WEDDING DRESSES

A wedding dress - sometimes referred to as a wedding gown - is an outfit that is worn by the bride during a wedding ceremony. It is apparent that the colour and style of the dress depends on the culture or religion of the wedding party, but there is no question that the most dominant colour is white, as this is often associated with pureness and in older days virginity and pureness.

Looking back to the past, weddings that happened during and then after the medieval period were oftentimes more significant than than just a joining of two people. In many cases they were also a joining of two families, two businesses and occasionally a union between two countries. It was often the case that weddings involved mostly politics rather than love and this was no less true between families of nobility and also higher social classes.

It was not uncommon that the bride and groom hardly met before the ceremony, as they would be pledged to one another my their respective families. It was customary that the brides would dress themselves in a way that presented their families in the best possible way, so the wedding gown became much more significant than anything else.

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Over the years, brides continued to wear wedding dresses that are in keeping with their social position in life, but this distinction has become blurred over time, as people tend to spend disproportionate amounts on the wedding ceremony. It is almost a social statement. On their wedding day, brides from the poorest families would tend to wear their best dress that they would use to attend church each week, as they certainly could not afford to emulate the richer classes.

Similar to the quality of the fabrics, the wealthier families would tend to ornate their wedding dresses with many layers to demonstrate the extent of their wealth. This is where the wedding dress train is thought to have originated from, as wealthy families tried to outdo one another with increasing dramatic and ostentatious shows of their money by having ever longer and longer wedding trains.

In more modern times, the tradition has moved away from the highly coloured wedding dresses and the most dominant colour in Western society is most definitely white. Having said this, we also see shades of cream like eggshell, ivory and ecru. It is commonly believed that one of the first women to wear a white dress at her wedding was the renowned Mary Queen of Scots when she became coupled with Frances's François the Second. Unfortunately, the colour white was synonymous with mourning in France at this time, so the choice did not go down well with the French people. Later in 1840 when Queen Victoria became married to Albert of Saxe-Coburg she also wore white and this became the start of a fashion with other brides wanting to wear white.

As we all know, the tradition largely continues today and we use the term "white wedding" in the sense of a white dress, with all the attendant frills and finery of a special occasion. Before the Victorian era, it was customary for the bride to wear any colour except black, as this was then associated with mourning as it is today. It was also taboo to wear a red dress, as this was associated with 'girls of the night'.

Try searching on the Internet for "wedding dresses" and you will be amazed just how many pages are on offer. Try it for yourself by hitting the search button below!

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