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Several responses to this question have already raised, in one form or another, the issue of social classes, which it strikes me should be considered more thoroughly for questions like this. There has been a reference to a medieval noble woman choosing white for a wedding, and as well, wedding parties (for women, at least) are very commonly colour co-ordinated these days, just as the medieval nobility ordered co-ordinated garments and livery for special occasions. The current middle-class practice of using such items as wedding dresses only for special, or even singular occasions also has medieval precedent, once again among the nobility. Norbert Elias, in his wonderful book The Civilizing Process has shown, for other areas of cultural practice, that the middle classes have constantly emulated, or aspired to, noble practice and such is likely the case here. As has also been pointed out, white was not a common colour for wedding dresses in the Middle Ages (although there are several surviving 15th-century images of gatherings of nobles all depicted wearing white). The same might be said for tastes in jewellery: diamonds, although known in the Middle Ages, were not as highly favoured as rubies, emeralds or other highly coloured stones. It was only when diamonds began commonly to be facetted from the 16th century that they began to gain in popularity over coloured jewels. To find the origins of wearing white at weddings, in a popular context, investigation of images of royal or noble weddings in the early modern era, or even in the 19th century, I am virtually certain, would be extremely useful. Cheers, Jim Bugslag %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%