The Ultimate Guide to Wedding Dress Lace: Types, Textures & What Brides Need to Know
Lace and weddings are a timeless pairing—a fabric that instantly evokes romance, tradition, and style. But as you search for the dress, you might find yourself asking: What kind of lace is that? Should I care about one over another? Do they feel or cost differently? Here’s the definitive guide to the types of lace you’ll encounter when dress shopping, how they differ visually and to the touch, which are most expensive, and the top questions brides have about lace today.
What Are the Main Types of Lace Used in Wedding Dresses?
There are too many “kinds” of lace to keep track of without a little help. So to make things simple, we’re going to summarize the 7 most common varieties of wedding dress lace so that you can recognize them in the wild! Conveniently, wedding gown laces are categorized by how they look different, and they are typically easy to tell apart once you know what you’re looking for. The differences in feel is secondary, and why a bride loves one over the other is almost always a matter of personal style and preference.
Alençon (The Queen of Lace)
- Look: Alençon (AL–lense-ON) is best characterized by heavier corded thread that outlines raised floral motifs and creates a 3D effect; in other words, it reminds some of us at Bon Bon Belle Bridal of a neon sign outlining the major shapes. Alençon usually features a fine mesh or net background that spans within and between design elements, and it comes most often with a scalloped edge when used in trains or veils.
- Feel: Durable and slightly textured, though still soft to the touch.
- Why Brides Love It: Alençon is classic, regal, and beautifully photogenic, making it a generally timeless material for bridal gowns and accessory attire.
- Price: Due to its crafting process and history, it can be one of the more expensive laces, contributing more than other laces to final gown pricing! But WOW does it make the right dress stand out!
Chantilly Lace
- Look: If Alençon is layered, corded, and 3-dimensional, Chantilly lace is thin, delicate, and sheer! Also using a mesh background, Chantilly Lace is simply lighter, using single-layers of dainty floral weaving to create beautiful patterns while keeping the fabric wafer-thin and smooth.
- Feel: To the touch, it’s usually incredibly soft and airy, making it ideal for gorgeous overlays and ornate sleeves.
- Why Brides Love It: It’s ethereal softness and light quality make it perfect for layering onto other materials, or for creating vintage bridal looks fairly easily.
Guipure (Venetian) Lace
- Look: Venetian lace is bold and dramatic in that it traditionally avoids a mesh background. Instead, designs and shapes are connected by cord bridges or “plaits”. Remember it as the kind of lace that you could poke a finger through without issue. (We don’t recommend actually doing that, but it’s a very distinctive feature for helping remember Guipure from other laces!)
- Feel: Because it relies on heavier, more structured connections, venetian lace feels heavier and more textured than most other laces!
- Why Brides Love It: The stand-out visuals and slightly heavier material make Venetian lace great for winter gowns, boho aesthetics, and modern bridal statements alike. It’s both bold and versatile, which is a hard balance for some other laces to strike.
Embroidered Lace
- Look: While other laces usually utilize a mesh or net background, embroidered lace is stitched onto an existing, other fabric like cotton or tulle! It’s best described as intricate stitched patterns (like flowers or vines) on a sheer fabric, often appearing as an appliqué or an illusion floating over skin.
- Feel: With embroidered lacing, the texture will vary with the amount of embroidery and the base fabric used; it can range from lightweight to richly textured from dress to dress.
- Why Brides Love It: This style of lace allows for customized, one-of-a-kind looks, dimensional details, and illusion effects at any or all locations on your dress.
Point D'Esprit
- Look: Point D’Esprit refers to a design element where scattered points on the lace’s net or weave are pulled together into small woven spots! It’s like a polkadot effect created through scattered points of weaving. Interestingly, Point D’Esprit is combinable with other lace techniques, as the dotting pattern in the weave of the netting or mesh layer can nicely accent floral lace features.
- Feel: Point D’Esprit itself is soft, lightweight, and perfect for adding layers or accents.
- Why Brides Love It: It’s flirty and understated, great for skirts, sleeves, or veils. It’s playful, chic, and subtle.
