Jessica Biel wore pink and all of a sudden the wedding world is a buzz with colored dresses! However, celebrities and brides alike have been wearing color for years! There's no doubt about it that celebrity weddings set trends in the industry. I was just at Bridal Fashion Week in New York City and all of the major collections included sleeves and lace - clearly inspired by Kate Middleton's choice in her gown. An upcoming wedding that everyone is on-the-edge of their seats for is Blake Lively and Ryan Reynold's wedding. Her dress has been kept top-secret until Martha Stewart Weddings magazine will reveal all of the exclusive details in an upcoming issue. Because of the hype, her dress is bound to start trends.
Many people think that the reason brides where white is because it is a symbol of purity; however that is not the reason behind this trend at all. In the mid-1800's and thru much of the 20th Century, wedding dresses were formal dresses that would be re-used for another formal occasion. Brides could wear any color, besides Red or Black, which were associated with prostitutes and mourning, respectively. When Queen Victoria was married in 1840, she wore white. This was very controversial, because white was the color of mourning in France. Around the same time, the printing press had become quite popular, allowing photographs to be published, reproduced, and shared with the world. Yes - Queen Victoria was the first 'celebrity' wedding to set the trend of the white wedding dress. Brides all over the world began to wear white, and it also became a symbol of wealth to wear white, because if you could afford to wash and re-wear your white dress, that meant you had money. In the mean time, the middle class continued to wear color. It wasn't until the 1950's that the white wedding dress really became the mainstream choice for brides. It has become classic and timeless in our culture and I think it's fascinating that this statement came around because of celebrity trends and not necessarily religious or ceremonial needs.
I love color and I love the impact a colored wedding dress adds to the party. They have a little more personality and WOW factor for your guests; however, if you are choosing a colored dress, make sure it is absolutely a color that fits your personality, party, and theme. Brides who embrace colored wedding dresses can look radiant, but if all of the pieces don't come together, you could look back at your wedding pictures in 30 years and think you look like a bad trend...and no one wants that!
Color can be done absolutely beautifully and a good rule of thumb to make everything cohesive is to plan your color scheme and details around the color of your dress. Vera Wang's Spring 2013 collection showed bright reds to deep burgundy and even straight black. Tara LaTour's latest collection incorporates her signature color-fading treatment, a periwinkle blue dress and even a copper number.
There's no doubt about it - color is changing the wedding industry. Below are some examples of some of those current dresses on the Market from Vera Wang and Tara LaTour. For those local brides in Minneapolis, there is an exciting event coming up for you to test-out-color! On November 7th, L'atelier Couture is hosting a fantastic party to celebrate Tara LaTour's latest collection. From 6:30-9pm, you can join the best of the wedding industry for a night of drinks, art, and colorful dresses! See the invitation below - we would love to see you there!
