The wedding dress is a costume or single-purpose article of clothing worn by a bride during the marriage ceremony. From antiquity, weddings have been highly regarded occasions. The clothing worn by the bride for her wedding has usually been distinguished from that of her daily wear. Symbolism may be attached to the dress, such as white for purity, and may be attached to items worn with the dress, such as something blue for luck. The symbolism associated with the wedding dress may have cultural, traditional, or personal significance.

Colonial immigrants kept the marriage traditions of their home-lands. Brides in the English Jamestown settlement likely wore the costumes of young country brides of the mid-Elizabethan period. Although records of the first American weddings do not describe clothing, it is known that English brides of this era wore dresses of russet, a woolen fabric of natural wool color...