British Traditions: The White Wedding Dress

There's a lot of Wedding Etiquette out there and just as much conflicting advice too. Of course, then it matters just where you are, for British wedding customs, traditions and superstitions are not the same as American ones - although the US trends do tend to dominate and get lots of coverage. And today more than ever before we have access to many different cultures and superstitions. But here's an interesting and decidedly British one which you might hear versed while you're considering your wedding dress:

White - You've chosen all right
Blue - Your love is true
Pearl - You'll live in a whirl
Brown - You'll live out of town
Red - You will wish yourself dead
Yellow - You're ashamed of your fellow
Green - Ashamed to be seen
Pink - Your fortunes/spirits will sink
Grey - You'll live far away
Black - You'll wish yourself back

Sound familiar? I've heard it a few times.

More hilariously I've sat at a table where a group of octogenarians argued whether an Irish bride should wear green for luck. It was a very spirited debate and I think the final answer was, yes, she should, but only if she likes green and has green eyes and red hair although brown with a reddish tinge is also acceptable as is strawberry blonde. So there you are - a specific answer for a not so specific query.

But what about white dresses? Did you know Victorian inspired designs are still the most popular basis' for wedding dresses today? It's all thanks to Queen Victoria. Before she started the trend for white, Brides simply wore their favourite dress. Wealthy families would have new dresses made to suit the height of fashion at the time and poor women would simply wear their Sunday Best. So really, Brides wore whatever they liked, colour wise, and although the dress was a significant purchase it was by no means ' exclusively' white. Queen Victoria wore white to her own wedding in 1840 and ignited a flame that will likely never be extinguished.

Just ponder that thought for a brief moment. If she had been a man or if indeed Prince Albert had accomplished the same feat we'd have a Bank Holiday in ode to the White Dress. Of course it be bestowed with title befitting the productivity, textile demand and manufacturer which she undoubtedly increased. She wasn't the first royal to marry in white, but she was the most popular and countless women took her lead and decided to marry in white themselves; starting a new trend and tradition that is now a significant part of our wedding culture. 

Personally I do love a white wedding dress, I can’t help it. There’s something hopelessly romantic about it all. Maybe it’s the impracticality of it all – the fact that I’ll never be able to wear it anywhere else or for anything else ever again that makes white feel so extravagantly right for a wedding day, something else I'll hopefully never repeat either. I don’t know exactly what it is, I think it’s a deeply personal thing and different for each woman. What I’m not too keen on is the American Virgin or Purity principle which has somehow attached itself as a connotation to white wedding dresses and is as cringe worthy and sexist as it is ignorant. The fact is; blue was historically used as a colour to signify maiden purity, not white. And I find the whole innocence in a dress thing...well…creepy. Thankfully, White Wedding Dresses aren't going anywhere and that's something I'm glad about.

White Wedding Dresses are inherently British and ridiculously eccentric 
when you look at them with any degree of detachment

I will admit I was swayed recently when a beautiful client wore an astonishing pink dress. It was pure romance and honestly, the first time I’d reconsidered my position on white. That was a restless night, I can tell you. My otherwise unimpeachable and completely impractical ability to pre-plan non events down to the smallest detail is legendary. But now I'm left in all my lingerie finerie before my wardrobe mirror and torn between two dresses on that mythical imagined day. Yes, that dress was the first time I’d thought about what colour I would wear at my own wedding – and I’m not even engaged so you can tell it left a lasting impression. But enough about me. If Queen Victoria could start the revolution for white, what or who would it take to start a revolution for blue? Or any other colour? Is it even possible?

Are you wondering, like I am, why Queen Victoria insists on showing her left side in all her paintings and photos?  It's obviously just her thing and who am I to argue with a trendsetter like her?