Having a Glenelg Wedding would have to be one of the things may South Australians would have in common with one another, however Joanne and Gregor travelled half way around the world to have theirs! The loving couple flew out from Scotland to celebrate their wedding on the famous beachfront with local family and friends. They were incredibly lucky with the weather as only the previous day Adelaide and it’s surrounds were thrashed with terrible weather causing erosion and a lot of damage. Joanne and Gregor’s wedding however was blessed with some stunning weather, complete with an amazing sunset which we took advantage of for some great shots.
Preparation
As Joanne and Gregor opted to have me with my flexible hourly rate, I was able to visit Joanne getting prepared in the Oaks Plaza hotel on the northern side of the Jetty. The whole styling was all wonderfully Scottish, complete with thistle in her bouquet and her mother wearing a beautiful tartan sash.
Bride looking pretty
Flower girl
Bridal preparation
Flower girl
Engagement ring in flowers
Bridal preparation
Wedding dress
Bride and Mum smiling
Glenelg Wedding Ceremony
As the weather was wonderfully suited for it, Joanne and Gregor held their Glenelg wedding on the beach, just in front of Joanne’s hotel room in the Oaks Plaza Hotel. One downside of having your wedding on such a famous beach is, even during times of inclement weather, you have to keep shooing tourists out of your carefully laid out altar! The men involved with the wedding were all clad in stunning kilts and Joanne as led out by a piper. It was all wonderfully Scottish 🙂
Exchanging wedding rings
After wedding
Signing registry
Glenelg wedding
Beach wedding
Groom seeing bride for first time
First kiss
Beach wedding
Glamour shots
It wouldn’t be a Glenelg wedding without taking some shots along the famed coastline using the Jetty, which was exactly what we did. We headed over first to the Jetty, then to the public square. We then walked along the beachfront back up to the Glenelg marina before enjoying the reception in the Oaks Plaza Hotel.
Bride and Groom in Glenelg
Glenelg beach walk
Bride and Groom in marina
Bouquet
Bride and groom on Glenelgs Jetty
Bride and Groom
Scottish salute
During the reception we popped out to take advantage of the stellar sunset, and I’m so glad we did!
Glenelg sunset
Glenelg wedding sunset
Glenelg sunset
I’d like to thank Joanne and Gregor for having me as their wedding photographer at their wedding in Glenelg and I hope they enjoy their photos as mucha s I enjoyed producing them!
It is perhaps the most iconic scene from any wedding day, the white wedding dress adorning the beaming bride. But why are wedding gowns white? And why do brides wear white? There is a huge number reasons, not in the least the fact that white is the brightest of colours, further enhancing the bride’s visibility on her big day, but it’s a tradition that has evolved over hundreds of years for a variety of reasons.
Alru Farm wedding bride
Why are wedding gowns white? A bit of history.
To be perfectly pedantic, the traditional colour of a modern white dress isn’t actually white, it’s more “Candlelight,” “Ivory,” “Ecru” or “Frost” when putting my graphic designer hat on.. But to the common layman, they all look like a white wedding dress, right? Anyway, the answer to the question of why are wedding dresses white all has to do with the popularity of some people who happened to wear white on their wedding day, and as a species who like to copy our idols, the fashion caught on and became tradition.
Victoria Albert Wedding
Queen Victoria
Queen Victoria of England who reigned from 1837-1901 was the first to make white wedding dresses fashionable by wearing a pale gown trimmed in orange blossoms for her 1840 wedding to her first cousin, Prince Albert. Naturally, because she was the queen and the center of all things high society at the time, whatever she wore, everyone tried to copy.
Kind of like how it is now with everything Kate Middleton, or any red carpet celebrity wears being reported on. As a bit of a side note here, Anne of Brittany also made white wedding dresses popular all the way back in 1499, believing that white was a symbol of virginity – despite being married once before. Royal brides also chose white as it was the most difficult solour to achieve using the washing methods of the day.
Before modern wedding gowns were made to be white by Queen Victoria’s wedding, it was quite common for wedding gowns to be any colour. In biblical times, blue (not white) represented purity, and the bride and groom would wear a blue band around the bottom of their wedding attire, contributing to the poem of ‘Something old, something new, something borrowed, something BLUE’.
Blue wedding dress
The Traditional Colour used to be Blue!
Generally though, before Queen Victoria made it a tradition to wear a white wedding gown as a bride, the most common item of clothing a bride would wear was simply what her favourite, or best garment she had available to her and could be any color, even black. To convince her groom that she came from a wealthy family, brides would also pile on layers of fur, silk and velvet.
This was partly due to the fact that the more layers of clothing one wore meant the less body odor people were able to smell, being that bathing was not something people did often in those days.
Newlyweds share a tender moment under a veil, bathed in soft sunlight, during an outdoor wedding.
In Modern times
Today though, the answer to the question of ‘why are wedding gowns white?’ seems to be primarily because in modern society the colour symbolises innocence, purity and certainly makes the bride stand out in a crowd, like the princess she’s made out to be on her wedding day. It may also be just ‘because’, as that’s what everyone else does right? It’s tradition! 🙂
Everything on a wedding day has some sort of roots in tradition, some going back thousands of years – others being quite a modern occurance. The fact is that the answer to the question ‘why are wedding gowns white?’ is simply because people today associate this with brides and this hasn’t changed since 1840. Perhaps in another 200 years, wedding dresses may be purple? Who knows?
Wedding Gown Trends Worldwide
Across the globe, wedding gown styles vary beautifully, reflecting cultural traditions and personal expression.
Globally, colours and styles differ. In India and China, red is favoured for its symbolism of luck and prosperity. In parts of Africa, brides wear vibrant patterned fabrics that honour heritage.
While many still wonder why wedding gowns are white, modern brides are increasingly embracing individuality. From champagne tones to floral embroidery, today’s trends reflect personal stories and values.
At SvenStudios, we celebrate this diversity through photography, capturing the unique details that make each bride’s look memorable and meaningful.
