What is The Meaning of a Green Wedding Dress?

People have had strong correlations with green color since the early times, both positive and negative.

In different cultures, green is the color of luck, life, and harmony, but it may also represent envy and infidelity.

Although Americans consider green wedding dresses extravagant, they are traditional in some Eastern countries, including India, Morocco, and Afghanistan.

Perhaps, the best thing about the green color is its versatility. For instance, a mint green wedding dress will suit brides with pale skin, whereas rich dark green wedding dresses are perfect for women with a darker complexion.

Luck

Green has signified luck and success for centuries.

It’s the color of one of the most popular luck signs, the four-leaf clover, also known as shamrock. This association is especially strong in Ireland, where shamrock is the national symbol.

The connection between shamrocks and luck stems from Celtic Druid times.

They believed that shamrocks gave them magical powers and allowed them to notice evil spirits coming to escape in time. Four-leaf clover also allegedly helped to see forest fairies.

The first reference to shamrocks bringing luck in literature dates to the 1620s, when Sir John Melton suggested that his shamrock-shaped charm brings good fortune. The leaves of four-leaf clovers are meant to represent faith, hope, love, and luck.

Meanwhile, green is considered an unlucky color in China as it’s associated with infidelity. Perhaps, that’s a matter of personal beliefs and cultural background.

Fertility

The green color has symbolized fertility since early pagan times. Celtic Druids decorated their homes with evergreen plants such as ivy and holly during winter solstice festivities to represent the rebirth of nature.

This makes sense – in ancient times, the best time to give birth to a child was spring. Spring is a time abundant with food when the air temperature continues to rise and the sun stays in the sky longer day after day.

Spring is the season when meadows turn green after a cold winter, so green color indirectly became linked with fertility. Although modern women don’t have to care about the season as much, most animals still give birth in spring.

In pagan times, people on the British Islands worshipped the Green Man as a symbol of fertility. His face surrounded by leaves gazes on attendees of British churches to this day, particularly in the Somerset and Devon regions.

Traditionally, the main reason people create a family is procreation. Of course, times are changing, and modern couples may have a different idea of family.

Still, children remain one of the defining elements of a family for many people worldwide.

Nature

Green is the color of grass, trees, flower stems, leaves, and moss. No wonder that green is often associated with nature, particularly with spring, when all the plants awaken from long winter sleep.

Spring is the time of nature’s rebirth and renewal. Thus, a green wedding dress symbolizes the start of a new married life.

Scholars state that our positive associations with green can be explained by evolution, as this color indicated sources of food and shelter to our predecessors.

Due to such a strong association of green with nature, marketers often use green elements in organic food packaging. Of course, your wedding dress isn’t food packaging, but you can draw links with nature using green color, too.

A green dress is the perfect white wedding dress alternative for nature admirers. If you love hiking in the mountains or have dozens of plants at home, this choice just seems natural – pun intended.

Hope and Immortality

Green is the color of immortal life. Evergreen plants, such as fir, holly, and ivy, were used to represent nature’s triumph over barren winter, showcasing that nature never dies.

Evergreen plans gave ancient people hope in the soon arrival of warm weather. And at that time, warm weather meant life since food in winter was scarce, and people were at constant risk of dying.

In other words, the green color represents the faith that a difficult period will pass and things will improve, same like winter gives way to spring.

In Ancient Egypt, the God of the Underworld, Osiris, was depicted with green skin. Egyptians believed that after death, people were granted real immortality.

Prosperity

Most people associate prosperity with gold color, though green is a no less suitable symbol for wealth and abundance. After all, dollar banknotes are green.

Have you ever wondered why U.S. dollars are green, though? The main reason for this is the difficulty of photocopying green color, which reduces the risk of counterfeit note production. However, green was also chosen as a symbol of stability and strength.

Drawing links with a wedding, stability is among the most important traits of a happy family. People feel safe when their lives are under control, and prosperity is one factor that guarantees stability.

However, prosperity refers not solely to financial status. The term may be used in relation to any abundance, be it love, food, or money – you name it. Thus, a green wedding dress color attracts abundance into your home.

Health & Youth

In the Western world, green is commonly associated with youth and immaturity. Perhaps, the analogy is derived from unripe fruit. Thus, a green wedding dress is a perfect match for young brides.

Green may also be associated with youth because it represents spring, and youth is the “spring” of life. Adulthood, in turn, is summer, old age – autumn, and death – winter.

Green is also the color of health – that’s why many pharmacies in Europe use the green cross as their logo. You may also notice the green color used in logos and the interior of many healthcare facilities in the U.S.

But green isn’t associated solely with physical health. It also represents inner health and balance. Many believe that the green color has calming, relaxing capabilities and may relieve stress, anxiety, depression, and headaches.

This belief has a reasonable explanation. The green color is the most restful for the human eye to view due to its short wavelength and evolutionary reasons.

The colder the color, the shorter its wavelength is, and the less time our brain needs to process it. That’s why the green color has a positive impact on our vision and is so popular in interior design.

All of us strive for a healthy relationship. Furthermore, healthy people tend to be happier and more caring. A green dress for the bride represents that she values her and her loved one’s physical and mental health.

Harmony

Green has long been associated with harmony. One of the possible reasons for this phenomenon is that green is the color of nature, and people can only be in full harmony when they reconnect with their roots.

Green gemstones, such as emerald, jade, and malachite, allegedly help to achieve balance in life and bring harmony. This may be true, as the green color’s positive impact on our nervous system is scientifically proven.

The definition of harmony in life is rather vague, and everyone can apply their personal meaning to this term.

Generally, it refers to the ability to balance life’s different aspects, such as relationships, work, and health. Harmony is essential to achieve happiness.

Happy family life is hard to imagine without harmony, both between partners and in the personal life of each one. A green wedding dress perfectly fits this narrative, representing an aim for inner balance and peace.

Energy

The green color is said to give you energy. This belief stems from other popular green color meanings, such as life, health, and harmony.

People feel the most energetic when they’re positive and inspired. German researchers have found evidence of green color boosting our creativity.

Furthermore, green is strongly associated with things that make us feel energetic, such as green tea, matcha, and fresh grass under our feet. Green is the color of trees that produce oxygen necessary for life.

Green Wedding Dresses in Other Cultures

Although green isn’t a traditional wedding dress color in Europe and the U.S., it’s a popular choice in other cultures. For example, green color in wedding attires can often be seen in India, Afghanistan, South Africa, and Iran.

The truth is, Arabic wedding attires can be of nearly any color apart from those carrying negative associations, such as death or infidelity. Indian brides often wear orange, red, or green dresses richly embellished with stones.

In Afghanistan, an emerald wedding dress symbolizes prosperity and paradise and is traditional in a religious ceremony. Moroccan brides wear green to signify respect for mother nature and a new beginning.

Korean wedding dress is known as Wonsam and is traditionally lime green, embroidered with butterfly or flower ornaments.

A lime green wedding dress symbolizes eternal life and is usually paired with indigo, red, and yellow accessories to represent paradise, terrain, and compassion.