Wedding dresses & bridal gowns are a symbolic dress worn by the bride at her wedding which enhances the purity of her femininity. There are a variety of customs but essentially it is a ceremonial gown representing an end to single-hood and the beginning of a partnership. Our modern perception of wedding dresses & bridal gowns is a white princess style garment. This modern perception was further impressed in 1981 by the marriage of  the Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer.

The Wedding Dress

Understandably it was our incandescent love of innocence and romance which has favored white as being symbolic to the virtues of the bride. However it is merely a connotation of innocence and purity derived from the spiritual essence of the colour.

History

The tradition of a white wedding dress can be traced back to the wedding of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1840. An era in which suitability was regarded as more important than the actual way two individuals actually felt about each other. Weddings were of a more political nature, and were used to increase social status and wealth by integrating entire families or even countries by wedlock. It was a primitive sacrificial custom essentially among the more affluent and prominent members of society.

The White Wedding Dress

The significance of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s white wedding was the utter purity that illuminated the procession; it was a marriage born from the true affections they shared for each other and not of a political nature. This magnificent wedding enriched the natural beauty of white and the colour was seen to reflect wealth and social status. In addition the colour eased a moral sense of discomfort and in way cleansed the necessity of suitability over the true desire of the bride.