Dwight and Janice Drummond who tied the knot at Sandals Frank Warren Chapel, Montego Bay. Janice is wearing an elegant non-traditional blue wedding dress.

At her wedding in April, Emma Carson, a British native, dispensed with tradition, shunned the conventional white gown and donned a multi-coloured dressed with a green corset and full skirt in iridescent shades of blue and yellow. Asked about her unusual choice of wedding garb, the 26 year-old said, "I'm not a traditional person and that was reflected in my wedding."

While every bride might not be as radical as Emma, more women are venturing beyond the customary shades of ivory and white and opting for anything from champagne to lilac to deep purple or even blood red.

With all of the hot trends appearing daily, more women are choosing wedding dresses in colours other than the traditional white. They choose to be a bit more daring...

Jacob Ramsey of Wedding Express, a US-based company, asserts that, "With all of the hot trends appearing daily, more women are choosing wedding dresses in colours other than the traditional white. They choose to be a bit more daring and to make a statement that expresses how they are feeling or symbolises something special about their marriage."

And here in Jamaica, the colour trend is quietly catching on, according to Delaine McFarlane of Beautiful Brides and Mr Tux Limited.

"The Jamaican market - like any other - is always looking to Europe and the United States for the latest trends. In the last two to three years, there has been a change in those markets towards coloured wedding dresses, and in Jamaica a lot of brides are on to what's new," she told Thursday Life.
Marcia Harris of Adoré Wedding Flowers and Gifts said while there has not been a radical shift towards colour, brides have been subtly incorporating it into their dresses.

"White dresses are still predominant but the styles now have hints of colour," she explains. "A bride may want coloured sequins or trimmings in lavender, red wine or even black."

But while some brides might remain conservative when choosing their colours, they get a little more risky with their styles. Long-sleeved, full-length dresses are out and sleeveless or strapless ensembles with plunging necklines or short skirts are in.

"In the last several years the local trend has been strapless dresses or swan-shaped necklines, dresses with sleeves are now really hard to find," McFarlane says.

Even religious women, Harris adds, are choosing more daring styles. "Not even Christian women are wearing the long gowns now," she noted. "They also want the dresses with the tube tops or the sleeveless bodice instead of the traditional long-sleeved gowns with the long trains. They will tell you that it's their day and they want to be themselves."
Norma Johnson, proprietor of Weddings by Norma, says on occasion she has had to advise on the need to balance self-expression with appropriateness. "The younger brides especially want the more daring styles and sometimes you have to help them and explain that it might not be best to wear something that leaves so much of their body exposed," she says.

Both Harris and McFarlane think that modern technology is largely responsible for the changes in local trends. "Women have the Internet now and they're seeing the styles and trends in other countries and a lot of them are travelling to shop for their weddings, or they have family and friends who keep on top of things," Harris says.

"Don't forget the whole business of cable TV," McFarlane adds. "Jamaican women have noticed the changes in style, they see the celebrity weddings and other bridal programmes and gradually they are changing and wanting more contemporary styles."

Another factor that has given rise to the "less is more" phenomenon is that the whole question of wedding venues has now also opened up and instead of exchanging vows in church, couples are now tying the knot on the beach, in restaurants, gardens or parks or at hotels.

"Some brides feel that because they're not going into a church and they won't be in the sanctuary they don't have to worry if the pastor will be offended by what they have on," Harris says.

Johnson agrees but she says an even more pressing issue is the punishing tropical heat. "If it's a summer wedding it would be too hot for the bride to be in anything too long or confining and the last thing a woman wants is to be uncomfortable on that day."

"It's more because of the climate," says Carla Oliver of Bridal Dresses and Things. "It's so hot now that a lot of brides are complaining about the heat and saying that they want something without sleeves."

McFarlane has welcomed the move to colour but admits that there's nothing to indicate that it's a permanent shift.
"Remember it's not everybody who is going for this; it's merely a trend. I don't know how long it will last so for now I'm just going with it."

Harris sees things similarly. "These are trends," she says. "They go and they come and in another few years we would have moved on to something else and then a few years from that we might be right back to where were are now."

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