A wedding dress or wedding gown is clothing worn by a bride during a wedding ceremony. Color, style and ceremonial importance of the gown can depend on the religion and culture of the wedding participants.

Western culture

Weddings performed during and immediately following the medieval era were often more than just a union between two people. They could be a union between two families, two businesses or even two countries. Many weddings were more a matter of politics than love, particularly among the nobility and the higher social classes. Brides were therefore expected to dress in a manner that cast their families in the most favorable light, for they weren't representing only themselves during the ceremony. Brides of an elevated social standing often wore rich colors and expensive fabrics. It was common to see such brides wearing bold colors and layers of furs, velvet and silk. Brides of a lower social standing often copied the elegant styles of wealthier brides as best they could.

The woman to the far right is wearing a typical wedding dress from 1929. Up until the late 1930's wedding dresses reflected the styles of the day. From that time onward, wedding dresses have traditionally been based on Victorian styles.

Over the centuries, brides continued to dress in a manner befitting their social status---always in the height of fashion, with the richest, boldest materials money could buy. The poorest of brides wore their best church dress on their wedding day. The amount of material a wedding dress contained also was a reflection of the bride's social standing and indicated the extent of the family's wealth to wedding guests.

Wedding dresses have traditionally been based on the popular styles of the day. For example, in the 1920's wedding dresses were typically short in the front with a longer train in the back and were worn with cloche-style wedding veils. This tendency to follow current fashions continued until the late 1940's, when it became popular to revert to long, full-skirted designs reminiscent of the Victorian era. The trend has continued until today.

Today, western wedding dresses are usually white, though 'wedding white' includes creamy shades such as eggshell, ecru and ivory. One of the first women to wear white at her wedding was Mary Queen of Scots, when she married François II of France. However, white was not then a tradition but rather a choice and one considered inauspicious, since white was the official colour of mourning in France at the time.

White did not become a popular option until 1840, after the marriage of Queen Victoria to Albert of Saxe-Coburg. Victoria had worn a white gown for the event so as to incorporate some lace she owned. The official wedding portrait photograph was widely published, and many other brides opted for a similar dress in honor of the Queen's choice. The tradition continues today in the form of a white wedding, though prior to the Victorian era a bride was married in any color except black (the color of mourning) or red (which was connected with prostitutes). Later, many people assumed that the color white was intended to symbolize virginity, though this had not been the original intention. (It was the color blue that was connected to purity.) Today, the white dress is understood merely as the most traditional and popular choice for weddings, not a statement of virginity.

The White Wedding Dreams of Every Young Girl

The white wedding dreams of every young girl are the driving force that creates a "bridezilla" out of a gentle and sweet mannered woman. If you are planning your wedding, it would be a great idea to stop and take a deep breath. Weddings have a way of spinning out of control when no one is looking. Suddenly, what began as a simple event to celebrate a lifelong love becomes a wildly expensive, out of control party that has a mind of its own.

Organization Is Fundamental To Remaining Focused On Wedding Budget

As you begin to plan your wedding, the very first day, make sure that you are focused on the wedding budget. The budget is going to be the only way you have to monitor the direction in which your wedding is moving. As your wedding begins to grow into an actual event rather than a simple concept in its planning stages, the wedding budget will be the best thing to help keep the spending focused.

Friends and family will not try to prevent you from buying the many different expensive extras that so many brides believe they need for their white wedding. These are the people that love you and want your dreams of the expensive white wedding gown, individually, hand-caligraphied white wedding invitations and the expensive white wedding decorations that will tie the entire theme together; not the individuals that are monitoring your spending habits or raining on your parade.

If you keep a close eye on your wedding budget you will always have a good idea of how expensive your wedding actually is becoming and how to keep the white wedding dreams alive without turning the wedding into a money pit.

Watch the Dollar Signs When Building the White Wedding of Your Dreams

It is no secret that weddings cost a great deal of money but they don't need to send you to the poor house. With a bit of research, an eye for sales and the willingness to put effort into finding ways to cut costs, you can have an expensive wedding for very little expense.

Simple Ways to Cut Costs When Planning a White Wedding

Choosing to hold your wedding on an "off" day is an easy way to save an incredible amount of money. Afternoon Sunday weddings or evening weddings on a Friday night are both economical alternatives to the Saturday night sit-down wedding. If you are not concerned with the specific date or the day or your wedding, you could choose a less expensive alternative to allow you more money to spend on other aspects of the wedding.

The most important part of planning your white wedding is to remember the love that created this wedding and focus on the importance of keeping that love as strong as possible and less about the expensive white wedding shoes that you cannot live without.

Personalized wedding gifts make special memories of their own. On your wedding day, if you are looking for a way to make all of your loved ones happy, consider a personalized gift to give them. If you are going to the wedding of someone that you love, then this is the time to give a personalized message to your loved ones in their wedding gift. Think it is too hard to find that perfect gift to give? Not so. Here are some ideas to consider.

Almost any gift can be personalized. No matter who you are giving it to, a simple message can be added to it to convey your thoughts, feelings and sentiments to the couple or to your guests. Consider these products.

* Candles are very popular choices. Make them personal by adding a message to them. A simple note of thanks makes each of your wedding guests feel as if they did something special for your wedding day.
* Picture frames are ideal if you would like to convey that special memory for a lifetime. Whether you are giving the wedding party a photo of all of you together or if you are giving your loving couple a photo of themselves, these can be easily personalized on the frame or on the back.
* Handmade products are amazing for that very special memory. Consider having a quilt personalized with the couples names. Or, consider having a door hanger made with the couple's names on it to decorate their new front door, the opening into their new lives.

Personalize jewelry, jewelry boxes, wine glasses and any other thing that you would like to give to your favorite couple. Taking the time to personalize a message to them will make all the difference. Imagine, five years from now when they are celebrating their anniversary and they look over to the mantle and see this amazingly beautiful piece of artwork that you personalized with their names. They will remember you, you will remember them and their special day is forever there to be thought of.

Giving unique wedding gifts is one of the best things that individuals can be given on this very special day. Their wedding is sure to be one of the most wonderful times of their lives, one that they will want to remember year after year. But, will they remember the frying pan that Aunt Marge gave them or the set of dishes that lasted the first year from Uncle Bill? Most likely, they will use these things and will appreciate them, but they are surely not going to remember who gave it to them.

Yet, it is very possible to give a gift that will be remembered and even cherished. To do this, really understand what the couple would like, what they enjoy as well as what is within budget. Unique gifts may be simple and elegant such as a gold framed picture of the time that they came to visit and you captured them on camera. Or, it could be more extravagant such as an element for their home that is beautiful, useful as well as something unique.

One thing that is important to remember is that a wedding gift should be something that they love and cherish, not necessarily something that you do. Just because you love pink flamingos, does not mean that they do. Keep in mind that the gift that you give should be something that fits them, not you.

To give a unique gift, just think about the things that the couple will love to have and call their own. Think about making it personal with a very special message etched onto it. Or, have something hand crafted for them to see how much you thought about their gift. Giving a gift like this is a sure way to show those that you love how much you thought about them for their special day. It only takes a few minutes of thought and you'll have that unique and wonderful wedding day gift.