Wedding Colors Part I

By Michèle Coppin

White has long been accepted as the traditional color of the wedding dress, but wedding gowns were not always white. Roman brides favored yellow, and in the Middle Ages in Europe, brides wore red and grooms wore bright and colored outfits.

Middle Eastern brides wore a blue ribbon tied to their gowns since blue symbolized purity in their culture. The tradition of ribbon trims extended to Europe in the mid 1500's, when love knots, which symbolize the wedding knot, were tied to the bride's dress. The ribbons were multicolored with a different meaning for each color. Some represented virtue and good fortune, and others fertility. The color green represented fidelity. 

Colored wedding gowns were very common. There is an old poem about how the color of the gown will influence the bride’s future:

Married in White, you will have chosen all right. Married in Grey, you will go far away. Married in Black, you will wish yourself back. Married in Red, you will wish yourself dead. Married in Blue, you will always be true. Married in Pearl, you'll live in a whirl. Married in Green, ashamed to be seen. Married in Yellow, ashamed of the fellow. Married in Brown, you'll live out of town. Married in Pink, your spirits will sink.

It was Queen Victoria who made white fashionable in 1840 when she married Prince Albert of Saxe in a gleaming white gown, setting the tone for generations. White then became the color that denoted purity and virginity.

Gowns this season however reflect the long tradition of color. With touches of pastels or splashes of vibrant color, brides can make their own fashion statements while linking their wedding to centuries of celebration of love and color (and don’t forget to give the groom some color too). Check out Wednesday’s post to read more about popular wedding colors this season!

Comments

[Flower Girl Dresses]

hey,i think red color for wedding dress is good because red is the sign of energy n also the bride will look bright