A wedding dress or bridal gown is the dress worn by the bride during a wedding ceremony. The color, style and ceremonial importance of the gown can depend on the religion and culture of the wedding participants. In Western cultures and Anglo-Saxon cultural spheres, the wedding dress is most commonly white, a fashion made popular by Queen Victoria when she married in 1840. In Eastern cultures, brides often choose red to symbolize auspiciousness.
David Emanuel is a Welsh fashion designer who is best known for designing, with his then-wife Elizabeth Emanuel, the wedding dress worn by Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1981.
The wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer took place on Wednesday, 29 July 1981, at St Paul's Cathedral in London, United Kingdom. The groom was the heir apparent to the British throne, and the bride was a member of the Spencer family.
The wedding of Prince Albert, Duke of York, and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon took place on 26 April 1923 at Westminster Abbey. The couple were later known as King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.
The wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten took place on Thursday 20 November 1947 at Westminster Abbey in London, United Kingdom. The bride was the elder daughter of King George VI and heir presumptive to the British throne. The groom was born a Greek and Danish prince; he abandoned these titles on his adoption of British nationality four months before the announcement of their marriage and was made Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth and Baron Greenwich on the morning of the wedding.
The wedding dress worn by Catherine Middleton at her wedding to Prince William on 29 April 2011 was designed by English designer Sarah Burton, creative director of the luxury fashion house Alexander McQueen.
Lady Diana Spencer's wedding dress was an ivory silk taffeta and antique lace gown, with a 25-foot (7.6 m) train and a 153 yards (140 m) tulle veil, valued then at £9,000. It was worn at Diana's wedding to Charles, Prince of Wales in 1981 at St Paul's Cathedral. It became one of the most famous dresses in the world, and was considered one of the most closely guarded secrets in fashion history.
The wedding dress of Princess Elizabeth was worn at her wedding to Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh on 20 November 1947 in Westminster Abbey. Given the rationing of clothing at the time, she still had to purchase the material using ration coupons. The dress was designed by Norman Hartnell. Hartnell's signature was said to be embroidery, and he enjoyed "working with soft, floating fabrics, particularly tulle and chiffon, and with plain, lustrous silks". The dress was made of Chinese silk, with a high neckline, tailored bodice and a short train. Without straps and with long sleeves, it provided a "fit and flare silhouette".
The wedding dress of Princess Alexandra of Denmark was worn at her wedding to Albert Edward, Prince of Wales on 10 March 1863 in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. It was the first in British royal history to be photographed while being worn. The gown was made by London dressmaker Mrs James of Belgravia. It is now part of the British Royal Collection. In 2011, the dress was part of a display of royal wedding dresses at Kensington Palace.
The wedding dress of Princess Mary of Teck is the gown worn by the future Queen Mary at her wedding to Prince George, Duke of York on 6 July 1893 at the Chapel Royal, St. James's Palace, in London. The dress now belongs to the British Royal Collection and is part of a collection of royal wedding dresses at Kensington Palace in London.
Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha on 10 February 1840. She chose to wear a white wedding dress made from heavy silk satin, making her one of the first women to wear white for their wedding. The Honiton lace used for her wedding dress proved an important boost to Devon lace-making. Queen Victoria has been credited with starting the tradition of white weddings and white bridal gowns, although she was not the first royal to be married in white.
The wedding dress of the American actress Grace Kelly, worn during her wedding to Prince Rainier III of Monaco on 19 April 1956, is cited as one of the most elegant and best-remembered bridal gowns of all time, and one of the most famous since the mid 20th century. One author describes the dress as a symbol of "the marital fervor" and a major influence on women who strove to "emulate Kelly's peau de soie and lace masterpiece". It was designed by Helen Rose of MGM. The dress consisted of a bodice with an attached under-bodice and skirt support. There were two petticoats, one being an attached foundation. The wedding attire included a headdress, veil, shoes and the lace- and pearl-encrusted prayer book which she carried down the aisle. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the wedding, the Philadelphia Museum of Art displayed it at the museum between 1 April and 21 May 2006 and reported it to have been arguably its most popular exhibit.
The dress worn by Jacqueline Bouvier for her wedding to John F. Kennedy in 1953 is one of the best-remembered bridal gowns of all time.
The wedding dress of Sophie Rhys-Jones is the bridal gown worn by her at her wedding to Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex on 19 June 1999 at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. The dress was designed by Samantha Shaw.
The wedding of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson was held on 23 July 1986, at Westminster Abbey in London, England.
Sandra Boler is an Australian-born British fashion journalist and former editor of Brides magazine from 1983 to the early 21st century. In this role she was a widely consulted authority on wedding-related matters from the 1980s to the early 21st century.
The wedding dress of Princess Beatrice of York worn at her wedding to Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi on 17 July 2020 was designed by the British fashion designer Norman Hartnell, who had originally created the gown for Queen Elizabeth II, the bride's grandmother, in the 1960s. The original dress was altered by the Queen's dressmaker, Angela Kelly, and British fashion designer, Stewart Parvin, who remodeled and fitted the dress for Princess Beatrice.
Duchesse was a soft, heavy, and glossy satin cloth made in France.
The wedding of President Grover Cleveland and his bride Frances Folsom took place on June 2, 1886, in the Blue Room of the White House. Cleveland was the sitting President of the United States, and he remains the only U.S. president to be married in the White House. The wedding was highly publicized, though only close associates of the bride and groom were permitted to attend the ceremony. A reception was held as a public event one week after the ceremony.
