What is The Meaning of a Purple Wedding Dress?

The best shades of purple for cool skin are those with warm undertones, such as Tyrian and Byzantium purple, and women with warm skin look stunning in bluish purples such as violet and iris.

Depending on the lightness and undertone, purple may also carry different connotations – lavender and indigo may lie on the same spectrum, but the former is modest and sensitive, whereas the latter is vibrant and mysterious.

Purple is among the most versatile hues that can be perfectly appropriate for a wedding if you pick the shade correctly, despite being a highly unusual wedding dress color choice.

Spirituality

The color purple has long been associated with spirituality and carries deep symbolism in different religions. This rich hue is linked with the human spirit and soul rather than the physical world.

Purple color represents a recognition that there is something greater than humankind and rejection of materialistic values.

It shows that we’re a part of a cosmic or divine nature that we can’t sense or see but believe in its existence.

In Catholicism, the liturgic color purple is associated with Advent and Lent. The purple color meaning in Christianity is faith, patience, trust, and penance. In Bible, the purple color is often mentioned in relation to authority and wisdom.

In Judaism, the purple color represents redemption through God, the belief in a greater spirit that would forgive our wrongdoings. In Hinduism, it’s the color of wisdom and peace.

Brides choosing purple wedding gowns are often versed in the spiritual side of life and seek to find answers to eternal questions by exploring the universe and most profound corners of their souls.

That’s a perfect wedding dress color for women who are a bit otherworldly and admire philosophy. Meanwhile, a purple wedding dress isn’t the best choice for a church ceremony due to its relation to Lent.

Mystery & Imagination

Purple is rarely found in nature. For this reason, purple is often seen as a mysterious, supernatural hue. Purple is a combination of red and blue, two contrasting colors, which makes the meaning of this hue somewhat obscure.

Purple isn’t associated with forests, the sea, sky, or any other substantial entity found on our planet.

Instead, it’s linked with space, awaking imagery of galaxies far away. The universe is largely unexplored, so it never ceases to boost our imagination.

Imagination is closely tied with creativity and the desire to create rather than consume. Purple is an otherworldly color disconnected from the Earth’s rush and open to the universe.

Purple color is also often used in depictions of witches, fairies, unicorns, mermaids, and other mythical creatures – perhaps, because no real animals or humans have purple skin, hair, or eyes.

Violet is located at the farthest end of the visibility spectrum, so our brain needs more time to process it than any other color.

For this reason, we can’t see ultraviolet. Metaphorically, this color lies at the edge of our imagination as well.

Purple bridal gowns are the most mysterious and creative alternative to white wedding dresses.

A deep purple wedding dress is perfect for brides with rich imagination and ambition aimed at mental development instead of materialistic gain.

Royalty, Authority, & Wealth

Purple has been associated with royalty and authority since early times. In Christian Bible, this color is used in relation to Jesus, describing him as the King of kings.

Furthermore, purple represents the holy priesthood that provides us access to God’s power through elect human beings. It’s a color that combines red and blue, the color of flesh and heaven, symbolizing the dual nature of priests.

Apart from religious connotations, there’s a practical explanation for the connection between purple and royalty. In ancient times, purple dye was extremely rare and expensive.

According to historians, the production used to take a lot of money and effort – 10,000 shellfish could produce only one gram of purple dye sufficient for only a hem of a garment.

Only the rich could afford to wear purple clothes – in fact, even money couldn’t always buy them. It was the prerogative of the royal family since the manufacturing of purple dye required collecting tons of shellfish.

Today, the shade of purple ancient people made from shellfish is known as Tyrian purple or imperial purple. It has a reddish hue close to burgundy but with a slightly higher content of blue.

Tyrian purple garments became a sign of one’s status, wealth, power, and prestige.

This color was favored by Roman Emperors, Egyptians, and high-status priests of the Catholic church. Interestingly, Queen Elizabeth ll wore a purple robe for her coronation.

