A Black Wedding Dress? Are You Crazy?!
A quick poll of my Facebook friends revealed that most of them preferred something "more traditional." A few said they'd consider it, but were more likely to wear a white dress with black or colored accents. One woman noted that her grandmother wore a black dress for her wedding in the early 1930s, and another mentioned that Laura Ingalls Wilder wore a black dress for her simple wedding in 1885.
I think it's an idea worth the contemporary bride's consideration. Aside from their almost inherent elegance, black gowns offer a chic option for brides who want to break out of the cookie cutter, but who aren't keen on looking too "alternative." Frugal brides may also be interested in the price tag. The rueful old joke that adding the word "wedding" to anything instantaneously makes the item cost three times as much rings unfortunately true. Taking advantage of lower price point on black gowns could save you hundreds from your wedding budget.
So would I wear a black wedding dress? After thinking on it a while, I've come to the conclusion that yes, I absolutely would. One of my favorite formal dresses I've ever worn was a long black velvet ballgown with a white satin band around the top of the strapless bodice - it was sophisticated, absolutely stunning, and made me feel like the most gorgeous woman alive. What more could I want from a dress on my wedding day?
Some inspiration:
Offbeat Bride's black-wedding-dress tag
Something beautiful by Christian Dior Haute Couture
Traditional with a touch of extra elegance from Stewart Parvin
Published by Meghan Hart
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6 Comments
Post a CommentI love black, but it's got the funeral stigma ... although people do often equate weddings with funerals, and if I were ever dumb enough to get married again .... lmao!
Jane: I -just- saw that book yesterday and almost bought it. Now I'm curious again - I'll have to go back and pick it up!
Maxine: Isn't that fabulous? A friend sent me just the image while I was working on my article, and I had to go hunt down where it was from because it was just too beautiful to leave out. Beautiful.
Never thought of a black wedding dress until I saw the Christian Dior Haute Couture picture. Absolutely stunning! Very interesting article.
Jennifer Lancaster in the book "Bitter is the New Black" wore a black wedding dress.
lol, go you, Kay! :D It was interesting reading the responses from my Facebook friends. Some of them clearly felt it was still taboo and was too mournful for a wedding, and some of them said "Duh, absolutely. It's my favorite color, what else would I wear?" Funny that something so simple as a dress should stir up so many opinions!
For my third wedding I threatened to wear black and my mother said she wouldn't come. I then threatened to have the ceremony on a nudist beach and she relented on the black, it is all relative lol. Seriously I ended up wearing a silver dress and that suited me fine but I would wear black, it is my favorite color.