{"id":15666,"date":"2019-01-02T14:12:00","date_gmt":"2019-01-02T19:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/?p=15666"},"modified":"2020-03-27T17:00:22","modified_gmt":"2020-03-27T21:00:22","slug":"the-bride-wore-red","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/the-bride-wore-red\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bride Wore Red"},"content":{"rendered":"

Winterguide 2019 | view this story as a .pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

These brides ditch tradition<\/strong> and make their wedding day a canvas of the unexpected.<\/span><\/h3>\n

By Sofia Voltin<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"WG19-WeddingGuide\"\u201cW<\/span>hen I first started looking for a wedding dress, I thought I\u2019d be wearing white,\u201d Courtney Marie Sonia, 28, says. By the time she married Robert Vaughn Gray in Georgetown, Maine, she was wearing a dark teal wedding gown, originally marketed as a bridesmaid dress by Alfred Angelo. \u201cAfter trying on many white, cream, and ivory dresses, I came to the conclusion that I don\u2019t really look that great in such a pale color! I\u2019d already shirked tradition by choosing not to have a diamond engagement ring\u2014I opted for green tourmaline and emerald instead. So I thought maybe I could just keep on going down the non-traditional road.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

This Western tradition of the white bridal gown is relatively new. In many cultures around the world, red, yellow, even black are customary. (Red is prominent in India and China, and Spanish brides will often wear black.) While there were occasions of famous historical brides wearing white dresses, it was Queen Victoria who really got the trend going with her Protestant marriage to Prince Albert in 1840. Before this, even though brides did wear white on occasion, it was more common to wear blue, black, or whatever color their best dress happened to be. White dresses didn\u2019t represent the virginity or purity of the bride but rather the wealth and status of the bride\u2019s family. White dresses were expensive and nearly impossible to keep clean. They were impractical. So if you wore a white dress, it meant your family had money to burn. Romantic, no? <\/span><\/p>\n

A<\/span>veryl Hill, 50, is the writer behind the blog \u201cSimple Living New England.\u201d She married Wayne Johnson in September at St. Ann\u2019s church in Kennebunkport\u2014wearing a navy dress with hand beading, reminiscent of the flapper era. \u201cThis is a second marriage for both of us. I wanted a vintage-inspired wedding dress because, as I like to say, I\u2019m outdated by design. But as a fifty-year-old bride, I didn\u2019t want to wear a dress designed for someone in her twenties getting married for the first time. White isn\u2019t a flattering color for me, anyway.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

The association we still carry that the white wedding dress is for a young bride again stems from those prim Victorian ideals. Women\u2019s magazines played a key role in recasting the white wedding dress from an indication of wealth to a badge of innocence and virginity. Most notably, Godey\u2019s Lady\u2019s Book<\/em> claimed that white was, and had always been, the \u201cmost fitting hue\u201d for a bride as \u201can emblem of the purity and innocence of girlhood\u201d in an 1849 issue. Yikes!<\/span><\/p>\n

The white dress did have some new practical benefits for the Victorian age. The rise of photography led to wedding portraits, and the white dress stood out in the muted black-and-white and sepia photographs. Ashley Jardim owns She of the Woods, a Maine wedding and elopement photography company. \u201cWhile white is such an easy color to photograph, and it looks perfect in any environment, I absolutely love working with brides who go the non-traditional route and wear a color that has more meaning to them. Brides who wear non-white dresses tend to have more personalized weddings in every way\u2014usually more intimate and artistic.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A<\/span>my McCarthy, the digital marketing coordinator and senior sales consultant at Andrea\u2019s Bridal in Portland, says, \u201cIt\u2019s still a pretty small percentage of women who opt out of the traditional ivory or champagne wedding dress. We\u2019ve noticed a recent influx of black dresses or black with lace detailing. I think a lot of it depends on the venue and vibe of the wedding. These brides\u2026feel a full ivory dress and a long train would not fit with the venue and [vibe] they\u2019re going for at their wedding.\u201d<\/p>\n

T<\/span>here\u2019s no denying that the white or ivory dress remains the iconic image of the Western bride. \u201cA lot of women do choose white or ivory because of tradition,\u201d McCarthy says. \u201cThey still get married in churches and walk down the aisle. Some people just want to feel bridal and have that big moment.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think that white dresses are beautiful, but I hope women realize they have a choice. White is just a fashion trend, after all,\u201d Sonia says. \u201cYou should do what feels right for yourself and your partner. Your family and friends, your wedding planner, and your vendors may have opinions on the subject, but it\u2019s not their wedding.\u201d Are there matters to redress if you pick a red dress? \u201cSome people expressed apprehension about the choices we were making, but in the end, it all worked out beautifully. Everyone had a wonderful time.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Winterguide 2019
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