Every woman wants her wedding day to be perfect, special, and memorable. Of course, it all begins with finding the right wedding dress. If you are the kind of girl who is not high fashion crazy and is fascinated with your country’s history and heritage, then a Medieval wedding dress may be the ideal option for you. No matter what size or age a woman is, Medieval wedding gowns are flattering to all and make a classical style statement.
Medieval Wedding Gowns are inspired by the exaggerated yet graceful couture, people in the Middle Ages (roughly from 5th century to 16th century) followed. During the beginning of the era, the material choices revolved around linen, wool, silk, velvets, fur, and leather. By the late Medieval times however, they had brocade and satin as well. Contrary to the white wedding dresses most women wear today, brides in the Medieval times chose to wear blue (blue symbolizes purity) for their weddings. The women of royal origins even wore purple, gold, or bolder colors like red, for their weddings. If you do not wish to experiment too much with hues, you can always go for ivory, gold, silver, cream, or lilac grey.
Styles of Medieval Wedding Gowns
The Medieval wedding gowns have three principle styles. Here are some ideas you can choose from:
• The Early Medieval bride generally wore a simple, ill fitted, floor length, ‘A-line’ dress of tight full sleeves with a leather or embroidered girdle. The sleeves may have diagonal armbands or a wristband with intricate gold or silver handiwork. The gown can also be made in an ‘Empire-line’ in which case they would not need a girdle.
• By the Mid Medieval Ages, the use of cloth became more extravagant. The skirts became fuller with long trains and tunics, cloaks, capes, robes, and side less fur coats, with gold or fur borders & jeweled clasps, became the norm of the day. The advantage of this kind of dress is that both the pieces can later be used as separate clothing. An extension of this style was to have a single dress with a front panel of the skirt and the bodice of different material or color. A very common style of these times was also a simple, ‘A-line’ gown, made with two different colors adjoining right in the front centre of the dress.
• A typical wedding dress of the Late Medieval Ages was a low waist, floor length dress with a massive skirt and long train. It had a well-fitted bodice with a lace up feature (like a corset) in the front or back, or both ways. Colorful ribbons or a velvet bodice would sometimes be used to enhance the look of the bodice. The lavishly styled sleeves would be fitted until the upper arms or elbows (sometimes with an armband) and then fall in a bell shaped flare that extended to either just below the knees or until the ground. Sometimes the waistlines and necklines would have delicate gold and silver embroidery. They also started adding ornaments on the neckline.
All these styles and cuts can be mixed and matched to create a gown, most flattering to your body type.
Where to Look for a Medieval Wedding Gown?
You may find a number of special online retailers with a decent collection of Medieval wedding gowns. A small glitch in purchasing online might be with the size and fitting since you are buying the dress without a trial. Another good place to look for a Medieval wedding gown can be your local Renaissance Fairs. They may have some unique and authentic designs to offer. You can also check your local theaters and costume shops to get a dress on rent. If you have a lot of time before the D-day, you can do the research with the help of online retailers and costume shops and get a good dressmaker to custom make your Medieval wedding gown for you. That way you have a unique dress and you do not have to worry about the last minute alterations.
The Medieval times were an enigmatic era of romance and chivalry, with the reign of knights and queens, princes, and fair maidens. The exoticism of a Medieval wedding gown can add that magical touch to the day of your dreams too!













