Wedding Dress

Be it the ancient times or the modern world today, weddings are a much awaited event in everyone’s life and so people spend extravagantly for the perfect look and the perfect wedding dress even for the most casual of weddings. Though a lot of wedding traditions are specific to cultures, one component of the ceremonies generally remains universal: The beautiful, delicate dress of the bride.

For a wedding dress the traditional white gown even after centuries of changing attitudes and styles is still the most popular choice of both royal and common brides as it symbolizes purity, innocence and virginity. Though earlier brides wore  simpler and less heavily embellished dresses in  other colors in which blue was common and also considered a symbol of purity, white has over shadowed the rest with the trend starting from queen Victoria;s wedding and has been gaining popularity ever since.

Princess Philippa wore a tunic and mantle of white satin edged with velvet and ermine at her marriage in 1406. In 1840 Queen Victoria wore an elaborate full skirted white satin and lace gown at her wedding to Prince Albert which became the first choice of most western brides looking to be “princess of the day”. The tradition continued as around a century later Princess Diana’s grand white Victorian-styled fairytale puff sleeved with fitted bodice and full skirted of ivory taffeta wedding dress reignited a trend for big wedding dresses that lasted throughout the 1980’s. It inspired a generation of meringue-like frocks and royal wedding recreations across the U.S.

Wedding dress has to be able to carry through the day and must be appropriate to the scale of the venue. It speaks of its time and usually has deep messages important to the era. From Queen Victoria’s lace and silk dress to Kate Middletons (Prince William’s wife) white gown the wedding dresses have mirrored and set the trends of the day.

The 21st century bride; having access to the internet and the all pervasiveness of television, however, can now dress in any style –from ornate designer dresses to a something informal. They have a lot to choose from and can experiment with the length and design of their wedding dress by adding on embellishments such as pearls, laces and flowing fabrics. The choice of color is still mostly white, eggshell, ecru and ivory. The white wedding gown is now a more tradition than virtue. Strapless wedding gowns are most popular they are easy to carry and easy to design and women prefer to show more skin on the top as not to seem too covered up and give a conservative  and older look. Even women who don’t usually wear strapless dresses in their daily lives are drawn towards strapless wedding gowns. Their wedding is a time for them to look and feel like a princess.