Wedding Colors

In her booklet "With This Ring", June Jenkins writes about the origins of many wedding traditions. She has this to say about white - "Long before the color white represented purity, it symbolized joy." She talks about ancient civilizations that painted their entire bodies with white paint on the eve of their wedding ceremonies. In other cultures, white was worn on happy occasions like religious feasts and birthdays.

But in spite of this heritage, white has not always been the favored color for wedding dresses. Roman brides preferred yellow for their gowns and brides in the Middle Ages in Europe often wore red gowns. Not to be outdone, grooms in the Middle Ages also wore bright and colorful outfits. It wasn't until Victorian times that white became the norm for wedding gowns as white became the color that denoted purity and virginity.

An old Japanese superstition forbade anyone, guests and all, from wearing purple at a wedding. Purple faded faster than any other color, and might therefore, signify the fading of marital happiness.

Middle Eastern brides had blue ribbons tied to their gowns since that culture considered blue the color of purity.

The tradition of ribbon trims extended to Europe in the mid 1500's and love knots which symbolized the wedding knot, were tied to the bride's dress. The ribbons were multi colored - with a different meaning for each color. Some represented virtue and good fortune, other fertility. Green represented fidelity.

Gowns this season reflect that long tradition of color. And touches of pastels or vibrant colors enable today's bride to make both a fashion statement and link their wedding centuries of celebrations. Let your experienced consultant help you plan a colorful and meaningful wedding wardrobe.