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An American bride being dressed by her bridesmaid.

A wedding dress or wedding gown is clothing worn by a bride during a wedding ceremony. Color, style and ceremonial importance of the gown can depend on the religion and culture of the wedding participants. Image File history File links Gnome-globe. ... Wedding dress may refer to: Wedding dress, clothing worn by a bride during a wedding ceremony Wedding Dress, a song by Mark Lanegan from his album Bubblegum Wedding Dress, a song by Derek Webb from his album She Must and Shall Go Free Category: ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 399 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (633 × 950 pixel, file size: 363 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 399 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (633 × 950 pixel, file size: 363 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Clothing protects the vulnerable nude human body from the extremes of weather, other features of our environment, and for safety reasons. ... Bride Bride in formal dress North America. ... Nuptial is the adjective of wedding. It is used for example in zoology to denote plumage, coloration, behavior, etc related to or occurring in the mating season. ...

Western culture

Weddings performed during and immediately following the medieval era were often more than just a union between two people. They could be a union between two families, two businesses or even two countries. Many weddings were more a matter of politics than love, particularly within nobility and the higher social classes. Brides were expected to dress in a manner that cast their families in the most favorable light, for they weren't representing only themselves during the ceremony. Brides of an elevated social standing often wore rich colors and expensive fabrics. It was common to see such brides wearing bold colors and layers of furs, velvet and silk. Brides of a lower social standing often copied the elegant styles of wealthier brides as best they could.

The woman to the far right is wearing a typical wedding dress from 1929. Up until the late 1930's wedding dresses reflected the styles of the day. From that time onward, wedding dresses have traditionally been based on Victorian styles.

Throughout the years, brides continued to dress in a manner befitting their social status---always in the height of fashion, with the richest, boldest materials money could buy. The poorest of brides wore their best church dress on their wedding day. The amount of material a wedding dress contained was a reflection of the bride's social standing. The amount of material used in the dress and the length of the dresses' train usually indicated the extent of the wealth of the bride's family to wedding guests. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 500 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (645 × 774 pixel, file size: 216 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Typical Morning Dress at a Wedding in 1929. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 500 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (645 × 774 pixel, file size: 216 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Typical Morning Dress at a Wedding in 1929. ...

Wedding dresses have traditionally been based on the popular styles of the day. For example, in the 1920's wedding dresses were typically short in the front with a longer train in the back and were worn with cloche style wedding veils. This trend of following current day fashion continued until the late 1940's when it became popular to revert back to styles reminiscent of the Victorian age. The trend has continued until today.

In modern tradition, the color of western-culture wedding dresses is white. Used in this sense, 'white' or 'wedding white' includes creamy shades such as eggshell, ecru and ivory. One of the first women to wear white at her wedding was Mary Queen of Scots, when she married François II of France. However, the choice was seen as very inauspicious, as the colour white was the official colour of mourning in France during the time. The color became a popular choice in 1840 with the marriage of Queen Victoria to Albert of Saxe-Coburg. The Queen chose to wear a white gown for the event. The official wedding portrait photograph was widely published and many brides opted for a similar dress in honor of that choice. The tradition continues today in the form of a white wedding. Prior to the Victorian era a bride was married in any color except black (the color of mourning) or red (which was connected with prostitutes). The white dress came to symbolize happiness, purity of heart, and the innocence of childhood. Later attribution suggested that the color white symbolized virginity, however, this symbolism is slowly fading in favor of simply having a traditional and popular white wedding, regardless of the couple's circumstances. It was originally the color blue that was connected to purity. Alternate meanings: White (disambiguation) White is a color (more accurately it contains all the colors of the spectrum and is sometimes described as an achromatic color—black is the absence of color) that has high brightness but zero hue. ... Eggshell is an off-white color, similar to the color of a chickens egg, often used for interior walls and ceilings and for wedding gowns. ... Look up ecru in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Ivory is an off-white color that resembles Ivory, the teeth and tusks of animals. ... Mary I of Scotland; known as Mary, Queen of Scots Mary I of Scotland (Mary Stuart or Stewart) (December 8, 1542 – February 8, 1587), better known as Mary, Queen of Scots, was the ruler of Scotland from December 14, 1542 – July 24, 1567. ... Francis II (French: François II) (January 19, 1544 – December 5, 1560) was a King of France (1559 – 1560). ... 1840 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837, and the first Empress of India from 1 May 1876, until her death on 22 January 1901. ... Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (Francis Charles Augustus Albert Emmanuel, of the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha branch of the House of Wettin) (26 August 1819 - 14 December 1861) was the husband and consort of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. ... A Bride in a White Wedding dress A white wedding is a term for a traditional formal or semi-formal wedding in British and American, as well as Commonwealth, traditions. ... Queen Victoria (shown here on the morning of her accession to the Throne, 20 June 1837) gave her name to the historic era The Victorian era of the United Kingdom marked the height of the British Industrial Revolution and the apex of the British Empire. ... This article is about the color black; for other uses, see Black (disambiguation). ... Red re-directs here; for alternate uses see Red (disambiguation) Red is a color at the lowest frequencies of light discernible by the human eye. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A Bride in a White Wedding dress A white wedding is a term for a traditional formal or semi-formal wedding in British and American, as well as Commonwealth, traditions. ... Blue (from Old High German blao shining) is one of the three primary additive colors; blue light has the shortest wavelength (about 470 nm) of the three primary colors. ...

Eastern culture

Taiwanese couple dressed Western-style for keepsake photos in the park (1989).

Portrait of an Indian bride shortly before her wedding in traditional red dress.

Many wedding dresses in China are colored red, the traditional color of good luck. In modern Chinese weddings, particularly in Western countries, the bride usually opts for the white Western dress or changes from a white gown to a red gown later in the day and sometimes a gold colored gown later on. Taiwan couple dressed Western-style for keepsake photos in the park. ... Taiwan couple dressed Western-style for keepsake photos in the park. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 400 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (667 × 1000 pixel, file size: 238 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 400 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (667 × 1000 pixel, file size: 238 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...

In northern parts of India the traditional color of women's wedding garments is red, a color symbolizing auspiciousness. Green, a colour symbolizing fertility, is also commonly used. Nowadays many women opt not to wear red, and choose other colors. South Indian weddings traditionally use white or cream colored saris. Indian brides in Western countries often wear the sari at the wedding ceremony and change into traditional Indian wear afterwards (like lehnga, choli, et cetera). South India is a linguistic-cultural region of India that comprises the four states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu and the two Union Territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry, whose inhabitants are collectively referred to as South Indians. ... A sari / saree is the traditional female garment in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Maldives. ... It has been suggested that Ravika be merged into this article or section. ...

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Wedding dress