3D Floral Lace
- Look: 3D floral lace consists of raised floral appliqués that add dimension by mimicking florals and foliage in the color of your gown (i.e. ivory, cream, or cold white). It can create boldness or class, and it can spice up a wedding gown’s silhouette in a unique way!
- Feel: It’s 3D! You’ll be able to feel the appliqués to some degree based purely on the volume and coverage of the technique’s usage. As such, it’s probably the most noticeably textured variety of lace you can find (because it’s usually not fully lace, strictly speaking); The effect, however, opens doors to bolder design elements for modern romantics.
- Why Brides Love It: Simply put. 3d floral lace is unmistakably unique, youthful, and Instagram-ready for contemporary brides.
Eyelet Lace
- Look: Eyelet lace relies on a more solid background fabric or net, contrasting heavier lace details with small but noticeable holes (eyelets) and geometric or floral cutouts. The tasteful placements and patterns created by these holes often facilitates a vintage, boho effect.
- Feel: Due to it’s use of negative space and eyelets, brides usually describe it as airy, casual, and breathable.
- Why Brides Love It: It’s charming and ideal for outdoor or summer weddings, on top of being unique and eye-catching!
Are some laces more expensive than others?
Yes! Lace price is shaped by the construction method and history behind its making. Because pricing is always changing and varies based on location, here are three factors that influence price regardless of when and where you’re shopping.
- Handmade or couture lace (like authentic French Alençon or Chantilly) can be very costly, reflecting hours of skilled handwork and delicate materials.
- Machine-made laces or mixed-fiber options are often more budget-friendly, delivering a beautiful look at a lower price.
- 3D, beaded, and sequined laces—if hand-embellished—can significantly raise the cost of a gown.
Pro Tip: Brides looking for a luxe look on a budget should consider choosing dresses with lace accents (on sleeves, bodices, or trains) instead of full lace, which can be pricier!
The Top 3 Questions Modern Brides Have About Wedding Dress Lace
Lace brings visual depth and romance, and it’s applications are extremely versatile. Its texture can be soft and dreamy or bold and dramatic. A small accent can lift a gown’s neckline from good to gorgeous, an illusion panel can ensure a stunning back, or a full-lace gown can make the aesthetic of an entire event. It’s a way to add instantly character of any kind (e.g. vintage, modern, regal, or boho), and within every kind, there’s a world of design motifs to play with as a dress-maker.
Unless you’re a seamstress or designer yourself, looking at custom-making your gown, or a major dress enthusiast, it’s very likely that your lace preferences (for both style and quantity) vary wildly once you are in-store, seeing what you look like in each dress. It’s also true that the amount of lace included in the dress itself usually stays the same from the day you buy it, aside from lace accessories added after the fact.
What does that mean for you? As a beautiful bride visiting a boutique and trying on dresses at Bon Bon Belle Bridal, your B3 stylist will listen to you and pick dresses based on your preferences. Enter with an idea of what you like, but beyond that there’s no need to fret on it.
If your heart is set on heavy customization or large modifications, then pick lace according to your style, season, and comfort needs:
- For lightness/romance: Chantilly or Point D’Esprit.
- For drama/texture: Guipure, 3D, or embroidered laces.
- For tradition/structure: Alençon or corded laces.
Consider both look and feel—try swatches against your skin, and picture the lace in your venue and season!
Lace is a little like diamonds. High-end and custom laces are like mined diamonds in that they boost a wedding gown’s price based on the significant labor cost of producing them. Conversely, machine-made and hybrid laces are like lab-grown diamonds: they usually cost much less and are often just as gorgeous. Either way, dresses that use lace as trims, overlays, or a mix with simpler fabrics can costs less while contributing buckets of personality to a gown’s look.
So what's the takeaway?
Lace isn’t just a fabric; it can be a mood, a tradition, and a detail that captures your style and story. From the softest Chantilly to bold Guipure and show-stopping 3D florals, your perfect lace is here, ready to make your wedding look unforgettable.