Why do brides wear white?

Marriages involve the bonding of a man and woman into husband and wife. It is an age-old practice and one that has gained a variety of traditions along the way. Apart from other complexities that have to be observed, the bride has to strictly wear a white dress. As the dress signifies a woman’s happiest hour, why should it not be of some color?

The tradition of wearing white to weddings actually started with Queen Victoria in 1840, when she married her cousin Albert. Silver was the go-to color for weddings then, and Victoria took quite a risk breaking social customs! But the new custom stuck, and white became the official color of the bride.

White essentially defines the sexual purity of the bride. While in modern culture, sexual virginity is seldom preserved till marriage, the white can also represent a clean slate; by-gone relationships are forgotten and the new one is held onto instead. Bridal white is also unique in the sense that it is hardly a color worn in everyday life. You would never see a woman wear her bride dress ever again after a wedding, probably because it would look out of occasion. The dress is to be wore once, preserved in a closet and then taken out on a weekend to usher in nostalgic memories.

In common folklore it is believed that the white bridal dress is a symbol of virginity and purity. But the modern day answer to why brides wear white is to mark their marriages in a unique manner. Also, marriages are all about tradition, and the white bridal dress is quite a longstanding one.