A Tyrian purple wedding dress may not grant you real authority, but it will undoubtedly make you look like a queen and attract wealth and prosperity to your family.

Open-Mindedness

Purple is made from a combination of two contrasting colors, red and blue.

The red color meaning is confidence, power, passion, energy, sexuality, and, often, dominance and aggression. The blue color meaning is peace, loyalty, serenity, tradition, and honesty.

Purple combines the best of both worlds – it’s a multi-faceted and open-minded color. Purple doesn’t impose anything but instead observes and accepts the actions and viewpoints of others.

Purple color features a perfect harmony and represents readiness to change according to new experiences and information. It’s an excellent color for meditation and self-exploration, helping to reach one’s innermost thoughts.

A purple wedding dress is an excellent match for brides who prefer to observe, investigate, and draw conclusions rather than blindly follow their beliefs and principles.

It’s a color for women who don’t judge others and strive to understand different opinions.

Love & Empathy

Empathy is closely tied with open-mindedness – to understand someone’s feelings, we must first understand their point of view without judging. Purple is a compassionate, empathetic color beloved by intuitive and kind people.

If you plan to wear a purple wedding dress, you’re likely a sensitive and emotional person who strives to see the best in people. You may be dramatic at times, but only out of good intentions.

Purple is close to pink, which is traditionally considered the color of love, femininity, and compassion. Purple is a “grown-up” pink that suits graceful women with a deep soul always advocating for peace.

Wisdom

Purple is the color of wisdom, and wisdom is different from academic knowledge. The latter is something available to everyone.

Theoretical knowledge demands time and dedication, but we can only obtain wisdom through experience and spiritual learning.

Purple relates to the deepest corners of our mind and outer space, so it’s connected with the unknown and hidden. It’s the favorite color of intuitive and naturally intelligent people.

Purple color’s relation to royalty can also explain its connection with wisdom. Historically, only rich people had access to education, so the wealthy were often considered more intelligent.

In a religious sense, purple is related to priests, and they are believed to have deep knowledge of our world, serving as a connection between God and people.

This makes purple the perfect wedding dress color for a mature bride who has already gained wisdom and experience as opposed to white dresses that represent purity and innocence.

Meanings of Different Shades of Purple

Depending on the lightness and proportion of red and blue, different shades of purple may carry different meanings.

As you already know, Tyrian purple has been associated with wealth and power for centuries, so a reddish-purple wedding gown carries the same connotations.

Meanwhile, a lavender wedding dress will suit modest, feminine, and sensitive brides who strive to avoid confrontation and have well-developed compassion. This color is much closer to white or light pink than to red or blue.

Deep bluish-purple shades, such as dark indigo and northwestern purple, are the most mysterious of all. Brides choosing these shades value the spiritual side of life and have a rich imagination.

If you prefer bright tones lying on the verge of blue, such as electric indigo, iris, and Majorelle purple, you’re likely an intelligent and empathetic person. These shades share the core meanings of blue color, including loyalty and devotion.

Purple Wedding Gowns in Other Cultures

Purple is considered an unconventional wedding dress color in western cultures, but it’s much more popular in other parts of the world.

Like in the U.S., reddish-purple wedding dresses represent royalty and nobility in China. In ancient times, only emperors could wear purple clothing.

Indian brides traditionally wear red, orange, or pink attires, but purple shades closer to the red spectrum are also common.

In Tibet, light shades of purple are sacred, so brides sometimes wear lavender and lilac wedding dresses to represent faith and devotion.

In Brazil and Thailand, deep purple is never used in wedding attires as it’s associated with mourning. However, lilac wedding dresses are gaining popularity as the meaning of lilac color is closer to that of pink.

In Ghana and Nigeria, white is the least popular wedding dress color. Nigerian brides are free to choose any hue they wish, and in Ghana, each family has its traditional pattern in unique colors, sometimes involving purple.