White wedding

A white wedding is a traditional formal or semi-formal wedding originating in Great Britain.

The term originates from the white colour of the wedding dress, which originated with Anne of Brittany during her 1499 marriage to Louis XII of France. The white dress became popular with Victorian era elites after Queen Victoria wore a white lace dress at her 1840 wedding to Prince Albert.^[1][2] The term now also encapsulates the entire Western wedding routine, especially in the Christian religious tradition,^[3] which generally includes a church service during which the marriage begins, followed by a reception. The white wedding style was given another significant boost in 1981, when 750 million people watched the wedding of Diana Spencer to Charles, Prince of Wales, which saw her wear an elaborate white taffeta dress with an 8 m train.^[4]

The full white wedding experience today typically requires the family to arrange for or purchase printed or engraved wedding invitations, musicians, decorations such as flowers or candles, clothes and flowers for bridesmaids, groomsmen, a flower girl and a ring bearer. They may also add optional features such as a guest book or commemorative wedding leaflets. It is common to have a celebration after the wedding ceremony, normally featuring a large wedding cake with white icing.

“Color Wheel Pro” describes^[5] white in association with light, goodness, innocence, purity and virginity. White is also often considered to be the color of perfection.^[3] As for other significant meanings for white on a wedding day, “colormeaning.com” says, “In color psychology, white is the color of new beginnings — wiping the slate clean. The color white is a blank canvas, just waiting to be written on.”^[6] White is the color in Western culture most often associated with beginnings. Christ after the Resurrection is traditionally portrayed dressed in white. In Christianity, children are baptized and first take communion wearing white. Baptisms are especially tied to white since the person is making a religious commitment to be pure and clean before God. Religious rites and the clothing associated with them have always been important, and white is often a common color used to express high religious commitment and purity.^[3]