Wedding dress and clothing
What the couple and the guests wear, and why: the white dress, the red sari, the kimono, the kente.
What the couple and their guests wear is the most visible part of a wedding. Dress carries meaning in its colour, cloth, cut and the person who makes or lends it. There is no single wedding outfit. There is a red sari, a white gown, a kimono, a hanbok, a kente cloth and a suit, each rooted in a place and often in a family.
Colour and cloth
White became the fashion for Western brides after Queen Victoria wore it in 1840, though it was not the universal choice before. In India red is the traditional colour of the bride, in a silk sari, lehenga or the Banarasi weave, and in China red is used for luck, in the qipao or the two-piece qungua. In Japan the shiromuku is white and the uchikake over it may be red or gold. In Ghana and Nigeria families may choose coordinated kente or aso ebi cloth. In Morocco the bride may change outfits several times in the amariya chair.
The groom and the guests
Grooms wear sherwanis in North India, barong tagalog in the Philippines, the kilt in Scotland, the morning coat in formal English weddings, and the dishdasha or bisht in the Gulf. Guests follow rules too: no white at a Western wedding, no black at many Asian ones, a head covering at a Sikh gurdwara or a Greek church, and bright colour at a Nigerian celebration where matching cloth shows the family you belong to.
What is changing
Brides wear colours other than white, rent or borrow dresses, restyle a mother's outfit, or wear trousers. Same-sex couples choose from every tradition. Fast fashion and sustainability concerns have pushed more people to rent or alter existing garments. Handloom weavers and embroiderers have also benefited from a renewed interest in heritage fabric.
Written by the EveryShaadi desk with AI assistance. Background on Wedding dress and clothing (kind of custom). Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
🇬🇷 Athens, GreeceLoutrophorosλουτροφόρος
An ancient Greek vessel that carried water for a bride's bath or marked an unmarried death.Attire · The weeks before
🇪🇸 Spain and 4 moreMantilla
A lace or silk veil worn over the head and shoulders by women in Spain and Latin AmericaAttire · The weeks before
🇺🇦 UkraineSong about the RushnykПісня про рушник (Pisnia pro rushnyk)
A Ukrainian song that celebrates the embroidered cloth used in weddings and family life.Performance · The ceremony
🇮🇹 Rome, ItalyWeddings in ancient Rome
The religious ceremonies and attire that marked a union in the city of Rome before the rise of Christianity.Rite · The weeks before
🇦🇹 Austria and 4 moreDirndl
The bodice, skirt and apron dress worn by brides in the German-speaking Alps.Attire · The ceremony
🇺🇦 Chernivtsi, Ukraine and 1 moreVyshyvanka DayДень вишиванки
The annual celebration where people wear embroidered shirts to show national unity and identitySetting
🇫🇷 FranceGarter toss
The groom removes the bride's garter and tosses it to unmarried men at the reception.Play · Reception, dance and gifts
🇩🇪 Hanover, Germany and 5 moreBridal crownBrautkrone
A headdress worn by brides in Central and Northern Europe to symbolize purity and status.Attire · The ceremony
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreCare cloth
A linen or silk cloth held over the heads of a bride and groom during a Christian wedding blessing.Attire · The ceremony
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreWedding superstitions
Traditional beliefs about luck and omens that shape wedding rituals across culturesAttire · The weeks before
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreWedding dress
The ceremonial garment worn by the bride during her marriage rite.Attire · The ceremony
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreBridal bouquet
The handheld flower arrangement carried by the bride during her wedding ceremony.Attire · The ceremony
🇺🇦 UkraineTraditional Ukrainian weddingТрадиційне українське весілля
A multi-day sequence of folk rites, bread baking and church vows that marks the transition from maidenhood to married liRite · Finding a match
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreWhite wedding
A formal Western ceremony marked by a white bridal gown and traditional Christian rituals.Attire · Engagement and betrothal
🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreWedding ring
A metal circle worn on the finger to show that a person is married.Attire · Engagement and betrothal
🇺🇦 Kyiv, Ukraine and 2 moreOchipokочіпок
The embroidered cap that covers a Ukrainian bride's hair to mark her new status as a married womanAttire · The ceremony
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreRing fingerdigitus annularis
The fourth digit of the hand where wedding and engagement rings are traditionally worn.Attire · The ceremony
🇬🇧 United KingdomBoutonnière
A single flower or small arrangement pinned to the lapel of a groom's suit at a wedding.Attire · The ceremony
🇬🇧 United KingdomFull plaid
A long tartan mantle worn over the shoulder in Scottish Highland dress and military uniforms.Attire
🇳🇱 NetherlandsPoffer
The elaborate white headdress worn by married women in the Netherlands to mark their status.Attire · Engagement and betrothal
🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreLenten veilFastentuch
A large painted or embroidered canvas that covers the altar during Lent to create a period of visual penance.Rite · The weeks before
🇵🇱 Poland and 3 moreEaster palmPolish: palma wielkanocna; Lithuanian: verba
A decorated willow or juniper bundle blessed on Palm Sunday to protect homes and crops.Blessing · The weeks before
🇷🇴 Ieud, RomaniaNunta mortului
A symbolic Romanian rite that dresses an unmarried dead person as a bride or groom to complete their life cycle.Rite · The weeks before
🇩🇪 GermanyBollenhut
A straw hat with woolen pompoms worn by women in specific Black Forest villages as part of their traditional dress.Attire · The weeks before
🇺🇦 UkraineWax wedding head wreathвосковий вінок
A paraffin and paper bridal crown worn in parts of Ukraine until the late twentieth century.Attire · The ceremony
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Mantilla: Museu Valencià d'Etnologia, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Bridal crown: Daderot, CC0, source
- Care cloth: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Wedding superstitions: Anonymous Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Loutrophoros: Picture taken by Marcus Cyron, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Interfaith marriage in Christianity: Andreas Praefcke, CC BY 3.0, source
- Poffer: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Wedding dress: Statens historiska museer, CC BY 2.5, source
- Vyshyvanka Day: Vasily Andreevich Tropinin, Public domain, source
- Wax wedding head wreath: Sofo, GFDL, source
- Nunta mortului: Iosif Berman, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Full plaid: Greenmind at English Wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Boutonnière: David Ring, CC0, source
- Ring finger: RAPMOODDE, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Lenten veil: Plutowiki, CC0, source
- Easter palm: Evaldas Liutkus, CC BY 2.0, source
- Bollenhut: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Bridal bouquet: James Vick's Sons (Rochester, N.Y.); Henry G. Gilbert Nursery and Seed, No restrictions, source
- Traditional Ukrainian wedding: Пимоненко, Николай Корнильевич, Public domain, source
- Weddings in ancient Rome: Meister der Aldobrandinischen Hochzeit, Public domain, source
- Wedding ring: CLW at English Wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Ochipok: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Dirndl: High Contrast, CC BY 3.0 de, source
- Garter toss: MorningTea, CC BY-SA 4.0, source