A wedding without white

A feminine, white gown, bouquet of beautiful flowers and long, flowing veil — the ultimate wedding ensemble.

Or at least it used to be.

More and more, women are straying away from traditional wedding dresses and accessories and opting for a personalized and fashion-forward look, according to a recent New York Times article White&st=cse.

I have to say, it’s about time.

I always said my wedding day outfit would be anything but traditional. Forget the flowers and the veil — to me, they’re not necessary. And a white dress? I wouldn’t be caught dead in one.

Not only are those traditions outdated, but they’re unoriginal — everyone wears a white dress and a veil on their wedding day.

I’ve never understood why modern-day women still are sporting these items on their wedding day. Years ago, when wearing a white dress symbolized a woman’s purity, and the lifting of a veil represented a groom’s acceptance of his bride — a gift from the girl’s father — those rules were widely accepted because they made sense for that time period. Abstinence was much more common than it is now, and women still were seen as prizes or property to be given away.

But today, things are different. I can’t say I know of too many brides who have walked down the aisle without ever having slept with someone before. And haven’t we progressed enough as a society to recognize that women are equal to men and no longer need to be “given away” to their future husbands? I believe we have, and according to The New York Times, I’m not the only one.

Rather than shunning unique and innovative wedding apparel and sticking with what they know, consumers are accepting the change, and designers are taking note.

Vera Wang, one of the most notable wedding dress designers in the country, incorporated black — a very nontraditional dress color — into her most recent Spring 2012 bridal collection.

I always have wanted a black wedding dress, and now that Wang is in support of the out-of-the-ordinary look, it is my hope that others will consider one as well.

Fortunately, Wang is just one of the many designers making waves in the industry and providing brides with more diverse options than ever for their big day.

This evolution of the wedding dress is one I hope continues.

Commentary

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Mrs. Starski

(01/29/12 6:21pm)
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For every bride that shuns the classics for their old-fashioned symbolism, there’s another that embraces them for their beauty and their beauty alone, or take joy from more updated symbolism. Such as white being a color of new life, and the new life you are embracing with your partner, or the removal of the veil as washing away all that came between you before as you are joined as one. Few women forgo the wedding ring, after all, though that was the most heinous of the symbols- originating as a simple declaration of ownership in ancient Egypt.

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