In a culture so keen to defy tradition, the sky really is the limit when it comes to choosing your wedding gown. With dramatic black joining traditional white and ivory in the style stakes, today’s brides are more bold and adventurous than ever before.

I noticed last year several of the major wedding publications both in the U.S. and the UK featured black bridal gowns, but only this recently did I actually see them in the window’s of bridal stores. We all have a little black dress (L.B.D.) or three as a wardrobe staple, many of us would not dream of ever wearing a white dress so why do so just because you are getting married?

Historically, until the 1930’s the most common colour was black for wedding dresses, these could be used over and over again as ‘the nice dress’. They were dresses to be worn for many years, forever altered in size and shape. Some people felt a black wedding gown was bad luck, hence the old saying, “Married in black, you’ll wish yourself Back.” A black wedding gown might also be worn by a bride if she were to wed a widower.

Girl’s are going for the more dramatic red carpet look for their trip down the aisle…and why ever not? Take a look at some of these black beauties!