When the Bride Wore Blue

Depending upon who you talk to, and at which moment in history, the color blue gathered many different attributes, all loaned from the view of Mother Mary held in each era. It was Her hue, therefore blue held a symbolism as rich and varied as Her reach.

• The Madonna/Our Lady/Domina used blue to indicate Her high station in life.
• The Queen of Heaven wore blue to match the color of the skies. Blue became the artistic hue of holiness, implying a glimpse into Paradise, signifying divinity.
• Stella Maris - Our Lady of the Sea - chose blue because it was an oceanic color.
• Our Lady of Sorrows presents a gown the flooded hue of tears.

But all of this dates from before anyone thought that wedding dresses should be a certain color.

As late as the mid-20th century, brides tied the knot in whatever color they liked - or more usually, whatever happened to be the hue of the best dress that they could beg, borrow, steal or buy. If the latter, then black was quite a favorite, because new gowns were way too expensive to put away after the big day.  Wedding dresses instantly became everyday dresses after the confetti was thrown, and black didn't show up the dirt so much during housework.

It was only really the rich brides copying Queen Victoria. The sort of people who didn't have to worry that white had quite opposite properties when worn in the grime.

Throughout the west, on wedding days, brides accessorize with lucky items. The formula, to bless with good fortune her upcoming nuptials, is laid out in a famous bridal rhyme.  It's so familiar that most of us can rattle it off, without once pondering what it all means.

But it all becomes clear once you understand what 'blue' represents at a wedding.

Something old,
something new,
something borrowed,
something blue,
and a silver sixpence in her shoe.

That line about the sixpence fell out of fashion along with the sixpence, but no-one thought to omit the 'something blue' after Queen Victoria's nice lace messed with that folklore too.

This old wedding day rhyme has retained the link between brides and the color blue. It would be lovely to think that truly did refer to her dress. But it's actually the much cruder meaning. Lucky brides go to the altar Virgo Intacta; unlucky ones need to stretch their gowns a little in the hope that nobody notices a tell-tale bump.

Modern brides often choose to wear a blue garter to cover the 'something blue'. That is itself laden with innuendo concerning the original connotation of bridal azure. It's more allure, when you factor in that it's become traditional for the groom to remove said blue garter, either outside the church or at the reception, waving it aloft as a prize amidst the cheering of his friends.

Through his marriage vows, he's just earned the right for his new wife NOT to wear blue.

Everywhere I looked on-line, while researching wedding traditions + blue, told me that brides in Ancient Rome included a blue hem on their wedding gown. It was there to symbolize their purity and virginity, and might match the hue of the girdle knotted about their waists.

It looked promising. Dozens of websites mentioned it, so it felt like it was probably true.

Unfortunately, I'm one of those people who has to double-check everything that I'm told. I hit my books, as I just happened to have several on the Roman period.  (The joys and perils of being a historian...) But I could locate absolutely nothing about blue-hemmed bridal gowns.

What I did find was that the young girls (because they generally were scarily young) generally wore plain dresses with a flame-colored veil. More digging revealed this garment to be a kind of egg-yolk yellow color. Most modern commentators assign white as the Roman bridal gown color, I pictured a yellowish tinge.

The girdle was indeed present and correct. Tied tightly in a Herculean knot - or her best approximation - shortly before handing her infant daughter over to the girl's new husband. The knot indicated that no man had yet, ahem, broken in below that waistline. She was innocent and untouched.

And that's it! Quite detailed descriptions of Ancient Roman wedding attire and traditions alike, but nothing mentioned blue hems. Nevertheless, I've added it for completion sake, and I can't say that my research was exhaustive, so I may have overlooked the source used by everyone else online.

If this one takes your fancy, then there's plenty to choose between here, as is more than aptly demonstrated below. Otherwise, I hope you were able to find something on this page, or at least went away convinced that blue is the way to go for your wedding dress!