Wearing white on your wedding day—whether that is ivory, eggshell, or cream—has been a steadfast tradition since Queen Victoria first popularized it in the 19th century. Yet today, more and more modern brides are choosing to go for something more colorful. According to statistics, 15% of brides are now opting for a non-white wedding dress, a figure that has steadily increased in the last decade. A-listers, too, have been leading the charge, with Gwen Stefani, Anne Hathaway, and Chloë Grace Moretz all notably wearing colorful wedding dresses, while social-media platforms, like Instagram and Pinterest, inevitably give brides-to-be access to a wealth of inspiration that was just not available before.
But with a big, white dress being the key marker of a bride, can you still feel like it’s your wedding day when you’re wearing something else? The short answer, of course, is yes. For many brides, choosing to wear a non-white dress is down to a desire to feel like themselves on their big day, with personal style informing so much of our identity today.
The designer Amy Anderson of Kindred of Ireland has seen an uptick in the number of brides coming to her for custom colorful dresses. “It came quite naturally from the kind of bride we were already attracting,” she explains. “She was often a little more relaxed, independent, and less bound by bridal tradition. Color became part of that conversation because it allowed bridal to feel more personal, expressive, and wearable. For many of our brides, especially those having smaller or more intimate weddings, there is less desire to dress for a bridal ideal and more desire to wear something beautiful that reflects their real style.”
One of Anderson’s recent brides was Jess Murray, who wore a bright pink dress, paying homage to her own mom, who wore green to get married in the ’70s. “When my mom got married in green, it was quite radical and apparently drew a bit of disapproval, so I loved that sense of doing things in your own way,” she explains. “That gave me confidence to choose something that felt true to me rather than following a set expectation.”
Jess Murray in Kindred of Ireland.
Photo: Courtesy of Jess Murray
The broader trend towards more personalized, less prescriptively traditional weddings is another reason why many brides eschew the big white dress in favour of something simpler. “Nothing about our wedding was traditional because neither of us wanted a big wedding and we both hate being the centre of attention, so we kept it super small,” says Charlotte McCaughan-Hawes. “This meant it was quite casual compared to a traditional one with all the various elements you feel you have to incorporate, such as the big white dress. I wore a pale pink Simone Rocha dress with orange floral embroidery that I fell in love with at a sample sale—it was utterly perfect for our day.”
