WEDDING:
THE FACT, THE MYTH AND MEANING OF THE WHITE WEDDING GOWN
Wedding
were more like a business deal in which two families joined forces for a
beneficial arrangement or alliance. Wedding dresses, then, were chosen to present the bride’s family in the best
light, especially in terms of wealth and social status. A wedding gown/dress is
the clothing worn by a bride during a wedding ceremony. Colour, style and
ceremonial importance of the gown can depend on the religion and culture of the
wedding participants. According to Hanne Blank, author of Virgin, the untouched History, most brides wore whatever was nicest
piece of clothing in their closet while nobility wore luxurious gowns
embroidered with metallic thread.
For
most of history, brides rarely purchased a dress specifically for their wedding
day! The bride will typically wear her finest dress to the ceremony even if it
was a dark colour, only a few colours are avoided, such as the green which was
considered unlucky. Blue was a popular choice as it represents Purity, piety, and connection to the Virgin
Mary (as she is always depicted in blue robe).
Though
examples of brides wearing white can be traced back as early as 1406, Mary
Queen of Scots wore a white wedding gown in 1559 when she married her first
husband because it was her favourite colour even though then white is
considered the colour of MOURNING! The 1840 marriage of England’s Queen
Victoria is considered the seminal white-wearing occasion. Dripping with orange
blossoms, her skinning white dress inspire thousands of common folk to follow
suit. Almost a decade after the wedding, Godey’s
Lady’s Book, one of the first women’s Magazines in America, declared that
white was the most fitting hue for the bride! That’s how the tradition is
established.
NOTE:
white was a hard colour to obtain and preserve then and only women willing to
show off their social class made sure
to wear white dresses made from excessive amount of fabric – and still the
white of that time is not as white as of this time because people lack the
necessary means to bleach fabrics! So the white then may be cream or off-white
of now!
Today,
western wedding dresses are usually white, because along the line many people,
especially the Church, assumed that the colour white was intended to
symbolize Virginity though this was not the original intention. It was the
colour Blue that was connected to Purity, Piety, Faithfulness and traditionally
is associated with the Virgin Mary.
This misconception has made church wedding in
Africa, especially in Nigeria more expensive. As the nation drives to copy
anything western without proper understanding of its history and context, which
has also brought the issue of A MUST white wedding gown to not only the
society, but the church too as these is fuelled by the capitalist behind its
commercial and economic success.
For
example, the Chinese, Indian and other eastern cultures, brides often wear red
or a white-red combination as a colour Red symbolizes auspiciousness and good luck. Nowadays
many women from that culture chose other colours besides red. In modern
mainland Chinese weddings, the bride may opt for western dress of any colour
and later don a traditional costume.
In
the Japanese weddings, brides often don multiple colourful dresses. But white
and red colour dress combination is popular; white is used because in Japan it
symbolizes death! In this case, the
bride becomes dead to her family. The bride will eventually remove her white Kimono to reveal another colour, usually
red, to symbolize her re-birth into her husband’s family. But these days,
brides can chose from million colours, styles and fabrics for their walk down
the aisle. While shape and style vary drastically from bride to bride,
traditional white and light coloured dresses are still most popular as many
today view white not so much as a symbol of wealth but rather one of Purity and Virtue.
Generally
the indigenous people of the America have varying traditions related to wedding
and thus wedding dresses. One of which has no specific colour! E.g. the tribes
of Northern California had a traditional bridal dress woven in symbolic
colours: White for the East, Blue for the south, Yellow (Orange) for the West,
and Black for the North.
In
Africa, wedding gowns themselves vary between countries; culture, religion and
tradition. In Morocco and Sudan brides wears elaborately embroidered robes.
Nilotes brides, whose people live along the Nile and are nudist, wear a bead
apron and a half-skirt, along with sandals, feathers ash, clay and a necklace.
Kente cloth, historically woven in Ghana is possibly what most people associate
with traditional African garb. Red, gold, and green symbolizing blood,
prosperity and home are liberation colours, repeated in patterns of various
meanings. In general, bright colours, whether or not those of African
liberation are the norm. African royalty wears an ensemble rather than a single
gown, a head piece wrap skirt, shawl and loose blouse!
Marry in
White, and You have chosen right
Marry in
Grey, and You will go far away
Marry in
Black, and You will wish yourself back
Marry in
Red, and You will wish Yourself Dead
Marry in
Green, and You will be ashamed to be seen
Marry in
Blue, and You will always be true
Marry in
Pearl, and You will live a whirl
Marry in
Yellow, and You will be ashamed of you fellow
Marry in
Brown, and You will live in the town
Marry in
Pink, and Your spirit will sink
Funny enough, the groom is only expected
to dress to match the bride!
My
final submission is that, Wedding dress and its colour is like money, it is
whatever we call it. Money has no value of its own except the value we place on
it. What is highly price and value here might means nothing overseas.
Therefore, white wedding dress is of whatever value we place on it. All I know
is the bride must appear in what brings honour to her family and pride to her
groom. To me white wedding dress ain’t
nothing, only feferity! Forgive my
language.
#Oluthomas
#oluthomas_sharing_the_love
#wedding
#weddinggown
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