Wedding Traditions: Wedding Attire

Originally, British royals wore gold colors at weddings.  The marriage of the white-clad Queen Victoria to Prince Albert changed all that, and the tradition stuck.  To this day, what we Americans call a "traditional wedding" is called a "white wedding" in England.

This tradition has been changing in recent years, usually representative of pureness.  While tradition generally holds that the bride wears white unless it is not her first marriage, today weddings depend entirely on the individual.  Many brides are simply going with what they feel reflects themselves, or what represents what they feel is right for their wedding.

Elaine chose to wear a white wedding dress for no traditional reason.  In fact, her reason for wearing white is pretty simple: she thinks white wedding dresses are pretty.  And just one look at her wedding dress will tell you just how pretty a white dress can be.

The Veil.  Long ago, it was believed a veil helped protect the bride from evil spirits.  Today, it represents purity.  Elaine is choosing not to wear a veil, strictly because she doesn't like them.  David approves, as he'd rather everyone, and he, have a clear view of her on that day.

Gloves.  Gloves were symbols of modesty and romance.  An amusing bit of trivia involves the referral of the gloves as, without the letter G, they were "a pair of loves" and thus symbolic of the love.  Today, they complement very formal wedding dresses... but not Elaine's!  She feels they would be uncomfortable, not to mention they wouldn't allow her nicely manicured and painted nails to be visible.  David thinks it would be a challenge to slide a wedding ring on over them!

Tuxedo. Most grooms rent a tuxedo. David doesn't understand why. He used to work in a tuxedo shop and watched grooms come and go by the hundreds. The general consensus of grooms was, "Why the hell would I want to keep my tux?" Most grooms seem to have a "SHE'S planning the wedding, I can't wait til it's over" attitude. That just seems wrong! If the groom isn't as excited about getting married as his bride is, maybe there shouldn't be a wedding.

As such, David bought his tuxedo... and like Elaine and her dress, he might not ever wear it again; but he'll admire it from time to time. Sentimental? Yeah, sure... why not?

Bridesmaids' dresses/groomsmen's tuxedoes. The bridesmaids will be wearing light blue (see the Wedding Colors page) and the groomsmen will wear ties and vests to match. Check out the bridesmaids' and groomsmen's attire on the Wedding Party Outfits page!