Some say the tradition of wearing a bridal veil it started with the Romans who were very fond of arranged marriages. The Bride wore the veil so that the husband-to-be couldn’t see her face, and back out of the marriage if he didn’t like the way she looked. The bridal veil was yellow in ancient Greece and red in ancient Rome, usually covering the bride from head to toe, and has since the earliest of times, denoted the subordination of a woman to man . The thicker the veil, the more traditional the implication of wearing it. According to tradition, it is considered bad luck for the bride to be seen by the groom before the ceremony. In the old days of marriage by purchase, the couple rarely saw each other, if at all, before the wedding. Choosing with whom you wanted to be wed is historically a fairly recent phenomenon. The lifting of the veil at the end of the ceremony symbolizes male dominance. If the bride takes the initiative in lifting it, thereby presenting herself to him, she is showing more independence.