When it comes to wedding dress fashion, the choices are only limited by imagination. The days of limitations are long gone and the excitement of planning a wedding has reached new heights. The most important decision for the bride (after choosing her man, of course!) is deciding on the perfect wedding dress to express her love and desire. For so many decades, custom called for white. Representing purity, it was the only color choice allowed by society. In keeping with “something old, something new, something borrowed”, blue was acceptable. What about the color of love and desire?
Back then, a red wedding dress would have been absolutely unacceptable. The bride would surely be subjected to social out casting if she dared to openly express her womanly wiles. Well, what better day than to entice her man with a promise of exquisite passions than on her wedding day? Now any color wedding dress is more than acceptable and this wonderful change opens new doors that our grandmothers could only secretly wish for!
There have been some interesting traditions beyond custom demanding a bride wear a white dress. For instance a bride was once expected to do what was called “Collecting”. She would go door to door with a bag (such as a pillow case) and collect pre-wedding gifts. Possibly a precursor to what we now call a wedding shower. If she didn’t follow this tradition, she could actually be considered snobbish in some circles. Try going door to door demanding wedding gifts now! Neighbors may not appreciate such a bold move. How interesting that a red wedding dress could be considered bold, but collecting gifts door to door was not!
Then there was another custom that many wouldn’t even consider in modern times. It was called “Flouncing”. There was a party of sorts that was held with family and friends present. Not an unusual gathering of course, but its purpose was another thing all together! This “party” was held to establish a “formal” contract. Meaning, if either the future bride or groom were to change their mind before the big day, the other could actually demand half the offending person’s property. Now try that these days and see how well that holds up!
Any way one looks at it, there’s no question that some traditions are better left behind. The idea that a bride has to be limited is just ridiculous. It’s HER day and now she gets to have it HER way! So whether it’s a red wedding dress or a wedding dress that showcases all the colors of the rainbow, society won’t frown or ridicule. Instead she can bask in the glory of her man’s adoration and the envy of the guests lucky enough to be there for her special day.
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