A beautiful bride in a white or ivory wedding gown is what we think of when we picture a traditional bride. This wasn't alway so. You may be surprised to learn that in the 1800's, it was common for brides to wear everyday colors such as blue, pink, green, dark brown, burgandy and, yes, even black, rather than white and ivory. It was much more practical for a bride of the average class to wear darker colors for a variety of reasons. One major reason being money. Prudent brides planned ahead - a wedding gown could be worn for many occasions, not just on their "special day." The wedding gown was a lady's "best dress" after the ceremony and it was much more practical to have a darker colored dress than a white or ivory dress. Let's take a minute to imagine the time and effort involved in keeping the hemline of a white gown clean! Dust and dirt and no modern conveniences! Just think about what a white hemline would look like at the end of a day! Laundering was a big consideration, unless, of course, the lady was from a prominate family who had servants available to handle the laundry.

As mentioned earlier, brides did wear black, but some people felt a black wedding gown was bad luck, hence the old saying, "Married in black, you'll wish yourself Back." A black wedding gown might also be worn by a bride if she were to wed a widower. The Goodwill Museum in the State of Washington has a black wedding gown, complete with accessories and documentation, from the 1870's. The gown is beautiful and the documentation states that the bride was only 16 years of age and married a widower that was in his mid 30's with 6 children. I often wonder if it bothered her to be married in black on her long awaited day!

There were still many wedding gowns from the late 1830's and the early 1840's that were made in a soft ivory color. These gowns were very simplistic in design and were not heavily embelished. Oftentimes, the veil was the most elaborate trim added to the gown. Wedding veils were a very important part of the wedding attire, so many times the veil was the fanciest item that a lady would wear. White began to gain popularity by the 1870's, and by the 1880's most women wore the soft whites and ivories of the time; however, it was still common to see ladies wed in their "Sunday Best."

You will find many early photos of ladies in beautiful white gowns, buy you will find many more photos of ladies in their finest dark colored dress, with and without, ivory veils. Many brides wore their wedding dresses as traveling gowns after the wedding took place. Couples were often married mid-morning with a traditional wedding breakfast and then left for a special honeymoon spot.

Best of luck to you in your journey back in time . . .