – you get to be part of the best day of your loved one’s life, you can enjoy being in the company of other wedding guests who are equally happy for the couple as you are, and it’s the perfect excuse to buy a new outfit. And now weddings are even a great excuse to show off your creative side by making your own wedding hat. But how do you get started with making your own wedding hat?

Create the right design for your wedding hat

You might look at this as an opportunity to really let your creative juices flow, but there’s some structure to hat making that’s worth following. Firstly, make sure you come up with a design that will suit your face shape, wedding hairstyle and eye colour.

If you have dark hair, avoid picking dark bases and fabrics as this will simply blend into your locks. Instead opt for bright colours, as your tresses can pull off bold hues. Similarly, ladies with very fair hair should stay away from pale colours – unless of course you’re the bride, in which case, embrace your big day and wear your ivory-coloured headpiece with pride.

If you have a square jaw line then it would be wise to go for softer lines to complement your defined features, and those with round faces can have fun with sharp angles and slants. Asymmetrical designs are always the most flattering styles, no matter what your face shape, so don’t be too fussy about making your headpiece perfectly proportioned.

Of course, you might be blessed with an oval face, which suits almost any style of hat, so feel free to let your creativity go wild.

Be subtle with materials when making wedding hats

The trick to a beautiful homemade wedding hat is to not go too crazy with your materials. A couple of feathers, some beading or beautifully structured sinamay – a fabric of woven fibres that holds well so it can be worked with to create various shapes – can be really effective.

There are all sorts of materials you can get, from ribbons to artificial flowers and combs to bases, so make sure you pick carefully and choose pieces that complement each other well.

Don’t forget, too much of one thing can spoil a stylish creation and leave wedding guests looking at your headpiece for the wrong reasons.

Have fun with friends at hat making parties

Instead of trying – and possibly failing – to create a bespoke headpiece on your own, you can join your friends at hat making parties. This way you benefit from the expertise of professional milliners who are on hand to teach you, guide you, and if needed, even sew for you.

One such milliner is Katherine Elizabeth who runs Millinery House Events. She told us that hat making parties has become a big trend lately, as they give ladies the chance to wear something unique to a wedding.

“Guests are always after something different, and it’s awful when you attend a wedding and see someone else with the same outfit or hat on. Even if you can just embellish a headpiece by putting on some feathers or updating the trim, you’ll be able to have something a bit more original.”

The milliner recommended adding a personal brooch for an individual touch, allowing you to have a unique piece with minimal effort.

Wedding hat etiquette for Mother of the Bride or Groom

Mothers of the bride and groom traditionally wear elaborate headpieces to weddings. In fact, it can even result in a bit of drama if the in-laws decide to have a ‘hat-off’ for the biggest, best accessory.

However, while ladies are getting more and more adventurous with their headwear, simple pieces can be equally striking. These days most mothers of the bride and groom opt for headpieces instead of hats, in tones that flatter their dresses and the overall wedding colour scheme.

They will be having lots of photos taken, so it’s important to make a wedding hat that allows their face to be clearly visible, while also being comfortable and well secured. After all, you wouldn’t want to spend all day fussing with it and feeling self-conscious about how it looks.

The trick is not to overshadow the bride so don’t opt for anything too extravagant, particularly if your daughter or daughter-in-law is wearing a headpiece herself.

Whether you’re crafty or not, hat making is a great excuse to have fun with friends and see what your talents can produce, they can also be a great hen party idea. 

Images courtesy of Millinery House Events.