by Christina Bernice Butler

Created on: June 05, 2010

All of the colors of the rainbow; different fabrics, necklines, waistlines and silhouettes; various styles and several lengths, a wedding gown is a tremendous item to have to shop for. Thousands of dollars are spent on dresses that are, usually, never worn again after the wedding. "What's so different, special and important about wedding gowns, anyway?" some may wonder. The wedding gown is often one of the central pieces of a wedding. This should not be so but it is definitely one of the significant parts of the ceremony. It is often overdone and seemingly, a chance to be extra superficial but, in a Christian wedding, the bride's gown has a special place apart from the traditions of man. Many people do not realize where tradition and faith are separate at a wedding. There are many practices that are simply tradition and many that came out of having faith in Jesus Christ. There's a reason that so much is invested into "the perfect" gown for each bride and each member of her bridal party.

A wedding is the ceremony that joins two in marriage much like how Christians are to be joined to Christ at the end of this age at His second coming. In fact, the Bible often compares a relationship with Jesus with an earthly marriage between a man (husband) and woman (wife). Ephesians 5:25 tells husbands how to love their wives and says to love your wives as Christ loved the Church. It is with these next two verses that we find the importance of the wedding gown. Revelations 19:8-9 say, 8 Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.) 9 Then the angel said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”

We see that a gown plays a significant role in a wedding but what about in the marriage? The righteousness and love it represents is what matters in the marriage, not the gown itself. The bridegroom has been there for her and has helped her remain pure. Now, as she is coming to him before God as a blameless bride, she and her bridesmaids will wear garments of jubilee.

There are trends of wearing colors other than white and people who think white is overrated. Go ahead and wear a different color if you so choose but if you are tempted to say a wedding gown does not matter or to say that it doesn't matter what kind or color it is, think again now that you have read this article. This Christian perspective of wedding gowns illuminates the whole vague, obscure secular idea of the gown being white because it represents purity, particularly, sexual purity. It is far deeper than that but the concept is not far off at all. It is good to veer off from traditions and, instead, delve deeper into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. He doesn't care what color a person wears, either. Isaiah 1:18 says, "Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.

*All Bible verses in this article are referenced from the New International Version.*

Learn more about this author, Christina Bernice Butler.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.