Wedding Wednesday: Cultural Differences in Appropriate Attire

So, a lot of people who I talk to about colorful wedding dresses here look at me like I have multiple heads.  Or some sort of weird disease.  Or I was dropped on the head as a small child.  Or I get the look of pity, and some snide remark about how my desire to not wear white on my wedding day is due to some deep-seeded remorse I feel for being less than "pure" on my wedding day, as I was raised Roman Catholic.

Well, I have only one head, on which I have not been dropped, no diseases, and no regret that I did not remain "pure", as it were.  But I live in America, where the archetypical wedding dress is in hues of bright white, ivory, champagne, and other boring white-ish tones.  I get that it's a socially accepted norm for things like weddings.  Sorta like we wear black for funerals.

But what about in other cultures?  In India, brides wear a myriad of bright, fun colors in their bridal saris.  In Japan and China, brides also tend to don a kimono in breathtaking shades of vibrant color. It seems only those of us who happen to live in the Western Civilization deem colorful bridal gowns "taboo".

I know I am not the only bride-to-be that feels this way!  All you have to do is check out the Rock'n'Roll Bride's blog to see several examples of American, British, and Australian brides wearing everything from purple to rainbow to black bridal dresses!

But I am more interested today in exploring the beautiful traditional colorful bridal gowns...










All the above images are from Flickr, and should link through to their original source (look at me, I'm fancy!).  Have a wonderful Wednesday! 

Does anyone else find the cultural taboos to be so intriguing?  And bizarre?  Any of you lovely readers wore or want to wear a bright frock for your wedding?  I'd love to know!