How to Choose Bridal Gowns for an Oriental Wedding

Bridal gowns in Eastern cultures are often far different than the traditional yards of white lace that characterize Western weddings. If you have chosen to celebrate your heritage by incorporating traditions from your culture, choosing a wedding dress that honors those traditions can make your special day more meaningful for both you and your entire family. Your aunt, grandmother or any other elder will be flattered and pleased that you care about the traditions and the family.

Asian and Oriental style weddings have been among the most popular 'themes' for the weddings over the past few years. For many brides and grooms, however, the decision to honor the traditions of their culture lies far deeper than simply wanting to be stylish. For them, choosing to respect and display the wedding rituals and rites from their heritage is a very real way of connecting with their roots - and of honoring their families. From the foods served at the wedding reception to whether or not the bride wears a wedding dress, every moment of the day may have some special significance to the Eastern bride and groom and their families.

Choosing A Wedding Dress for An Oriental WeddingWhile Westerners tend to think of 'Oriental' and 'Asian' as one culture, there are literally hundreds of regional cultures that make up the Asian world, and wedding traditions vary from Eastern culture to Eastern culture. Even within one country, you'll find dozens of variation of traditional Asian themes - and from country to country the differences between bridal gowns and wedding attire are as marked as they are between the Western and Eastern rituals.

The Chinese Bride often wears red to symbolize her joy on her wedding day. Traditional Chinese bridal gowns are lavishly embroidered with symbols of love, luck and fertility, often in gold thread. These days, many Chinese brides opt to wear a wedding dress in the Chinese tradition for the formal ceremony, then change to Western style bridal gowns later in the day at the reception

The Japanese Bride these days is as likely to wear a wedding dress with Western styling as her Western counterpart. It's traditional, however, for the Japanese bride to change her clothing throughout the day. Bridal gowns for Japanese brides often start with the traditional wedding kimono, a white shiro-maku, which the bride wears at the ceremony. At the reception, the bride wears a brightly patterned and embroidered uchikake kimono over the shiro-maku to denote her new status. It's not unusual for the Japanese bride to wear even more bride gowns as the day progresses, changing into more formal wear for various parts of the wedding reception

The Korean Bride traditionally dons the costume of a princess on her wedding day. Korean bridal gowns are elaborately layered and embroidered, and feature a red skirt and yellow jacket - the two traditional colors of joy and life. Like other Eastern cultures, Korean brides may change into a wedding dress at some point during the day to incorporate both Eastern and Western tradition into her wedding.
The Indian Bride has several different styles of bridal gowns from which to choose. The most popular is a sari with a wedding lehenga and choli. Traditional colors for Indian bride gowns are red, burgundy, pink and wine. Elaborately embellished and embroidered wedding cholis and lehengas may be made by the bride's family, or purchased from a specialty shop

The Vietnamese Bride who opts for a traditional Vietnamese wedding dress will wear a red and yellow ao dai - the traditional Vietnamese dress for women. The wedding ao dai is often elaborately embroidered with bright yellow patterns that denote happiness and prosperity.

Other Oriental cultures have their own wedding traditions regarding bridal gowns and dress. If you do decide that you'd like to honor your heritage - and your parents - by choosing a wedding dress that fits your culture, you might make a point of speaking with an older female relative about weddings and bridal gowns.

Your aunt, grandmother or other elder will be flattered and pleased that you care about the traditions and the family and you'll learn a great deal about your traditional colors and styles - and may even hear stories about your family that will help you feel closer than ever to your traditional roots.