From whether to coordinate your wedding linen to your dress, to working the colour of your favourite flowers into your wedding reception decorations and designing a coordinating wedding centrepiece.

White might be the most traditional colour for weddings in the West today, but that wasn’t always the case, and it certainly isn’t a universal wedding colour. In fact, it wasn’t until the Victorian era that white wedding dresses become commonplace, let alone the traditional choice. Purple, blue and red have all been popular colour choices and, worldwide, the passion for bold colour and detail is inspiring and daunting. From heavily jewelled headdresses to painted skin and detailed embroidery, wedding decorations are fascinatingly varied and reveal huge amounts about a culture and its values.

Red

Throughout Asia, you are far more likely to see brides wearing scarlet rather than snow white. Red is well established in Chinese culture as the colour of joy and good fortune. Hence, it’s the natural choice for a wedding dress. Red is also popular, particularly as a lining fabric, in Japanese wedding kimonos, although Japanese weddings tend to involve more than one change of outfit with silver and gold often featuring, too, thanks to their association with wealth. Indian brides will often wear red silk with beautiful embroidered details in gold or green, while red also features in Indonesian and Mongolian weddings.

Green and Yellow

Korean and Moroccan weddings often feature green, the colour of new life. The bright green wonsam Korean brides wear over their wedding dress (or hanbok) is usually embroidered with butterflies, flowers and other elements of the natural world. Green is also a popular colour choice in Islamic countries, due to its association with the Muslim faith, paradise and prosperity. Afghani brides, in particular, tend to choose bright emerald green with heavy make-up and gold jewellery.

Yellow also features in both Korean and Moroccan weddings. In Korean culture, it is a symbol of humanity, while in Morocco most brides wear yellow, as it is thought to ward off evil spirits.

Pattern

The trend in the West recently has been for simple sheaths of white, perhaps due to the association with purity. Pattern is added using textures and fabrics such as lace or embroidery, but in many cultures, it is pattern rather than colour that defines weddings. From the Mehndi henna tattoos of Indian weddings to the detailed patterned fabrics of many African tribes, these complex patterns are heavy with symbolism and tradition.

Nigerian, Zulu, Masaai and Himba brides all wear traditional dress and in some parts of Africa, the fabric patterns used vary from village to village. The Tuareg people of Sudan are sometimes known as the Blue People, as they tend to wear clothes dyed with indigo which, over time, leaves a bluish hue on their skin. These patterned and dyed indigo fabrics are also worn for weddings, including veils for both brides and grooms.

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