Wedding dresses

1878 wedding dress
I do love wedding dresses (what girl doesn't) and thought it would be fun to look at the changing style of the wedding dress over the last 130 years. How styles have changed over the years, some more elegant that others!

I have always been a big fan of Princess Grace of Monaco's dress (below), it was so beautiful and feminine and I did love the dress that the Duchess of Cambridge wore — once again so elegant and feminine.

What is your favourite style of wedding dress?


Ten fascinating facts about weddings:

1. Brides traditionally wear veils because ancient Greeks and Romans believed they protected her from evil spirits.  

2. The tradition of a bride wearing "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue," comes from an Old English rhyme. Something old represents continuity; something new offers optimism for the future; something borrowed symbolizes borrowed happiness; something blue stands for purity, love, and fidelity.

3. The tradition of a wedding cake comes from ancient Rome, where guests broke a loaf of bread over the bride's head for fertility's sake.

4. Queen Victoria is credited with starting the Western world's white wedding dress trend in 1840 — before then, brides simply wore their best dress.

5. Early Roman brides carried a bunch of herbs, such as garlic and rosemary, under their veils to symbolize fidelity and fertility and to ward off evil. These herbs served as a precursor to the modern bridal bouquet.

6. Wedding rings are often placed on the third finger of the left hand because ancient Egyptians believed the vein in that hand (which the Romans called the “vein of love”) ran directly to the heart.

7. Flower girls traditionally threw flower petals in the bride’s path to lead her to a sweet, plentiful future.

8. Puritans banned wedding rings because they thought they were “frivolous” jewelry or relics of Popery.

9. A Swedish bride puts a silver coin from her father and a gold coin from her mother in each shoe to ensure that she'll never do without.

10. Stag parties were first held by ancient Spartan soldiers, who kissed their bachelor days goodbye with a raucous party. 

1900
1920s
Wallis Simpson and Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor, on their wedding day —June 3, 1937
1940's
1951
1957 - I do love the princess neckline!!
1963
1970's
1981 — the marriage of Diana Spencer to the Prince of Wales
1990s
Duchess of Cambridge on her wedding day
Modern bridal frocks - below are some beautiful modern dresses that are much more modest than the ones above. 


Comments

  1. Some beautiful examples of wedding dress, I prefer the older ones.

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    1. I like some things from the old and some from the new and bits in between!!!

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  2. I enjoyed reading this! I read a lot about wedding traditions when we were getting married as I didn't want to just do what everyone else did for the sake of it!
    I love strapless wedding dresses, I think there's something so beautiful and elegant about seeing a ladies shoulders while the rest of her is covered up :-)

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    1. I'm not overly fond of the strapless dress - probably because they don't look very good on me - my arms aren't very nice!!!

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  3. Loved looking at these. Sorry Sandy (above), I'm the opposite, I loathe strapless wedding dresses and seriously, I feel like that's pretty much what every bride has worn for the last 10 years. Thankfully I think fashions are moving on now! I just don't think they flatter anyone, and usually the bosom part is boned and is nowhere near the bride's actual chest, it just looks weird ...

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    1. It is interesting that the strapless dress has been so popular. I always find it amusing when brides wear the strapless dress in winter and look so cold :)

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    2. PS thanks for inspiring this post: http://www.middleagedmama.com.au/i-dont-like-strapless-wedding-dresses/!!!

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  4. I love wedding dresses too! You chose some beautiful dresses to showcase on your blog. Thanks so much for sharing. Visiting you from the small victories link up. Have a blessed week! www.ruckusandrubies.com

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    1. I love looking at wedding dresses - always have, use to look at different designs as a little girl dreaming of my perfect dress!!

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  5. That dress that Wallis Simpson wore is just... weird. If she was going to wear something so tight over her abdomen, she should not have worn buttons underneath (or whatever is making it look like she has lumps running down the middle of her abdomen)!! Some of the dresses you've included are lovely - others are horrible. I hate strapless dresses - they always look like the bride is a moment away from losing every last shred of her dignity!

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    1. The bodice of Simpsons dress makes her bust look strange - it probably cost a fortune!!!

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  6. My favorites are the 50s ones. The first one certainly had a lot of stuff on it. I hate the strapless wedding gown trend. It just doesn't seem appropriate to me.

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