And the Bride Wore Lavender

By Kate Novack

When Courtney Zierden was choosing a gown for her June wedding, she bristled at the thought of wearing white. "I'm not 22," says the 37-year-old investment banker. "I thought, What am I going to look like in a white dress?" Still, she tried on some 50 ensembles--many of which were white from top to bottom--before deciding on a strapless gown with Wedgwood blue tulle flowers appliqued on an ivory bodice. "The blue really did it for me," she says. "It made me feel like I was doing something that was a little bit different but still traditional."

For years women marrying for a second (or third) time have been asking, "May I wear white?" Now more and more first-time brides, like Zierden, are asking, "Must I wear white?" Increasingly, the answer is no.

"I tell my clients, If you want to go down the aisle in a lime green wedding dress with a dog on a leash to Billy Idol's White Wedding and you're not offending anyone, then go ahead and do it," says wedding planner Colin Cowie.

Brides may not be embracing color with such bravado, but a growing number of women are seeking to incorporate new hues into their wedding-day attire--from a flash of blue in a dramatic train to a sage green sheath for a garden ceremony to an occasional crimson showstopper. At David's Bridal, a national chain that sells about 20% of all wedding gowns in the country, 2003 was the first year that a colorful gown--a metallic gold number--was among the best sellers. Now the retailer is testing the market for dresses made entirely of green, pink or blue fabrics. For spring 2004, designer Anne Barge introduced silk-shantung gowns in sherbet shades of pink, lilac, green and blue. Reem Acra designed a dress that allows brides to choose from various colored underlays. The color wave is set to continue: at last month's spring 2005 bridal shows, Carolina Herrera unveiled a black-and-white polka-dot taffeta gown, Amsale debuted a mocha-and-ivory lace-and-chiffon dress, and Monique Lhuillier accented her collection with brown satin ribbons and rich teal blue sashes.

The all-white wedding dress has been a beloved Western tradition for more than 150 years, and we have Queen Victoria to thank for it. Donning the symbolic shade of purity has been de rigueur ever since she came down the aisle in 1840 in a creamy white satin gown trailing an 18-ft. train. Before that, royal brides wore mostly red or silver, and commoners opted for elegant dresses in floral patterns or colors. But brides, grooms and marrying mores have changed. Women tie the knot later in life (at about 27, in contrast to 22 a generation ago), and more than 1 in 4 couples pick up the tab for their wedding, according to the Conde Nast Bridal Group. As a result, modern newlyweds-to-be often plan nuptials to reflect their personalities rather than cater to the traditions of their parents' generation. At the same time, as the number of intercultural and interracial marriages has increased, so has the use of wedding-day color. "White is not the color of weddings anywhere but in the Western world," says Carley Roney, editor in chief of the Knot, a company that produces a website and magazines for brides. In China, for example, white is associated with mourning, while red is the color of celebration and love. Many Indian brides also wear crimson.

"We're in 2004, and I believe that a bride can have some variation if she wants," says Erisa Katsura, 39, creative director of the Yumi Katsura bridal line. For spring she designed an ice blue tulle sheath draped with silk flowers and a colorfully embroidered gown inspired by intricate thread work found in 19th century furniture. "I am slowly starting to bring in some color, letting brides know that it's all right," she explains.

For many women, rejecting the all-white wedding gown is more than all right. It's a badge of honor. One of the first color-infused dresses to take off at retail (and prove to designers that color was a way to stand out among the racks of white and ivory) was an ivory strapless gown with a sky blue sash by Amsale. On the message boards at theknot.com women who have worn the dress (and its string of imitators) proudly call themselves the blue-sash brides. In a recent poll by the site asking members for their take on colorful wedding dresses, women responded enthusiastically. Among the comments: "Three cheers for color!!! Being a devoted fan of Bjork (including her fashion shenanigans), I could never picture myself in a simple white dress." "If you want color, get color! It's YOUR wedding." "C'mon, do we really need the whole 'virginal' white thing anymore?"

Purists, take heart: for throngs of brides, the answer to that question remains "I do." Would Bride's magazine put an all-red wedding dress on the cover? "I don't think that's something we would do," admits editor in chief Millie Martini Bratten. "Most brides don't want to stray too far from a classic, timeless look."

But it was just one bride who turned the Western world on to white. She may have been royalty, but who knows? Maybe after a century and a half, another prominent bride will reverse the reign of white.