Vietnamese wedding dresses (in the traditional form of áo tấc the ancient Ao dai) were dark blue. Many wedding dresses in China, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan are red the traditional Indian colour representing good luck and auspiciousness. ( November 2014) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Other brides prefer styles with sleeves, higher necklines, and covered backs. In the early 21st century many wedding dresses on the market are sleeveless and strapless. The bride's should be 'white, modest in design and fabric, and free of elaborate ornamentation.' Current fashion A bride in a contemporary version of the traditional long white wedding dress with train, tiara and white veil. For weddings in the temple, white clothing is also worn by all participants during the ceremony, both men and women, to also symbolize unity and equality before God. In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the color white is used as a symbol of purity, innocence, and cleanliness, particularly in religious ceremonies such as baptism and temple ceremonies, including weddings. In Mexico, for example, red is a popular color. White is not the universal color of wedding dresses. Since the middle of the 20th century, most Western wedding dresses are usually white, though 'wedding white' includes shades such as eggshell, ecru and ivory. This tendency to follow current fashions continued until the late 1960s, when it became popular to revert to long, full-skirted designs reminiscent of the Victorian era. For example, in the 1920s, they were typically short in the front with a longer train in the back and were worn with cloche-style wedding veils. This was also adopted in wedding dresses, where decorative frills and lace was common. In the early 1900s, clothing included a lot of decorations, such as lace or frills.

Įven after white became the dominant color, for a period, wedding dresses were adapted to the styles of the day. Later, many people assumed that the color white was intended to symbolize virginity, though this was not the original intention: it was the color blue that was connected to purity, piety, faithfulness, and the Virgin Mary. Illustrations of the wedding were widely published, and many brides opted for white in accordance with the Queen's choice. White became a popular option in 1840, after the marriage of Queen Victoria to Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, when Victoria wore a white gown trimmed with Honiton lace. This was not a widespread trend, however: prior to the Victorian era, a bride was married in any color, black being popular in Finland.

Mary, Queen of Scots, wore a white wedding dress in 1559 when she married her first husband, Francis, the Dauphin of France, because it was her favorite color, although white was then the color of mourning for French queens. The first documented instance of a princess who wore a white wedding dress for a royal wedding ceremony is that of Philippa of England, who wore a tunic with a cloak in white silk bordered with squirrel and ermine in 1406, when she married Eric of Pomerania. The amount and the price of material a wedding dress contained was a reflection of the bride's social standing and indicated the extent of the family's wealth to wedding guests. The poorest of brides wore their best church dress on their wedding day. Brides dressed in the height of current fashion, with the richest materials their families' money could buy. It was common to see them wearing bold colors and layers of furs, velvet and silk. Brides from wealthy families often wore rich colors and exclusive fabrics. Brides were therefore expected to dress in a manner that cast their families in the most favorable light and befitted their social status, for they were not representing only themselves during the ceremony. Many weddings were more a matter of politics than love, particularly among the nobility and the higher social classes. They could be a union between two families, two businesses or even two countries. Weddings performed during and immediately following the Middle Ages were often more than just a union between two people. Until the late 1960s wedding dresses reflected the styles of the day since then they have often been based on Victorian styles. In Eastern cultures, brides often choose red to symbolize auspiciousness. In Western cultures and Anglo-Saxon cultural spheres, the wedding dress is most commonly white, a fashion made popular by Queen Victoria when she married in 1840. The color, style and ceremonial importance of the gown can depend on the religion and culture of the wedding participants. A wedding dress or bridal gown is the dress worn by the bride during a wedding ceremony.

Light blue and white wedding dress