Breaking The Rules: Not Wearing White

Traditionally, most brides wear white on their wedding day but sometimes I have the opportunity to work with a bride that decides to break this unwritten rule. A white wedding gown is not for everyone, just like a strapless bodice may not be your cup of tea. Using color for a wedding dress can be just as much fun as dancing all night on the dance floor after the wedding. Color has the ability to spice up the simplest gown and turn it into a memorable piece of art.



The first wedding were a woman wore a white dress can be traced back to Queen Victoria’s wedding to Prince Albert in 1840.  Before Victoria’s wedding, many brides choose colors including blue, yellow, black and grey for their wedding gowns. Soon after Victoria’s wedding, the white dress trend spread throughout Europe and more elite brides were beginning to favor white over any other color.  A white dress indicated the bride’s family had money to spend on a garment that could be worn once and possibly ruined by getting dirty.  In the 19^th century, brides of the middle class also picked white as the color of their gowns instead of the different hues that were picked previously.  Most brides of this era would wear their gown more then once to get plenty of use out of the expensive garment.



In the past I’ve had the pleasure of working with a few brides that decided to use colors like red, black, purple, hints of green, and multi-colored lining to make their day and dress more unique. Actually a previous bride, Deborah's black wedding dress was part of the inspiration for my Spring 2013 collection; a black, sand washed jacquard gown with hand beading on the bodice.  Her gown was classic old Hollywood at it’s finest.

Kat & Fred

When I met Kat for the first time, she came in with her aunt who lives in Guam.   She knew that her loving aunt was not going to be able to attend her wedding and wanted her to partake in as much as she could during her visit. It was very touching to see how important it was for Kat to involve so much of her family...her mother, father, aunt and grandmother were all involved at some point in the process.   As it was difficult for her grandmother to see, Kat would explain in detail every inch of her dress for her to really "see" the gown come together.  It was beautiful to see her light up with each word. 

One of the most important factors in the design,  was the beading...or as Kat called it "bling"...and lots of it!   We started with dense beading on the top which faded into the body as it trickled down towards her skirt. At each fitting, more and more beading was added...soon she was fully covered. If there was an open space to be found, believe me, Kat would want another stone to cover it. She wanted to sparkle like no other bride she'd seen, and she had seen many, many weddings prior to her own.

The beaded bodice flowed into an organza ruffled skirt which looked like roses, but it didn't end there. From a chapel length train,  we added a detachable cathedral train, finished off with a mini organza belt on her waist.  The end result was stunning!

A beautiful side note...when her aunt returned from Guam, Kat put on a second showing of her gown so that her aunt could feel the same wonder that was felt on the actual day.

All of the special day was captured by the husband and wife team of Connie & Jeff's Photography.

Congratulations Kat & Fred!