What Wedding Dresses Are Girls Wearing Around the World (21 photos)

A wedding is an important event in everyone's life, especially for a bride. Brides devote all their attention to their beautiful attire. In many countries, brides wear traditional costumes that reflect customs and religious beliefs, rather than white dresses (as we're accustomed to).

Today, we'll share with you photographs of beautiful brides from around the world, taken on their wedding day.







Bulgaria (© Stoyan Nenov)

A Bulgarian girl wears a traditional wedding dress.





Turkey (© Umit Bektas)

Before a Turkish bride leaves her parents' home for the wedding ceremony, her brother or uncle ties a red ribbon around her waist. The color of the ribbon symbolizes happiness, good luck, and innocence.



Sri Lanka (© Dinuka Liyanawatte)

In Sri Lanka, bridal attire combines Eastern and Western traditions. They wear richly embroidered silk saris and European-style veils. Jewelry should include an odd number of stones, as odd numbers are considered lucky.



Indonesia (© Beawiharta)

Each inhabited Indonesian island has its own wedding dress fashion. Most often, brides wear brightly colored dresses with heavy embroidery.



Pakistan (© Akhtar Soomro)

Pakistani brides choose deep red, pink, and purple outfits for their wedding ceremony. The bride and groom wear traditional beaded and cotton garlands on their heads.



India (© Anindito Mukherjee)

Indian brides choose a traditional lehenga-choli, most often in red, and accessorize it with 16 head-to-toe embellishments, according to the Solah Shringar tradition.



Nubia (© Noor Khamis)

In Nubia, the bride wears a colorful headscarf, a sheer veil over her face, and a white veil covering her head.



Eritrea (© Finbarr O'Reilly)

Traditional Eritrean wedding attire includes dark velvet crowns and purple dresses with gold embroidery. The bride's attire matches the groom's.



Republic of Tuva (© Ilya Naymushin)

Tuvan national costume reflects the people's nomadic lifestyle. Ceremonial clothing allows for freedom of movement, even while riding horseback, is made of light-colored fabric, and is richly decorated.



Tibet (© Damir Sagolj)

On the eve of a Tibetan wedding, the groom brings the bride a wedding dress and jewelry. The attire may include a headdress, silver coins for decorating her hair, or an amulet with a small metal statue of Buddha.



Palestine (© Mohammed Salem)

For the official ceremony, a Palestinian bride wears a full white dress, but she must also have a second dress, hand-embroidered by her mother specifically for the wedding.



Peru (© Lucero Del Castillo)

In the Peruvian capital of Lima, brides traditionally wear red and black dresses with multi-layered cotton skirts and embellished hemlines.



Jordan (© Ali Jarekji)

Western fashion has filtered into Jordan, where brides wear white dresses and gold or silver jewelry. A green silk head covering is often worn by the bride. The color symbolizes growth, harmony, and security.



Mali (© Juan Medina)

In Mali, the bride's attire is called a "kaftan" and matches the color of the groom's dashiki. White is most often chosen, but lavender or purple attires are also sometimes seen.



Korea

For thousands of years, Korean brides have worn the traditional hanbok. It consists of a long-sleeved blouse and a high-waisted skirt made of cotton or silk.



Japan

Japanese brides dress in a snow-white kimono and don a special silk headdress, the tsunokakushi, which conceals the "horns of jealousy" and symbolizes their intention to become an obedient wife.



Nigeria (© Akintunde Akinleye)

Nigerian brides stand out in vibrant lace blouses and patterned caftans, often made from Indian fabrics. Coral beads and a headdress complete the look.



Chechnya (© Musa Sadulayev)

In Chechnya, the bride's white dress is decorated with a brooch and a belt at the waist. It should cover the entire body, emphasizing the bride's modesty. A white scarf is worn on the head.



Iraq (© Bakr al-Azzawi)

Traditional Iraqi brides set a record for the number of outfit changes. During the wedding, they wear seven dresses of different colors of the rainbow. Red symbolizes love and romance.



Italy (© reuters)

Italian brides believe that the color green brings good luck and abundance, so they may wear a green dress or green jewelry. However, white is the most common choice.