Nice Day For A White Wedding

February 28, 2011
One of our color loving colleagues, Jude Stewart, has written an interesting article about color, tradition and weddings. It is a very fascinating look at the use of white in weddings throughout time. A quote from Jude’s post states that “Custom has decided, from the earliest ages, that white is the most fitting hue, whatever may be the material. It is an emblem of the purity and innocence of girlhood, and the unsullied heart she now yields to the chosen one.”

Chapter 13 in Colors For Your Every Mood is dedicated to white and its mark in society. Here is an excerpt about “Innocent White”.

“There is an innocence to white, a christening-dress kind of chasteness, an unsullied childlike naivete. It is traditionally the color of babies or brides. Baptismal and confirmation dresses are white, and some orders of nuns are married ceremonially to the church in a white gown. The ancient Greeks started the tradition of white at weddings, which they saw as a bridal symbol of joy. On the eve of her wedding ceremony, the Greek bride painted her body white, on her wedding day she wore white flowers in her hair and a flowing white gown. For thousands of years, the Japanese have seen white as pure, innocent, and virginal. The ladies of the court and shrine maidens, however, wore their white kimonos over red pantaloons! In the United States, white did not become the standard color for wedding dresses until the 1800s, and colonial brides wore a variety of pastel colors.”