Wedding Attire
Traditional European Wedding attire consists of:
Bride – Long gown traditionally white or cream
Groom – Morning Suit
Bridesmaids – coloured gowns
Groomsmen - Morning Suit’s similar to the Groom
Mother of the Bride – Feminine dress or suit & hat
Ushers – Smart suits
Traditional Bridal attire in other cultures include:
Qipao - Chinese traditional formal wear
Barong Tagalog - an embroidered formal garment of the Philippines
Kimono - traditional garments of Japan
Topor - conical headwear worn by the groom in Bengali and Hindu wedding ceremonies
Tuxedo - Formal dress for men consisting black suit, bow ties and cumber band
Sherwani - a long coat-like garment worn in South Asia
Wedding dress - dress usually white worn by a bride during a wedding ceremony.
Interesting Facts
- During Medieval times brides were obliged to dress in such a way as to present a good impression of the family as marriage was seen more as a political alliance. During this period brides of social stature wore wedding gowns made in rich expensive materials such as velvet, fur and silk and colours were bold and rich. Girls of lesser classes simply wore their best church dress to get married.
- The amount of fabric in a dress would reflect the social class of a girl and her family, a dress with a lot of material and a long train shed light on the wealth of the family. Wedding dresses through the ages have always been made with the best fabrics money could buy whether you were rich or poor.
- Traditionally wedding dresses are white or cream - though this was not always the case. In 1840 Queen Victoria wore an elaborate dress made from cream silk satin and lace and set the trend for white wedding gowns, a tradition which remains to this day. White came to symbolise innocence and virginity however originally the traditional colour of a wedding dress was blue which marked ‘purity’. Nowadays any colour is acceptable to wear including purple, black or red.