Top 3 fantasy wedding dresses for a magical wedding

By: Rebecca Krummert

Thinking of having a fantasy themed wedding? In our Western culture, one of the most important elements of a wedding is the bride’s dress. The bride wants to stand out. She wants to make the crowd say “Wow!” And it's no different for a fantasy wedding. People into the fantasy genre, whether based on old cultural traditions or the imaginative movies and books we have today, the centerpiece is the right fantasy wedding dress.

A medieval wedding dress is simple enough, you can even make one yourself.

Medieval wedding dresses

One of the most popular choices for a fantasy wedding dress is the Medieval style. Most Medieval styled dresses have a boatneck and have long flowing sleeves, that often flow all the way to the floor. Medieval styled dresses offer two options: Renaissance or Celtic. Renaissance dresses are usually a straighter cut, long and flowing. The Celtic style has a little more poof to the dress like the Victorian style.

If you don’t want a white dress, any color works with a Medieval style dress. These dresses are simple, yet elegant. That’s not to say you can’t find an extravagantly designed gown. On the other hand, it’s a great option for a bride who wants a fantasy wedding but doesn’t wish to spend hundreds of dollars on the dress. In fact, a medieval wedding dress is simple enough, you can even make one yourself if you are so inclined! 

Victorian wedding dresses

Victorian style wedding dresses can also bring a sense of fantasy to your wedding. Since it’s a simple style, the color of the dress can be whatever the bride wants. The Victorian style is a type of ballgown with a tight bodice and usually a high collar at the back of the neck with a low square neckline. But, stylistic choices can also include a sleeveless dress or long, tight-fitting sleeves.

This style can also work for a Gothic or Steampunk wedding theme. A Victorian wedding dress is easily functional for all these wedding themes, and although Steampunk is not as popular as fantasy, it is an interesting twist to a wedding.

Black Vintage Renaissance Wedding Dress

Black wedding dresses

Black wedding dresses are one of the most popular choices among millennials and Gen Z’s and they make a perfect fantasy wedding dress. It’s a change from the traditional white and a chance to stand out from other weddings. Of course, some people will think black is the wrong color for a wedding dress. You might even hear comments like, “the bride looks more like she’s going to a funeral.” However, when we look at the history of wedding dresses, before Queen Victoria was married in 1840, a black wedding dress was the most popular choice, especially in Scandinavia. Only two other brides wore white on their wedding day before Queen Victoria, Philippa of England in 1406 and Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1559. White was actually the color of mourning for French queens, so Queen Mary was a bit of a Goth as her favorite color was white!

When it comes to picking a black wedding dress, fantasy brides have several choices of styles. Whether you choose to go full-on Gothic, Rococo Revival style, or a wear a beautiful black A-line princess style dress, the possibilities are endless. If you aren’t sure what style is for you, take a look at Medieval and Victorian styles. You can choose long sleeve, short sleeves, ballgown style or something with a straighter cut. I personally recommend wearing a black wedding dress. They are absolutely beautiful. A great choice for a fantasy wedding!

A bride has several different choices for her fantasy wedding day. Whether she’s a lover of unicorns and fairies or of knights in shining armor and dragons, there’s something for everyone in the fantasy genre. 

Photo credits:  Amazon, Wikipedia.org, Amazon

History of black wedding dresses

While most of us in the West tend to think of the black wedding dress as something new, a gothic fashion statement, or a way to buck tradition, the black wedding dress has a rich cultural history. Its origins can be traced back 3,000 years ago to the Zhou Dynasty in China. In the West, black lace wedding dresses were traditional for Roman Catholic brides in Spain and many brides in the West wore black because it was a color that didn’t show stains and the dress could be worn following the wedding as their good dress. 

Black wedding dress in Chinese history

During the Zhou dynasty(1046BC——256BC), wedding dresses worn by Chinese brides were modest, solemn, black, and worn over light red underwear. The bride’s hair was worn up and held in place with a band and hairpin.

 

Today in China, wedding dresses differ by region. Northern Chinese traditional brides most often wear a dress that is mostly red and decorated with elaborate gold and silver designs. In Southern China, traditional brides prefer a two-piece red dress ornately decorated with a gold dragon and phoenix. Modern couples have stepped away from these traditional dresses to a more simplified wedding dress.

