The Wedding Gown And The Woman

There is no specific age for brides. Some come to the altar as young as sixteen. Other’s don’t arrive until they are in their eighties. We never know when the love bug will infect us and infuse our lives with passion and romance.

With such a broad range in age, there will of course also be a wide variety in bridal fashion. The tastes of the bride will usually reflect her life experiences and personal style. These will determine the wedding theme and the look of everything at the wedding. Even with the interference or assistance of any other person, the bride’s unique preferences will emerge.

In weddings, people expect to see a woman, not a girl. This is partly because our society perceives marriage as a great responsibility. The bride and groom in choosing to get married are no longer seen as boy and girl but as man and woman.

This perception lends itself to the style of the bridal gowns. Bridal gowns are beautifully embellished but rarely will you see big bows or trailing ribbons. These are items left on the dresses of the flower girl or maybe on the bridesmaids. For the bride, the message is “I’m all grown up”.

Most young brides tend to go for frothy dresses. Their young form allows them to carry well gowns that have multilayered skirts. For some of them, this is also their debut so they tend to choose gowns that would suit a debutante’s ball - white and beribboned.

On the other hand, a woman in her twenties has enough experience to know that beads can make a magical difference to a dress but that embellishments should be subtle. These ladies normally choose gowns with pearls and beads accentuating the bodice and skirt of their dress.

By the time they enter their thirties, most women know that it isn’t the embellishment that counts. It is the cut of the dress and the skill of the couturier. This is why they will go to great lengths to find not necessarily a famous wedding designer but one who can create a gown that really fits their style and their budget.

Older brides are usually more concerned with being both practical and beautiful. They might well opt for the comfort of wearing a white suit with skirt or pants instead of a flowing gown. They know that the glamour comes from them, not the dress.

Some brides are daring enough to be really outrageous. Take Pamela Anderson as an example. She got married in a white mini-dress then switched to a gorgeous two piece, white bikini with the words “just married” styled on the back panel. She matched it with a sailor’s hat instead of a veil. That fit perfectly well with her wedding scene. She married Kid Rock on board a yacht.

Bottom line is, each bride needs to find the gown that matches their uniqueness while keeping in mind that it should be one that they won’t mind seeing in pictures for posterity. It is always wonderful to become a classic.