The tradition of wearing a wedding gown started off during the middle ages, it was popular amongst the European nobility who wanted to the bride to wear something that portrayed an image of the family's social rank and class, and so a bride had to wear a wedding gown because she was not only representing herself but her entire family. Brides used to wear robes with rich colors, and were made of expensive fabric, such as velvet, silk and even fur. Before long wedding dresses were now popular with both rich and poor with those who were poor wearing less elegant styles.

Wedding dresses were not only used to make the bride look beautiful on her special day but to also reflect their social standing. Nowadays you can find wedding dresses in many price ranges that make it possible for anyone to afford a dress for their wedding, wedding dresses can also be found in different lengths, and colors apart from the traditional white. Woman today can buy a wedding dress from one of the many bridal boutiques near them or they can alternatively or have a custom made dress made for them by a bridal designer.

Wedding dresses differ in color but western dresses are normally white, or a few creamy shades for example ecru, ivory, and eggshell. Mary the queen of Scots is one of the first people to wear a wedding dress to her wedding when she got married to Francois II of France. The type of color that you can wear is optional however some colors are traditionally not worn for example red is associated with prostitution, whilst black is a color of mourning and thus can not be used, most people believe that the color white symbolizes virginity, and that is why it has used for wedding gowns, though it is not necessary to abide by those rules this day in age!

In eastern cultures such as in China and Japan wedding dresses are normally red in color, which is a color that they believe symbols good luck. Today the western culture of wearing a white gown has taken over the traditional red gown with brides opting to wear a white wedding dress and then changing into the red gown later during the day. In Vietnam they also have their own type of wedding dress known as the Ao dai, in Japan there is no single wedding dress that you can wear as a bride can wear up to three different dresses during a ceremony, in Indonesia a bride wears a dress known as a Kebaya, and in the Philippines a Barong Talong is a traditional wedding attire worn by both the bride and the groom.