Spanish brides wore black

In Spain, Roman Catholic brides wore black, historically, too. The custom outfitted the bride in a black lace gown, with a black lace veil (mantilla) draped over her head and shoulders. This veil symbolized her vow to love her husband until death. 

 

History of the black wedding dress in the West

White wedding gowns became popular in the Victorian era, following Queen Victoria’s wedding. Before the white dress, most brides in Western Europe wore a variety of colors, but black wedding dresses were a popular choice. Not because it was the most fashionable, but because they were most practical. Wedding dresses were expensive and most women couldn’t afford a special dress to where one time. Instead, they selected a black dress because the dark color didn’t show stains, and the dress could be worn following the wedding.

 Available on Amazon

 

Today, some brides who choose to wear black think they are bucking tradition, and while they are, they are also returning to tradition. As the saying goes, there’s nothing new under the sun.

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Photo credits: Photo by Murat IŞIK Photo by Bormann Chen

 

Before the white wedding dress

Today, the color of the wedding dress is based on what the bride thinks will make her happy, but most of the time, when you think of a bride in western culture, the white wedding dress, bridal veil, and the whole package that goes with them. However, if you look at the history of wedding gown color the white wedding gown is a newer tradition. In fact, buying a dress specifically for the wedding is a relatively new practice. For most of history, brides typically wore their best dress to the ceremony even if it was black. In fact, black and dark colors were popular because stains and imperfections were less noticeable and the dress could be worn again.

A blue wedding dress symbolized the bride's virginity.

 

Color of wedding dress meanings

Weddings of the Middle Ages and immediately following were often more a matter of politics than love, and so the bride wore a dress that made her family look good. Brides from wealthy families often wore bold colors in fabrics like velvet and silk and layered in furs. But when it came to lower-class everyday folk, colors of dresses held symbolic meanings which nixed some colors and made others more popular. But even in ancient times the meaning of colors was often debated.

• Blue wedding dress: In 1870, blue dresses made a popular choice because they were the color of heaven and represented purity, virtue and a connection to the Virgin Mary. Brides who wore blue thought their husbands would be true to them, and this is the reason many modern brides carry something blue on their wedding day. A blue wedding dress is still popular today and thought to be the color of water representing calmness and peacefulness. In modern tradition, blue signifies stability, security and lifelong loyalty.
• Red wedding dress: In Medieval times, red was reserved for nobility and the wealthy, and in Victorian times it was avoided because it was the color of "scarlet women" and hussies. However, it is the traditional color in the Eastern cultures of China, India, Pakistan, and Vietnam, and today, red wedding dresses are growing in popularity in the West and thought to symbolize positives like passion and being in love (think Valentine’s day).
• Pink wedding dress: Pink was thought to be the best color to wear for May weddings because it complemented most complexions. However, some thought it to be an unlucky color which can be seen in sayings of the time like, “Marry in pink and your fortunes will sink!”
• Green wedding dress: You would think that since green is the color of hope and new growth that it would be a top choice for a wedding dress, but it was actually one of the few colors that were avoided in the Middle Ages because it was considered unlucky. Why? Because it was the fairies’ color and you certainly didn’t want to draw their attention during a time of transition.
• Yellow wedding dress: Bright yellow wedding dresses were trendy back in the eighteenth century, but before then it was considered an “unholy” shade to wear in church and was associated with heathen and non-Christians.

Red is the traditional color in the Eastern cultures.

History of white wedding dress

Many people think of the white wedding dress as a symbol of virginity, but that wasn’t the original meaning. That symbolism was connected to the blue wedding dress while the white dress actually was tied to wealth and royalty, except in France where white was the color worn when in mourning. Examples of brides wearing white can be traced back as early as 1406, the 1840 marriage of England’s Queen Victoria to her cousin Prince Albert.

During the Great Depression, when times were difficult most people didn’t have money to spend on a gown they would never wear again. For this reason, brides returned to the tradition of wearing their best dress which tended to be a darker color. But in the second half of the 20^th century, following an economic boon, white became the popular color choice for wedding dresses again.

Photo credits: pxhere, wikimedia, wikimedia