The Tradition of the Bridesmaid's Dress.

Why do we have bridesmaids, and why do we dress them in the manner that we do?

The earliest known tradition involving what the bridesmaids wore shows us that the bridesmaids wore exactly the same as the bride. The idea behind this was to protect the bride: that by standing the bride next to the lookalikes, any malicious ghosts or spirits at the wedding could not focus on the bride and ruin her wedded life.

That old custom eventually fell away in Victorian times (thank goodness) to dressing the bridesmaids in white dresses but with short veils, in contrast with the bride's ornate veil and wedding dress train.

Finally, when commercial dyes became more easily affordable and accessible, we saw our first contrasting bridesmaids dresses make their appearance in the bridal party. Bridesmaid dresses were then seen in colours like bright green, fuchsia, gold, tangerine. Those dresses all then ensured that the bride would be the best-looking girl in the church.

But surely, no bride would ever consciously do that right??