legend of bride `s veil
It’s commonly believed that it is bad luck for groom to see his bride in her dress before the ceremony, and therefore a veil was used to conceal her. In fact, in the old days of arranged marriages, the groom rarely saw his bride at all before the wedding day. If she was ugly, a veil might have stopped him from running away.
When something is prohibited or difficult to have, it often seems more attractive and thrilling. A short skirt can seduce men more than a swimsuit. Why? Because covering the tops of the legs (just), sets off the man’s imagination. Intention and context make the eroticism, not the amount of exposed skin. This was the simple psychology that made the dance of the seven veils so seductive.
Everyone knows there’s no such thing as an ugly bride. A bride is always somewhere between ‘very pretty’ and ‘absolutely gorgeous’. Veiling the bride is a symbolic way of tantalizing the groom by concealing her beauty until he becomes her husband and is permitted to see her.
As mentioned earlier, there is a legend that the wedding veil conceals the bride from demons. Family and friends are aware that the veiled figure standing next to the groom is the bride, but it fools the goblins. Apparently the superstition was so strong that families even supplied bridesmaids as decoys. These maids would not wear veils but would be dressed attractively and prepared to sacrifice their souls if required. Superstitious nonsense maybe, but the tradition continues to this day. (And since there are no records of brides being spirited away by demons, it might not be nonsense after all…)