Weddings as we know them today are all about love. It is a ceremony uniting two people that care for each other and therefore want to commit to their bond.
This was not always the case. Weddings in past centuries were more subjects of business negotiations and in the end business deals and wedding dresses were merely tools to show the bride’s wealthy background and her family’s fortune.
The process of purchasing a wedding dress as we know it today wasn’t common back in the day. Brides would not buy a dress only for one specific occasion. Also, it was very usual for the dress to be in any color. Dark dresses were often preferred, as in a case of an accident the imperfections or stains would not be visible on the dress. The only color that was not desired was the color green; at it was considered to be the color for bad luck. Whereas one of the most popular color options was the color blue, as it symbolized the purity of the bride.
The turning point for the modern day wedding dress was the year 1840, when Queen Victoria wedded her cousin, Prince Albert. Queen Victoria surprisingly wore a white wedding dress on that day. After that, as you can probably imagine, many followed this trend that she, most likely unwillingly, set. Years later, the first American magazine for women, Lady’s book wrote that the color white was deemed the most appropriate for a wedding dress.
Throughout the 1800’s, it was however still very hard for brides to have a perfect white dress, as it was very hard to preserve a fabric of this shade. This meant that only wealthier women could afford such a dress. Brides, who wanted to show off their wealthy background also opted for more fabric in their dresses at that time.
Then the Great Depression came and people again could barely afford buying a dress for just one occasion. So women once again went back to wearing dresses that they already own, which, due to above mentioned reasons, were usually of darker colors than white.
Moving forward, in the 20th century, with the iconic weddings of Grace Kelly to Prince Rainier III. of Monaco white wedding dress were popularized again.
Love,
Melanie