How Brides in Different Cultures Choose their Wedding Gown
Your boyfriend decides to pop the question, “Will you marry me?” You accept his proposal. Congratulations. Now it’s time to get down to the nitty-gritty of that marriage proposal and plan your wedding. There is so much to do but the one thing that is on most brides’ minds including your own: the wedding dress.
Why is the wedding dress so important? It’s a sign that reminds you that this is a lifetime commitment to a man that is supposed to be your heart and soul. You acknowledge that a future filled with happiness, sorrow and children is possible with just this one man.
A Dress to Make Your Day
It’s your wedding day. You want to be the envy of every woman who sees you in your wedding gown? It’s the right that has bestowed upon you on that particular day. It’s a memory you can keep until the day you die. The memory that you were Cinderella going to the ball and the envy of every woman who wanted to dance with the prince but couldn’t because of you. This desired feeling to be honored, cherished and envied isn’t new. Brides hold significant importance when they say “I Do” because they are promising the future for the groom of family and life.
Wedding Gowns From Around The World
Religions and cultures play an important part on a wedding gown’s importance including in the areas of style, color and ceremony. Fashion has changed for all clothing and the wedding dress is no exception. For those brides in the Middle East or East European cultures, wedding dresses are typically extremely complex. The gowns are to symbol a bride’s gift. If a bride chooses the color blue, it is a sign of purity. For Chinese wedding dresses, red is often used and seen as a sign of good luck. India’s brides typically use red to symbolize auspiciousness. In Southern India, brides will use white colored saris. Indian brides will not use the color purple because it symbolizes mourning. Widows typically use purple in their second year of mourning forward. For most western civilizations, nearly anything will do for a wedding dress. If look to decades past, a traditional wedding gown was often white in color and flowed to the floor, following the bride.
Bible’s Influence of Wedding Gowns
When taking a glance at the bible, wedding gowns symbolize more than luck and monetary background. For instance, the color white (as found in the New Testament) symbolizes a woman’s purity and/or innocence (in essence… a virgin woman). Those people who follow the Bible to its word will imitate this essence. For many women who have sinned already but are turning to God now, they may wonder if they can wear a white gown. Yes, they can. In the eyes of God, his son gave his blood to cover each and every sin. That means if a bride chooses to wear white upon finding God, she may do so without worrying about her past mistakes.
Western World Influences
Most brides look to the Victorian era when choosing a wedding gown. Gowns of this era represented chastity and purity along with the white color. White was considered the most appropriate color for a bride’s dress. Many brides of this era emulate Queen Victoria who also married wearing a white wedding gown. It set a precedent for the color white. Today, many brides choose different colors. However, white is the most common color seen at weddings.
During the late 1800 to early 1900’s, brides were able to “dream” of wearing a new wedding gown and get them with the invention of department stores. Brides of the Depression era would dye their wedding dress to use it for any day they chose to wear it. In the 1940s, women often sacrificed conventional weddings for quick ones especially if their significant other was heading to the military. After the war was over, the economy changed thus allowing women to have more formal and traditional weddings.
