Heads up: Your guide to wedding hats

Image: Clicks for a Cause Photography Services

When it comes to headgear, there are only two types of people: those who wear hats and those who most certainly do not!

The thing is, hats are not only useful (and just a little bit cool if you can pull it off), but they can really help a bride stand out from the crowd, so if you’re considering something a little different or just want something other than a traditional wedding veil, here are some of our favourite – and far from tacky – hats for brides but also every other member of the bridal party.

Big, floppy sun hats.

Bride wears hat on wedding day. Image: Jordan Brittley

There’s no denying this bride looks spectacular and aside from her own natural beauty, her large, white sun hat is what draws your eye to this picture.

She looks chic and modern and not at all like she should be down at the beach ready to spend the day sun baking, a natural image to conjure when one hears the term ‘sun hat’.

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We love big hats. They’re outgoing, sometimes outrageous and absolutely demands attention. Also, as you can see, just because a hat is large, does not mean that it has to be tacky.

Brides in sun hats Wide brimmed hats needn't be tacky. This exquisite hat is a simple affair that has a big impact.

Wide brimmed hats needn’t be tacky or overwhelming. This exquisite hat is a simple but striking affair that has a big visual impact.

Fascinators

Fascinators for brides - hats. Image: Foxtale Photography Fascinators are like mini hats. They're not huge and overbearing, but can still be elegantly ornate. Bridal fascinator
Not just for the races, Fascinators are a happy medium between a small veil and a hat. It’s less formal, less bulky and can be affixed with a hair pin or hairband and usually comes with some fabulously ornate decorations.

And, the best bit is that your bridesmaids can wear them, too. They don’t have to be overbearing and can add a charming pop of colour.

Classic/Vintage hats

Bridal headgear: The Juliet Cap. Image: Etsy
With the vintage/retro look so hot right now, why not try an old-style headpiece, such as a Juliet cap, which is a smaller, tight fitting cap that is, often crocheted or made from mesh-like material then decorated with various pearls, gems and/or beads.

Of course, with thousands of years of bridal history to draw inspiration from the possibilities are endless from charming flower-covered wedding bonnets, which were popular in the early and mid 1800s to straw hats adorned in lace as well as spunky little hats (such as the champagne blush cocktail hat with a birdcage veil below) from more recent decades.

Vintage champagne blush cocktail hat with birdcage veil

Bride wearing a vintage cap

Drawing its inspiration from the 1920s, this ornately beaded cap looks absolutely stunning on this bride

Buttons and bows

It may not be a hat, but this giant bow is certainly a striking headpiece for a bride

Hats, hats, hats!

Bride with a hat

Bride with hat/veil

Hats on ring bearers and flower girls

Ring bearers and flower girls are cute as buttons on their own but whack them in a hat and their aww-factor quadruples. Don’t you agree?

Flower girl in a hat Flower girl in a crocheted cap Too cute. Page boys in hats. Page boy hats Page boy wearing a hat

Hats on ring bearers and flowergirls

Grooms donning hats

Hats off to grooms who walk down the aisle with a headpiece of their own. From formal top hats to cowboy hats and even caps, some of these grooms are rocking their headpieces.

Groom and groomsmen in hats