The wedding dress and what the couple wear at weddings around the world: a comparison by country

What a couple wears to marry is one of the clearest signs of where, and with whom, they belong. Red is the colour of luck across much of Asia, white is the Western choice since the nineteenth century, and the Ghanaian kente, the Scottish kilt and the Korean hanbok each carry a story. Garments are often inherited, borrowed or made by relatives, and may be the most expensive clothes a person ever wears.

Colour and meaning

Red stands for luck, joy and fertility in India, China, Vietnam and much of the Middle East, so brides wear red saris, lehengas, qipao and cheongsam, and guests avoid wearing it as outsiders to the family. White became the usual bridal colour in Britain and America after Queen Victoria married in a white gown in 1840, and has spread worldwide through film and magazines. In Japan a bride may begin in white, shiromuku, then change into a red or patterned kimono. Many cultures use several colours across the days: green and yellow for the henna and turmeric nights, gold for the ceremony.

The groom and the others

Grooms wear the sherwani and turban in North India, the dhoti and angavastram in the South, the barong Tagalog in the Philippines, the kilt in Scotland, the hanbok in Korea and the morning suit or dark suit in much of Europe. The couple's parents, attendants and guests often wear matching colours or fabrics. Family members may wrap the couple in a shawl, tie their garments together, or give them a cloth as a blessing, so clothing is part of the rite and not only the decoration.

Made by hand, passed down

Many wedding garments are textile heritage: the Kanjivaram and Banarasi saris of India, the piña cloth of the Philippines, the Hungarian Kalocsa embroidery, the Norwegian bunad with silver brooches, the Palestinian thobe stitched by the bride's female relatives. Family gowns and jewellery are altered for the next bride. Renting, borrowing and wearing a dress more than once are common in some places, and the resale and rental of gowns is growing.

How it is changing

Couples now mix: a white dress for the vows and a red outfit for the tea ceremony, or a sari with a veil. Dress codes include tailored suits for women and gowns for grooms. Sustainability and cost are pushing a rise in rented and second-hand outfits, and designers such as those who work in handloom revive local weaves. Because the clothes carry meaning for those who wear them, the choice is best left to the couple and their families.

The wedding dress and what the couple wear around the world

🇮🇳 India

A Hindu bride often wears red, maroon or gold in silk, such as a Banarasi or Kanjivaram sari, or a lehenga. Bengali brides wear red and white, and Kerala brides often wear a cream and gold kasavu sari.

Wedding sari, being written

🇱🇰 Sri Lanka

The Kandyan bride wears the osariya, a sari draped in a particular layered style, with ornate jewellery, and the groom wears a Kandyan costume with a long cloth and a decorated jacket. The bride and groom dress as if in the old royal court.

Read: Osariya

🇵🇭 Philippines

The groom wears a barong Tagalog, a sheer embroidered shirt in pineapple or abaca fibre, over a white undershirt. The bride may wear a white gown or a terno with butterfly sleeves, with matching cloth cords, the yugal, drawn around the couple.

Barong Tagalog, being written

🇨🇳 China

Red is the colour of the Han bride, who traditionally wore a phoenix crown and an embroidered robe, and later a qipao. Many couples today wear Western white for the ceremony and red for the tea.

Qipao, being written

🇰🇷 South Korea

The couple wear hanbok for the pyebaek, the formal greeting to the groom's parents, the bride in red and yellow with a hwarot (ceremonial robe) and the groom in a blue or dark robe with a hat. A Western gown and suit for the main ceremony are now more usual.

Hanbok, being written

🇯🇵 Japan

The shiromuku is a pure white kimono worn with a white headdress, the tsunokakushi or wataboshi. After the ceremony the bride changes to an uchikake, a heavily embroidered robe, often red, and then a Western gown at the reception.

Shiromuku, being written

Compare all 16 places

Traditions to start with

Kente clothGhana's ceremonial woven cloth.

LehengaThe long skirt of the South Asian bride.

Also part of it, and being written: Wedding dress (The overview of bridal clothing.), Shiromuku (The Japanese white bridal kimono.), Hanbok (Korean traditional dress, worn at weddings.), Barong Tagalog (The Filipino groom's shirt.), Qipao (The Chinese one-piece dress.), Bunad (Norwegian regional costume.).

Questions people ask

Why do Western brides wear white?

White became the fashion after Queen Victoria wore it in 1840, and magazines and shops spread it. Earlier brides wore their best dress in any colour.

Why is red a wedding colour?

Across much of Asia, red stands for luck, joy and long life, so it is used for gowns, envelopes and decorations. It is also the colour of the bride's hands in many henna traditions.

Is the cost of a wedding dress a problem?

It can be, and many couples now rent, borrow, buy second-hand or have an keepsake altered. Costs differ widely by country and by family choice.

Can a guest wear white or red?

Customs vary. In many Western weddings guests avoid white, and in many Asian ones guests avoid red if they are not family. Checking with the hosts is the safest course.

About this page

Written by the EveryShaadi desk with AI assistance. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

Jirtig: Alzain Mohammed, CC BY-SA 4.0, source

Minangkabau marriage: Mamasamala, CC BY-SA 3.0, source

Osariya: Mr Anuradha Ratnaweera (අනුරාධ රත්නවීර මහතා), CC BY-SA 2.0, source

Bridal crown: Daderot, CC0, source

Shinto wedding: Jakub Hałun, CC BY-SA 4.0, source

Sehra: SynthContibutor, CC BY-SA 4.0, source

Tengkolok: Riski Syahputra, CC BY-SA 4.0, source

Beskap: Kris, Photographer of the Press, Media and Information Bureau of the P, Public domain, source

Baju Kurung: Ministry of Information official photographer, Public domain, source

Weddings in Mali: HawaG, CC BY-SA 4.0, source

Shankha: Salil Kumar Mukherjee, CC BY-SA 4.0, source

Loutrophoros: Picture taken by Marcus Cyron, CC BY-SA 3.0, source

Songket: Rijksmuseum, CC0, source

Kanchipuram silk sari: McKay Savage, CC BY 2.0, source

Kente cloth: ZSM, CC BY-SA 3.0, source

Bandhani: RubyGoes, CC BY 2.0, source

Aso oke: Wolf D., Public domain, source

Jokduri: derivative work: Caspian blue ( talk ) Korean_dance-Jinju_pogurakmu-01, CC BY-SA 2.0, source

Karakou: Bachounda, CC BY-SA 4.0, source

Aso ebi: SUPREME LACE, CC BY-SA 4.0, source

ʻIe tōga: Sarah Kelemen, CC BY 2.0, source

Ulos: Boy Lawson, CC BY-SA 3.0, source

Zuria: Kurt Bauschardt, CC BY-SA 2.0, source

Gele: Royalesignature, CC BY-SA 4.0, source

Weddings in ancient Rome: Meister der Aldobrandinischen Hochzeit, Public domain, source

Huipil: Gift in memory of Elizabeth Ege Freudenheim, No restrictions, source

Dirndl: High Contrast, CC BY 3.0 de, source

Lehenga: Iwaqarhashmi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source

Hwarot: Unknown author, No restrictions, source

Meitei wedding: Dabu Leichombam, CC BY-SA 4.0, source

The wedding dress and what the couple wear